BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- The Buccaneers volleyball team played their home opener on Wednesday evening against Nichols College inside the Clean Harbors Athletics Center. Though the team took an early six-point lead in the first set, the Bucs were unable to take a set from the Bison losing the match 3-0.

The Basics

Final: Bison 3, Buccaneers 0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-15)

Records: Nichols (3-0)

               Maritime (0-2)

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Offensively, Gemma Geisler and Marlo Stark led the way with three kills apiece for the Bucs.
• Shayla Narodowg recorded a team-high eight assists in the loss.
• Audrey Manning led the team with two service aces and on defense with 14 digs. 
• Also on the defensive end, Narodowg tallied 10 digs and Stark racked up nine.
• Chloe Johnson has a solo block and a block assist in the match. Narodowg also recorded a solo block and Izabella Mackintosh was the other half of the Johnson block assist.
• In total, the Buccaneers tallied 11 kills, 10 assists, five aces, 42 digs, and two solo blocks.

Nichols

• Haylee Granato led all players with 16 kills. 
• Ruby St. Onge led all players with 19 assists and Kya Burdier had 17 assists of her own. 
• Defensively, Liz Diorio had 28 digs.
• Maille Ianniruberto had the lone block of the match for the Bison.
• In total, Nichols recorded 40 kills, 40 assists, 11 aces, 60 digs, and one block.

How It Happened

The Buccaneers came out hot scoring eight of the first 10 points, taking an 8-2 lead in the first set. Nichols began to climb back into the game as the Bucs only scored one of the next 10 points and watched their lead diminish as the Bison took a 10-9 lead in the midst of the 9-1 run. The Bucs did retake the lead in the following rallies going back up by as many as three, 16-13, at one point. Following that lead, the Bucs were only able to score three more points as Nichols took control and won the first set by just six points, 25-19.

In set two, the Bison jumped out to a 3-0 advantage. The Buccaneers fought back and got back to within two points, 5-3, early on. Nichols extended their lead once again out to five points, 12-7, midway through the set. The Bison proceeded to go on a 12-3 run making the score 24-10 late on. Maritime refused to go away as they scored the next four points to get the score back to 24-14. Granato finished off the second set with a kill after a Johnson serve. The Bison took set two, 25-14.

In the final set, the Bucs took a two-point lead early, 3-1. The Bison took control of the serve and barely relinquished it, jumping out to a 15-5 advantage. The Bucs went on a handful of two to three point bursts of their own to get back within six points late, 20-14. The Bison scored the next four points and the teams traded points to end the set, 25-15, and the match, in favor of the Bison, 3-0.

What's Next

The Buccaneers travel to Paxton, MA on Saturday to take on UMass Boston at 1pm and host Anna Maria at 3pm in a non-conference tri-match with the Beacons and AMCATS.