DUDLEY, Mass. (3/23/24) – On senior night at the Nichols Athletic Center, the No. 12 Nichols College men's volleyball team continued their winning ways with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-19) sweep of Endicott College in New England Volleyball Conference action.

The win comes as the fourth sweep in a row for the Bison, and 15^th of the season, improving their overall record to 20-4 (5-0 NEVC). Endicott drops to 11-8 (4-1 NEVC) with the loss.

The seniors stood out for the Bison in the effort, especially outside hitter Jack Normandin who led the attack with a match-high 13 kills and .320 hitting percentage. Graduate utility Carlos Mercado supported the Bison offense with 32 assists, while junior middle blocker Dylan Knapp hit .667 after going 8-of-12 from the floor with no errors. As a team, the Bison out-hit the Gulls .351 to .073, scoring 24 total points off of Endicott errors.

After trading the first couple of points in the opening set, the Bison took control of the play with a 5-1 run, establishing a 10-5 lead. After upping their lead to 16-9, the Bison encountered an Endicott comeback that shrank their lead down to just two points, 19-17, before a Knapp kill followed by consecutive Gull errors put the hosts back ahead by five points. As a result, Nichols eventually claimed the opening set, 25-20.

The second set had a similar feel to the first as the Bison moved out to a 9-4 edge following five unanswered points, capped off by a Normandin service ace. The Nichols defense then played the shutdown game the rest of the frame, denying the Gulls any type of comeback en route to an eventual 25-17 win, upping their match lead to 2-0.

Nichols led wire-to-wire in the closing set after jumping out to an early 10-4 advantage. However, the Gulls returned fire with a 7-1 run, resulting in an 11-11 tie at the midway point. The Bison rallied right back with their own 8-2 run, with five of the points earned off of Endicott errors, putting the hosts back in front by six points, 19-13. The win eventually went to the Bison by way of an Endicott service error.

The Bison enter their final week of the regular season, and have their next matchup coming up on Friday, March 29^th at SUNY Poly (11-12, 2-1 NEVC). Coverage is slated for a 6:00 PM start inside Campus Center Gym in Utica, New York.