BOSTON, Mass. – The Nichols men's volleyball team traveled to Emerson College for a Saturday afternoon tri-match and took home wins against MIT (3-1) and Emerson (3-0) to advance to 6-3 on the season. With the pair of victories, Nichols extends its winning streak to five matches, all of which took place on the road.
 
Nichols took down MIT by set scores of 22-25, 25-18, 25-17, 31-29 before turning their attention to the Lions which they defeated 25-13, 25-14, 25-19.
 
The Bison are set to take home court at the friendly confines of the Nichols Athletic Center for the first time on Thursday, February 9 when they play host to Lasell another non-conference matchup.
 
Nichols 3, MIT 1
 
In a battle against the Engineers, who are receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Poll and slated No. 18 in The FrogJump Top 20, Nichols dropped the first set by a mere three points despite keeping the score close throughout. MIT hit at a .481 team hitting percentage in the opening frame.
 
In the second set, Nichols jumped out to an 11-6 lead following a Matthew Zawistowski service ace and an Engineer attack error to pull away. Nichols used five kills from sophomore middle Dylan Knapp in the second to earn a convincing 25-18 win to tie the match up at 1-1.
 
Nichols raced in front in the third, holding an early 8-2 advantage off a Carlos Mercado kill and MIT attack error. A pair of MIT attack errors put Nichols up 18-9 midway through the third to force the Engineers into a timeout. MIT would battle back, cutting the Bison lead to just five, but a Jake Harasyko kill followed by Harasyko and Tanner Soracco teaming up on a block pushed the deficit back to seven and put an exclamation point on the third set.
 
Needing just one more set to earn their fourth straight victory, the Bison would have to scratch and claw to the end in an extended fourth set. The score was within one or tied for the majority of the set, and at the first set point for MIT, Luis Martinez landed a kill to tie things up at 24-24 and push the goalposts past 25. Finally, after a Mercado kill made it 30-29, a block from Knapp and Mercado sealed the victory for Nichols, 31-29.
 
Nichols 3, Emerson 0
 
The Bison ran away with sets one and two against the true home team in Emerson. In the third set, Nichols saw kills from seven different Bison to help solidify the sweep.
 
Dylan Urbanski (25) and Nick Martin (12) combined for 37 assists in the match.