Volleyball Sweeps Nichols in Regular-Season Finale

BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball put together a decisive straight set victory over Nichols Saturday morning at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The victory came via set scores 25-19, 25-17 and 25-17 and wrapped the Rams regular-season with 19 triumphs, which ties the most victories in a regular-season in program history. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Nichols 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (19-9, 6-3 CCC) | Nichols (15-10, 3-6 CCC)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-19, SUFFOLK)

• From a 2-all tie, Suffolk sprung ahead 13-5 to force Nichols into a timeout. 
• The Bison battled back with four points in a row out of the huddle. The run that made it a four-point set, 13-9, was capped off by three aces in a row from Jayleen Fegan. 
• The see-saw affair continued as stormed back in front by nine, 19-10. 
• History repeated itself as Nichols knocked the deficit back down to four, 19-15. 
• The visitors did not slow down out of a Suffolk timeout. Instead the Bison coupled back-to-back points to make it a two-point stanza, 19-17. 
• A Grace Cervenka kill was followed by Morgan Kelsey's third ace of the day jump started a 5-0 Rams run that set up set point, 24-17. 
• Nichols stayed alive with two quick points, however, McKenna Keowen locked up the set with her fourth kill of the match. 

SET TWO RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk broke a 2-all playing field with five consecutive points that turned into a 7-1 stretch that made it 9-3 Rams. The opening rally saw kills from James, Cervenka and Keowen and a pair of aces by Kelsey.
• That six-point advantage bloomed to a 15-7 advantage at the midway point. 
• Suffolk never looked back as it turned its 20-14 comfortable cushion into a 25-17 second stanza final.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk put together a 6-2 run from a 6-all game to grab a 12-8 edge. 
• That four-point gap grew to as many as seven at 20-17. 
• It was all Suffolk from there as the blue-and-gold logged the last five points of the match to seal the sweep. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Keowen's 10-kill attack paced Suffolk's 32-kill offense. The sophomore added seven digs, two aces and one handout. 
• James provided seven kills and one block. 
• Alina Nowakowski added six kills and one block. 
• Cervenka chipped in five kills, two blocks and one dig. 
• Harmony Johnson set up the offense with 27 assists. She added three assists, six digs and two blocks. 
• Kenzley Bell anchored the defense with nine digs to go along with three assists and two aces. 
• Kelsey was a force at the service line with seven aces and there digs.  

NOTEWORTHY

• At 19-9, Suffolk has put ties a regular-season win record, which was set by the 2019 squad.  
• Suffolk defeated Nichols for the first time in program history. 
• The Rams moved to 1-1 all-time versus the Bison. 
• There was a 3-0 decision in the Suffolk, Nichols series for the first time. 
• Suffolk hosted Nichols in Boston for the first time. 
• Suffolk strung together is sixth straight win, which is the second-time this year that the Rams have ran six wins in a row together. 
  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk awaits the official seeding of the 2022 CCC Women's Volleyball Tournament, that will be announced following the conclusion of all 2022 regular-season matches across the conference.