ARLINGTON, Va. – The Nichols men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to ranked opponents on Sunday at Marymount University in Virginia. With the losses, No. 15 Nichols falls to 12-5 on the season.
 
In the first match of the day, the Bison lost to No. 13 UC Santa Cruz in four sets by the score of 25-22, 23-25, 18-25, 21-25. Right after the first match, Nichols took No. 14 Marymount to five sets in the second match of the day, eventually falling 18-25, 25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 11-15.
 
The results snapped Nichols' 11-match winning streak, giving them their first loss since they were taken down by St. John Fisher on January 21. The Bison look to get back in the win column on Saturday, March 11 when they take on Sage on Saturday, March 11 at 12:00 p.m. from the Nichols Athletic Center in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play.
 
No. 13 UC Santa Cruz 3, No. 15 Nichols 1
 
Nichols found themselves behind early in the first set, with the Banana Slugs holding a 10-4 advantage. The Bison rallied for four straight points which started with back-to-back kills by Luis Martinez. Nichols was eventually able to tie things at 12 with a Tanner Soracco kill. The squads traded points, but Nichols rallied with five straight points to take a 20-17 lead. With the set at 24-22, Martinez slammed one home to give the Bison the first-set win.
 
After a back-and-forth second set, the Banana Slugs were able to pull away late to come away with the 25-23 set win. UC Santa Cruz took the next three sets from the Bison to pick up their 17th win of the season.
 
Martinez led Nichols with 16 kills, while Dylan Urbanski had 33 assists.
 
No. 14 Marymount 3, No. 15 Nichols 2
 
Nichols looked to bounce back in the second match of the day against the host Marymount but dropped the first set 25-18. The Bison controlled the second set, leading the entire way after the score was tied up at one. Marymount was able to make it 24-22, but a kill by Urbanski evened the match up at one. The Saints took the third set fairly handily, 25-16. Nichols found themselves behind 11-9 in the fourth set, but a service error by the Saints and a kill by Carlos Mercado evened the score at 11. Nichols found themselves against match point for Marymount, but the Bison rallied with five straight points, capped off by another Mercado kill to push the match to a deciding fifth set.
 
Nichols held a 9-6 lead in the fifth, but four straight points by the Saints gave them the advantage. Nichols evened the set at 10, but it was all Marymount from there on out as they took the set 15-11 to claim their 15th win of the campaign.
 
Mercado had 18 kills on 44 attempts for the Bison. Martinez chipped in with 13 kills of his own and Urbanski added 45 assists.