DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols men's volleyball team came away victorious for the ninth-straight time in a 3-0 victory over Regis (MA) on Wednesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center. The Bison, who are receiving votes into the NVA/AVCA National Poll for the second-consecutive week, won by set scores of 25-10, 25-21, 25-17 to improve to 10-3 (0-0 NECC), while the Pride dropped to 5-8 (1-3 GNAC).
Nichols dominated the opening set, hitting .643 as a team in the opening frame. Graduate right side
Luis Martinez led the way with four kills at a .500 clip to boost the Bison to an early 1-0 lead.
Regis kept things close in the second set as the Pride looked to even up the match score. With the Bison trailing 13-12 in the middle of the set, Nichols rattled off three-straight kills from
Dylan Knapp,
Carlos Mercado, and Martinez to re-take the lead and force the visitors into a timeout. With the score tied at 20-20, Nichols benefitted from three-straight Regis errors to retake a 22-20 lead, one it would hold on to for the remainder of the set to take a 2-0 lead, with
Tanner Soracco and Mercado kills closing things out.
A Harasyko kill followed by a Soracco service ace would cause a Regis timeout as the Bison battled to an impressive 17-9 lead in the third. Despite multiple Nichols errors, the Pride could not come close in the final set, allowing the Bison to secure a 25-17 set win to secure the sweep.
Junior setter
Dylan Urbanski recorded 27 assists (nine per set) as the Bison notched 37 kills to hit .269 as a team in the triumph. Knapp hit .500, as the sophomore middle scored seven kills of his own.
Nichols recorded 30 digs, 12 of which came from Urbanski, and four came from the quartet of
Nicholas Basco, Martinez, Mercado, and Soracco.
The Bison now sit at 6-1 in the all-time series with Regis after sweeping the season series.
Nichols will gear up for its next opponent in Emmanuel (MA) with a road match scheduled for Wednesday, March 1 at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, with first-serve set for 7:00 p.m.
