BOSTON, Mass. (2/13/24) – The No. 15 Nichols College men's volleyball team took home its seventh consecutive win in commanding fashion over NAIA's Fisher College, 3-0 (25-7, 25-9, 25-11) on Monday night. It was the first ever meeting between the two teams.
With the win, Nichols improves to 13-1 (1-0 NEVC) overall.
The Bison commanded the stat sheet, hitting a season-high .538 as a team while holding the Falcons to a -.122 defensively. Junior middle blocker
Dylan Knapp hammered nine kills on 12 attempts with no errors, leading the way with a match-high .750 hitting percentage. Freshman setter
Evan Sachs delivered an impressive seven service aces, along with a career-best 17 assists. Senior
Nick Martin added five service aces of his own, as well as eight kills on 12 attempts.
Nichols set the tone early with a quick 6-2 advantage in the opening set, and later stretched it out to 14-5 following three straight service aces by
Carlos Mercado. With
Bryce Bonville at the serve, the Bison increased their lead to 20-6 following six unanswered points, forcing Fisher to take a timeout. Nichols went on to claim five of the final seven points to win the frame, 25-7.
Things didn't slow down for the Bison in the second set, as Sachs secured five of his seven total service aces in consecutive fashion to open frame, boosting the visitors to a 13-3 lead. The rest of the way, Fisher struggled to gain any traction against the relentless Bison offense, who would close it out leaving the Falcons in the rear-view mirror by a 25-9 score.
The third frame was headlined by a mid-set 7-0 run that put the Bison up by 10 points, 15-5. Of those seven points, five belonged to Martin by way of service aces and a single kill. As a result, the Bison again put the match out of reach, cruising to a 25-11 win in the third set to finalize the sweep.
The home opener between the Bison and Falcons on Thursday, February 15
th has been postponed. Nichols will now open their home slate with a ranked showdown against No. 1 Wentworth Institute of Technology (11-0, 2-0 GNAC) on Friday, February 16
th with first serve scheduled for 7:00 PM at the Nichols Athletic Center.
