NEWTON, Mass. (2/28/2025) – The Nichols College men's volleyball team cruised past No. 17 Lasell University, 3-0 on Friday night, earning themselves their first ranked victory of the 2025 season at the Lasell Athletic Center. 

The Bison, with sweeps in three of their last four matchups, improve to 9-11 (1-0 NEVC) overall. Lasell falls to 13-5 (4-1 GNAC) with the loss.

Jack Normandin delivered a solid performance for the Bison, scoring 13 kills on 27 attempts (.333) with five digs, and two service aces. Tanner Soracco added 12 kills of his own, alongside seven digs and three blocks, while Chandler Olson set the plays up with 34 assists. Dylan Knapp was also a key piece to the offensive force, scoring seven kills on a team-best .636 hitting percentage, committing zero errors. The Bison combined for a .350 (41-13-80) hitting percentage, with a 41-31 advantage in total kills.

Nichols opened the match with a strong start, taking an early 9-6 lead behind kills from Knapp and Normandin. Lasell fought back by pulling to within one at 13-12, but efficient offense combined with a sequence of Laser kills helped the Bison stay one step ahead of the Lasers, ultimately increasing their lead to 20-17 late in the action. The Bison went on to win the set 25-20, closing with a Knapp service ace.

The Bison were once again quick to the draw in the second set, but still were tasked with fending off an early Lasell comeback. With the score tied at 11-11, the Lasers pulled in front by a 14-12 margin in just their second lead of the night, but saw it quickly disrupted by kills from Soracco and Conor McCabe, tying the score again at 14-14. Down the stretch, the teams continued to juggle points up to a 23-23 stalemate, before Nichols added the final two points of the set to win 25-23, increasing their match lead to 2-0.

Nichols carried its momentum into the final set, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. However, it was more of the same for Nichols, as Lasell battled back to tie the set on several occasions, leading up to a 15-15 standoff midway through. Nichols attempted to pull away with a 4-0 mid-set surge, fueled by a series of kills from Soracco, Normandin, and Knapp, but to little avail at the Lasers continued to close the gap. Finally, with the score tied at 27-27, a Normandin kill followed by a Lasell error finished the job for the Bison, earning them the 3-0 sweep by a high-scoring final of 29-27 in the third set.

Nichols is back home on Thursday, March 6^th for a conference showdown against SUNY Potsdam (4-6), beginning at 7:00 PM.