Falcons Fall in Three Sets to Bison

Riccardi paces Falcons with game-best 11 digs

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University women's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to the Bison of Nichols College in non-conference action this evening at the Parkinson Gymnasium.

The Basics

Score: Fitchburg State 0, Nichols College 3 (14-25, 15-25, 20-25)
Records: Fitchburg State (1-5) | Nichols College (4-2)

Set One

In the opening set, Fitchburg took a 3-0 advantage with an ace from junior Lauren Riccardi (Tewksbury, Mass.) before the Bison pushed ahead 9-4 with four straight points off the serve of freshman Madison Perrotti (Moultonborough, NH).  The Falcons countered with back-to-back points to cut the deficit to 18-10 however Nichols closed out the set by netting three of the final five points, en-route to the 25-14 first set final.

Set Two

In the second set, the Bison grabbed a 5-2 margin following an ace from Perrotti. However, the Green and Gold rallied back to even the score (9-9) when senior Jaquelyn Manyak (Boston, Mass.) set-up teammate Riccardi for the deep kill. Nichols reeled off seven straight points to take a 16-9 advantage and closed out the match with a service ace from Emily Tinyszin (Southington, Conn.), resulting in a 25-15 final.

Set Three

In a back and forth final set, the teams were tied (5-5) as Riccardi collected another kill. Capitalizing on a pair of attack errors the Falcons notched the score at 7-7.With a 7-3 run Nichols pushed the lead to 14-10 capped by a kill from Perrotti. The hosts kept it close (15-12) as senior Emily Beauvais (Greenville, NH) notched a kill, and Riccardi answered with an ace and a kill to cut the deficit to 19-17. Tied 20-20, Nichols scored the final five points to secure the victory.

Inside the Numbers

This evening's matchup marked just the third meeting between the two teams on the volleyball court with the Falcons 0-3 all-time when taking on the Bison.

Fitchburg State was paced by Riccardi's team-high 11 digs, along with 5 kills, 1 assist and 2 aces.  While Beauvais added seven kills. Manyak ended with a team-high 8 assists.

For Nichols, Zoe Chevrette (Wilbraham, Mass.) led the way with a game-best 14 assists and 7 digs, while Perrotti chipped in with nine kills, one assist, five digs and two aces.

Up Next

Falcons will travel to the Bulldogs of Dean College on Saturday for a non-conference clash, starting at 12:00 PM. Nichols will play Fisher College in the Eastern Nazarene Tournament on Friday starting at 4:30 PM.