UTICA, N.Y. – The Nichols men's volleyball team fell to 1-3 on the season during the final day of the SUNY Poly Invitational, falling to Nazareth and No. 11 St. John Fisher.
 
The Bison dropped the day's opening contest to Nazareth in four sets, 23-25, 18-25, 25-18, 17-25, and later were swept by No. 11 St. John Fisher by set scores of 14-25, 20-25, 21-25.
 
After dishing out 123 assists through the four matches of the opening weekend (8.2 assists per set) junior setter Dylan Urbanski was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Nichols will head to Nashua, N.H. on Saturday, January 28 for a tri-match where the Bison will take on Elms at 1 p.m. before facing the hosts in Rivier at 3 p.m. at Muldoon Gymnasium.
 
Nazareth 3, Nichols 1

Coming off a 1-1 day, Nichols was tasked with shutting down a Nazareth team that entered the day 4-0 after knocking off No. 3 Wentworth in five sets the night before.
 
Both teams hit at a high percentage in the opening set, with the Bison offense compiling 14 kills at a .375 clip. With the Golden Flyers leading 21-17, Nichols put together a three-point swing, using kills from Tanner Soracco and Carlos Mercado to cut the deficit to one as Casey Fitzpatrick used a timeout. Errors would keep the Bison close down the stretch, but an Owen Wickens kill put the set away for Nazareth.
 
Nichols was limited to just 7 kills in the second set as the squad hit in the negatives.
 
In the third, the Bison got back on track and used six kills from Mercado to take a set from the Golden Flyers and bring the match to 2-1. Nichols defensive efforts stymied the Nazareth offense to a -.040 hitting percentage thanks in part to four blocks.
 
In the final frame, Nichols took a 10-8 lead on a Soracco kill, but a 6-1 run would put the Golden Flyers up 14-11 and force Nichols into a timeout. From there, the Bison could not regain their lead and Nazareth would improve to 5-0.

Dylan Urbanski dished out 37 assists in the match while Mercado's 18 kills were a team-best. 
 
No. 11 St. John Fisher 3, Nichols 0
 
The Cardinals entered the weekend tournament ranked 11^th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and swept their four-match slate, including a takedown of the No. 3 ranked Wentworth Leopards.
 
Dylan Urbanski provided 28 assists while Carlos Mercado's 10 kills led the squad in the setback.