DALLAS, Pa. (2/3/24) – The No. 19 Nichols College men's volleyball team capped off their successful weekend at the No. 15 Misericordia University Cougar Kickoff Classic with a sweep over New Jersey City University, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20), a reverse-sweep against Rutgers-Newark, 3-2 (21-25, 28-30, 26-24, 25-20, 15-12) on Saturday afternoon. 

The Bison went a perfect 4-0 through the weekend, and now stand at 10-1 (1-0 NEVC) overall on the season. Graduate outside hitter Jack Normandin was the recipient of tournament MVP honors for his performance. 

Game #1 vs New Jersey City University

In his best performance of the young season, freshman middle hitter Bradyn Pomainville led the Bison with a .480 hitting percentage, connecting for 16 kills on 25 attempts with only four errors. Carlos Mercado had a match-high 27 assists kills, along with four digs and three service aces. As a team, the Bison hit .292 (51-22-118) as compared to New Jersey City's .151 (32-19-86) outing.

The Bison opened the first set with a 6-3 lead over the Gothic Knights, but eventually found themselves in a game of tug of war. From a 14-14 standoff, Nichols claimed the lead for good with a 6-2 run that made it 20-16 score. Eventually, the Bison gained set point when Bryce Bonville hammered home his second kill of the set, before winning the set on a Gothic Knight error.

In the second, New Jersey City took their turn with the early lead but faced a similar scenario as the Bison stormed back with an 8-2 run to lead 8-7. The two squads then went point-for-point through the midway portion of the stanza before the Bison seized the lead with a 6-1 run to make it 18-12. The Bison went on to claim the second set, 25-22, putting them ahead 2-0 in the match.

In the third set, the Bison had to battle from behind, but managed to narrow down an early deficit to trail the Gothic Knights 17-15. The Bison then stole the lead away from the Knights with nine of the next 11 points behind four Pomainville kills, ultimately bringing the action to set point at 24- 20. The final point would fall to the Bison following a NJCU error, completing the sweep.

Game #2 vs Rutgers-Newark

The final match of the afternoon went wire to wire between the Bison and the Scarlet Raiders, as two of the five sets were decided off tiebreakers. Three players registered double-figure kills, led by Normandin's match-high 19 in the effort. Mercado shattered his career-best performance in single-match assists, contributing 41 total helpers, while also adding a team-high 11 digs.

The Bison hit well in the opening set as five players combined for 12 kills and a .346 hitting percentage. However, an early deficit forced the Bison to play from behind the entire set, resulting in a 25-21 win for the Scarlet Raiders.

The two teams continued to duke it out in the second set, which was the first to go to a tiebreak. Through the midway point of the stanza, the Bison held onto their largest lead of the match at five points before the Scarlet Raiders stormed back to tie the set at 18-18. Both sides then went point-for-point the rest of the way, until a Bison miscue slid the win over to Rutgers-Newark by a whopping 30-28 final.

The Bison overcame a 12-9 deficit in the third set with a 6-1 run late to tie the game at 22-22. The score then shifted to 24-23 Rutgers-Newark following three consecutive attack errors between both teams, putting the Bison on the brink of a sweep. Normandin then came to the rescue with back-to-back kills to put Nichols ahead 25-24, before a final Dylan Knapp kill helped the Bison stave off the sweep by way of a 26-24 tiebreak.

The fourth set was Nichol's best offensive performance of the match, with the Bison hitting .424 (17-3-33) from the floor. With the score again deadlocked at 18-18, the Bison fired off six consecutive points to put the score at set point, with three of the six resulting from Scarlet Raider errors. As he did in the first, Knapp claimed the win for the Bison with a final kill to force a decisive fifth set.

Nichols went on to earn the reverse-sweep by winning the final set, 15-12.

The Bison will exit tournament play and head to face Emerson College (1-1) on the road this Tuesday, February 6^th at 7:00 PM.