QUINCY, Mass. – Nichols men's volleyball remained perfect in conference play with a 3-1 road victory over Eastern Nazarene on Friday night at the Lahue Athletic Center. The Bison, who improved to 16-5 (4-0 NECC), defeated the 11-9 (2-1 NECC) Lions by set scores of 25-20, 18-25, 25-16, 25-12.
 
Tied at 20-20 in the first set, Nichols used a pair of ENC errors to take a two-point lead and force the Lions into a timeout. After the timeout, the Bison roofed three-consecutive attempts, with Dylan Knapp there on all three, to take the opening set 25-20. Luis Martinez notched four kills in the opening frame.
 
Trailing 8-7 in the second, ENC used a 4-0 swing to hop on front 10-8. That lead would get as large as eight points at 18-10 when Nathan Jacques provided a Lions service ace. Nichols would get back to as close as three points on a 4-0 run of its own, but it would not be enough as the hosts came away with a 25-18 win to tie the match.
 
Using five kills, Nichols jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third. A Tanner Soracco kill following two blocks and an attack error capped off a 4-0 swing for the Bison, putting them back in control 16-9. Following a Nichols service error at 23-14, the two teams would trade kills to the end of the set, as the Bison came away with a 25-16 decision to send the match to a fourth set with a chance to clinch.
 
Nichols would produce seven blocks and 10 kills in the final set to race away from the Lions, 25-12.
 
Martinez swung at a .385 clip, producing a team-high 14 kills in the win. Carlos Mercado put together 11 kills, followed by middles Knapp and Tanner Soracco who had nine and five kills, respectively, each hitting .400 or better. Dylan Urbanski dished out 38 assists as the Bison recorded 42 kills on the match. Knapp, Urbanski, and Soracco each recorded seven block assists, with Soracco adding two solos.
 
Next up, the Bison will return to home court for a 2:00 p.m. matchup with Elms in non-conference play on Saturday, March 18 at the Nichols Athletic Center.