Volleyball drops road match to Nichols, 3-1

Dudley, MA- The MCLA Volleyball team dropped a hard fought four set decision to host Nichols College this evening as the Bison took the nonconference match 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18. With the win Nichols improves to 5-6 on the season while MCLA falls to 7-7.

The Trailblazers came out of the gates quickly in the first set and held an eight-point lead at 15-7. However, the Bison refused to give in, hung around and chipped the lead down to two at 23-21. Following a Reagan Scattergood kill, which gave the Trailblazers a set point, the Bison reeled off five straight points to snag the opening set 26-24.

With the Bison holding the slimmest of margins at 18-17, the second set seemed destined for another nail-biting finish. However, as they had done in the opening set, Nichols closed strong taking seven of the final nine points to earn a 25-19 win and took a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Undeterred, the Trailblazers stormed out to a 10-1 lead in the third and held that same nine-point margin at 18-9. But the Bison would rally again going on a 14-5 run on their way to catching MCLA at 23 points apiece. This time however, MCLA was able to right the ship taking the next two points and the set.

In the fourth set the Bison ran off seven straight early to take a 9-2 lead and eventually increased that lead to ten at 24-14. Despite MCLA saving four match points, Nichols would close out the set taking it 25-18 and the match 3-1.

For the Bison, Ryley Plourde led the way with 12 kills and 4 aces while teammates Lindsey Rugg (36 assists) and Liz Diorio (24 digs) would have game-highs.

MCLA's Chloe Garber would lead all players with 17 kills. Natasha Stewart led the Trailblazers with 31 assists and Ellie Walter-Goodspeed had a team-high 21 digs.

Nichols will next host Bridgewater State this Saturday at 12:00pm.

MCLA will return to conference action next Tuesday as they travel to Worcester State to take on the Lancers at 7:00pm.