SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (2/8/2025) – The Nichols College men's volleyball team was bested in both ends of the No. 7 Springfield College tri-match on Saturday night. Nichols first battled to a five-set thriller against No. 20 MIT, losing 3-2 (24-26, 27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 7-15) before falling to host Springfield College, 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 23-25) to end the evening.

The pair of the losses moves Nichols' record to 4-9 overall.

Match #1 vs No. 20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Jack Normandin led the Bison in the five-set thriller, notching 23 kills on 41 attempts for a .366 hitting percentage, while also adding six digs and two service aces. Dylan Knapp secured 11 kills alongside his own pair of aces, while Evan Sachs distributed 44 assists for his second 40-plus assist outing of the season. Cade Bernardi led the defensive effort, collecting 14 digs.

The first two sets were each played to a tiebreak, with MIT claiming the win in the opener, 26-24. However, the Bison answered back with the win in the second set, defeating the Engineers by a score of 27-25 thanks to back-to-back Normandin kills. Between the first two sets, the Bison hit .381 with 21 combined kills.

Nichols kept it going with the victory in the third set, but received most of their momentum from MIT errors as the Engineers committed 13 total miscues. On the offensive side, Nichols scored combined 11 kills throughout the set, including three from Connor McCabe late in the action to help the Bison secure the win, and 2-1 match lead.

However, in an otherwise tick-for-tack fourth set, MIT stole the win from the Bison behind a late 7-0 surge, which in turn helped the Engineers score nine of the final 12 points, tying the match at 2-2.

MIT ultimately hung on to the momentum and took the fifth set, 15-7, winning the match 3-2.

Match #2 vs No. 7 Springfield College

McCabe posted nine kills as Nichols' top attacker, which came with four digs and two blocks. Sachs returned as the team leader in assists with 12, while Bernardi and Sachio Kekati each recorded five digs.

The two sides stuck with each other in a point-for-point opening set, but it would be Springfield gaining the upper hand midway through following a brief 5-2 run that earned them a 16-13 advantage. From then onward, Nichols struggled to climb back in the race, with the Pride claiming five of the final seven points on the way to an eventual 25-19 victory to open the match.

As was the case in the first set, Springfield gained the upper hand of the middle frame midway through, turning an 11-11 score into 16-14 lead. To follow, the Pride mounted an 8-1 run to bring the score to set point at 24-15, before winning on a final Bison error, 25-15.

Springfield took control of the final frame in the early stages as the home team jumped out to a 11-5 cushion. Nichols countered with a 5-2 run that trimmed the host lead down to 13-10, but the Pride again attempted to distance themselves with their own 4-1 stretch, bringing the score to 17-11 Springfield. Despite a resilient effort the rest of the way, Nichols' comeback bid fell short in the end, with Springfield winning 25-23 to complete the sweep.   

The Bison will return to the Nichols Athletic Center on Friday, February 14^th when it hosts Russell Sage College (3-10) in their first NEVC match of the season. Opening serve is set for 7:00 PM.