HOBOKEN, N.J. (4/19/2025) – For the first time in program history, the Nichols men's volleyball team will play in the NCAA Championship Quarterfinal, and face No. 5 Juniata College on Saturday, April 19
th at 6:30 PM inside Canavan Arena.
The Bison are 0-2 all-time against the Eagles, and will be meeting them for the second time this season. Nichols advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal after their upsetting No. 3 host Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday evening, 3-1, while the Eagles swept No. 12 Wentworth Institute of Technology in the following match.
The winner of Saturday's quarterfinal will move on to the NCAA Semifinal on Friday, April 25
th in Salem, Virginia.
It has been quite the journey for the Nichols Bison to get to this point, with It all beginning with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 18-25, 25-20) victory over Randolph-Macon in the NCAA Play-In Round. The following day featured Nichols' outstanding upset of the host Ducks, which happened by the same score of 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 31-29).
Throughout the tournament so far, graduate student right-side hitter
Tanner Soracco has led the Bison attack with a combined 30 kills (3.75 K/S) on .413 hitting, while also pitching in defensively with 15 digs and a pair of blocks. Classmate outside hitter
Jack Normandin has also been a force on both sides of the ball, compiling a stat line of 25 kills, 29 digs and three blocks at the net, while senior middle blocker
Dylan Knapp has logged 23 kills on a team-best .419 attack percentage.
As a team, Nichols has hit .282 while averaging 14 kills per set, while holding their opponent to a lower mark of .230 hitting.
In a pool of other notable performances thus far, including playmakers
Chandler Olson (44 assists) and
Evan Sachs (48 assists), the Bison defense has been one of the main story lines throughout the past two contests, which has been led by sophomore libero
Cade Bernardi's 33 digs. His total also included 19 in the upset win over Stevens, which was a career-best mark for the sophomore.
Juniata, ranked No. 5 in the recent AVCA coaches poll, has been one of the nation's top hitting programs, ranking 6
th nationally with a .324 clip. Leading the Eagles into Saturday's showdown is senior middle blocker Luke Hoffman, who currently sits as the top hitter in all NCAA Division III, swinging a blistering .523 on the campaign with 208 total kills. However, it was senior outside hitter Juan Armando who paced the offense in their sweeping victory over Wentworth on Friday, scoring 12 kills in the win. Armando currently leads the team in both kills (246) and digs (134) this season, while Hoffman leads the way in service aces (33) and total blocks (98).
The two teams last met back on February 21
st at Juniata's Eagle Invite Tournament, where they defeated the Bison in straight sets, 3-0 (11-25, 23-25, 19-25).
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