HUNGTINGDON, Pa. (2/21/2025) – The Nichols men's volleyball team opened the Juniata Eagles Invite Tournament with a 3-0 setback against host No. 6 Juniata College on Friday inside Memorial Gymnasium.
With the loss, the Bison are now 6-10 (1-0 NEVC) overall.
Tanner Soracco led the Bison with eight kills on .238 hitting, adding four digs and a service ace.
Jack Normandin added seven kills, and held down the back row with a team-high six digs on the night, while
Chandler Olson and
Evan Sachs combined for 24 assists.
The Bison had a difficult time containing the Juniata attack in the opening set, with the Eagles registering a .474 hitting percentage and 11 total kills in what would be their 25-11 win.
However, the Bison rebounded with a stronger performance in the second, beginning with a 4-1 lead behind back-to-back kills by
Conor McCabe. Juniata responded to tie the score at 4-4, opening a stretch of neck-and-neck play that increased the standoff to 13-13. The Eagles then attempted to pull away with a 6-2 run, but failed to shake the Bison as kills from Soracco, Normandin and
Adam Vincent kept the Nichols in pursuit. Despite the effort, the winning point would eventually fall in favor of the hosts, giving them a 25-23 second set win, and a 2-0 match lead.
In the third set, Nichols' McCabe and Vincent quickly laid down kills to give them a 4-2 edge. The lead was short lived as Juniata outpaced the Bison down the stretch, eventually working their way up to a 16-12 advantage. Nichols was successful in staging another comeback effort late, but failed to overtake the lead with Juniata escaping with the win, scoring the final four points of the frame.
The Bison play in their final two tournament matches tomorrow (2/22), beginning with Penn State Altoona (7-6) at 10:00 AM, and concluding with No. 13 St. John Fisher (12-1, 1-0 UVC) at 1:00 PM.
