BOSTON, Mass. (1/28/24) – On the final day of the inaugural Fenway Volleyball Classic, the Nichols College men's volleyball team earned a split decision with a four-set win over Baruch College (25-14, 25-15, 26-24, 25-14), and a shutout loss to host No. 1 Wentworth Institute of Technology (15-25, 19-25, 24-26).

Following the day's events, Nichols moves to a 6-1 (1-0 NEVC) overall record while Baruch falls to a 1-6 mark. Top-ranked Wentworth remains perfect on its season, improving to 6-0.  

Game #1 vs Baruch College

The Nichols attack was led by junior middle blocker Dylan Knapp, who finished with eight kills, four service aces and three blocks with a .583 hitting percentage. Freshman Bradyn Pomainville hit .692 and put up a team-high nine kills, while graduate Carlos Mercado registered 23 assists. Freshman libero Cade Bernardi collected a match-best eight digs, which also matched his season-best output. As a team, the Bison hit .366 in the effort, while holding the Bearcats to just .200 defensively.

The Bison doubled-up on the Bearcats with a 10-5 lead to open the first set. Following a brief exchange of points, the Bison lead was then extended to 22-9 thanks to an 8-0 run, in which six of the points came as the result of Nick Martin service aces. The Bison went on to claim the set 25-14, scoring the winning point on another service ace by Tanner Soracco.

The Bison had another strong start in the second set, darting out to an 11-5 lead. Shortly thereafter, a Jack Normandin kill set about a 10-2 run for the Bison which extended the score at 23-11. A Bearcat service error then put the Bison at set point, before a final kill by freshman Evan Sachs secured the win for Nichols, putting them ahead 2-0 in the match.

Right from the opening serve, the third set was anyone's game. After beginning the set with a 9-4 lead, the Bison found themselves deadlocked with the Bearcats after they stormed from behind with a 6-1 run to tie the score at 10-10. From there, neither side led by any more than two points, resulting in a 24-24 stalemate at the end of the set. Baruch then won the tiebreak by scoring the next two points, staving off the sweep.

In the fourth set, Nichols received a huge boost from five consecutive Bearcat errors to take an early 12-3 lead. The Bison then maintained a balanced attack further their lead out to as many as 11 points, with the winning strike coming off a kill by Soracco.

Game #2 vs No. 1 Wentworth Institute of Technology


Jack Normandin led the Bison in the Sunday closer, registering eight kills with four blocks and four digs. Carlos Mercado was again in double-figures with 16 assists, along with three blocks and a team-high five digs.

Following an early 5-5 tie the opening stanza, the Leopards sprinted out to a 11-5 advantage over the Bison as they fired off six unanswered points. Through the set, the Bison struggled to light their offensive flame, as their largest run was limited to just three points, two of which were off Wentworth errors. The hosts ended up winning the set by a ten-point, 25-15 difference.

The second set started out as a close battle between the two clubs, but eventually slid back into Wentworth's hands. With the score at 15-13, Wentworth distanced themselves with a 7-2 run to make it 22-15. From there, the Bison managed to fire off three quick points with the help of a Normandin kill and Mercado service ace, but to little avail as Wentworth took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-19 win in set two.

The Bison were their most successful in the third set, as they jumped ahead by a 12-6 margin with a 6-0 run. Both sides then traded points past the midway portion of the set, which increased the Bison lead to seven points over the Leopards. For the Bison, however, the lengthy lead would not hold as Wentworth retaliated with a 10-4 run to shave the difference down to one point at 21-20. Both teams then continued to duke it out up to a 24-all tie, before the Leopards finalized the sweep with the final two tie breaking points.

Nichols returns to action next weekend on February 2-3 for the Cougar Kickoff Classic, hosted by Misericordia University (5-1) in Dallas, Pennsylvania. On day one, the Bison will compete against the host Cougars at 6:00 PM and will then face Elmira College (3-2) directly after for an 8:00 PM tipoff from the Anderson Center.