CAMEBRIDGE Mass.– Nichols men's volleyball were unable to come away with a win this afternoon at the MIT Tri Match where they dropped in a five set finish against Regis College (25-17, 29-31, 16-25, 25-12, 10-15) and were swept in a match against MIT (13-25, 20-25, 19-25).

With the two loses on the afternoon the Bison drop to 3-5 (0-0 NEVC)

Match #1 vs Regis College (5-3, 1-0 GNAC)

Sophomore Adam Vincent continued his offensive dominance, posting a match-high 15 kills to lead the Bison attack. Juniors Bradyn Pomainville and Evan Sachs provided strong support, with Pomainville recording nine kills on a .316 hitting percentage and Sachs adding seven while hitting .263. Vincent paced the team from the service line with two aces, while Pomainville and Bonville each contributed one. At the net, sophomore Connor Snow anchored the defense with an impressive five blocks, followed by Pomainville with four and Vincent with three. Sachs orchestrated the offense with 31 assists, while freshman Matt Hand added 14. Defensively, Sachs led the back row with 14 digs, Vincent chipped in 13, and junior libero Cade Bernardi collected 10.Even with the loss, the Bison closed out the match with 69.0 points, 53 kills, and 56 digs, either outpacing or matching Regis in every statistical category.

Nichols opened the first set strong, jumping out to an early 3–0 lead highlighted by a kill from sophomore Austin Gavin. The Bison quickly created separation, extending the advantage to 11–5. The Pride fought to stay within reach, trimming the deficit to four at 17–13, but Nichols responded with a dominant five-point run to put the set out of reach. The Bison closed out the opener at 25–17, capped by a kill from Sachs and a Regis error.

Regis came out with momentum in the second set, taking their first lead of the match with a 6–4 run. The Pride continued to push ahead, but Nichols trailed very close behind. A trio of kills from Gavin, Bonville, and Snow brought the Bison back even at 15–15. The back-and-forth battle continued as Regis inched toward set point, eventually going up 24–22. Nichols refused to fold, rallying for two straight points to force extra play. The Bison briefly took the lead at 27–26, but Regis answered with two quick points to narrowly claim the second set, 31–29.

The third set opened as a tight battle, with the Bison maintaining a slim lead early on. After a kill by Sachs, Regis responded with a decisive 10–4 run to take control at 17–12. With Nichols on their heels, the Pride kept the pressure on, closing the set on an 8–4 surge to secure the third frame, 25–16. Nichols answered back in dominant fashion in the fourth set, recording 12 kills while hitting an impressive .320 as a team. The Bison seized command early, building an 18–6 advantage behind three kills and two service aces from Vincent. Nichols cruised to a convincing 25–12 victory in the fourth, forcing a decisive fifth set.

The decisive fifth set opened with both teams trading points in a tight back-and-forth battle. Nichols struck early with a block from Pomainville and Vincent, followed by multiple kills from Vincent to keep the Bison in rhythm. Snow and Sachs added key points midway through the set, with Snow finishing at the net and Sachs delivering a well-placed kill to spark a brief Nichols run. Despite the push from the Bison, Regis began to gain momentum behind kills from Jalen Watt and Vincent Betonio, slowly creating separation late in the frame. Nichols continued to fight with another kill from Vincent, but the Pride closed out the final set 15–10 to secure the match.

Match #2 at MIT (7-0, 0-0 UVC)

Bradyn Pomainville led the Bison in their second match against host No. 17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their second contest in the MIT Tri-Match. Pomainville led the kills column with seven on the night, a shared leader with Connor Snow. Evan Sachs was the Bison leader for assists tallying 21, as well as leading the team defensively with six digs.

The first set saw the Bison struggling to keep in tow with the Engineers. Snow led in kills with his three, also noting a service ace from Pomainville. MIT convincingly broke away in the first set following a seven-unanswered run at 12-16 that put the Engineers up by a decent margin, only seeing retaliation with the score at 12-23. Down double-digits and unable to rally for a comeback, the Engineers took the first set, 13-25.

The second set of play proved to be the closest for Nichols. MIT stopped runs from overpowering them, only letting the Bison see a 3-0 run at their peak in the second, an attack led by Snow and credited to a couple attack errors. On the other side of the court, the Engineers also struggled to efficiently lead extended attacks unlike the first, with their largest run also just at 3-0. Despite the Bison being able to keep the set within winning range only down by single-digits, MIT took set two, 20-25.

The third and final set of the contest appeared to a be similar song and dance, with the Bison keeping the score close and producing solid runs off of kills from Pomainville, but the Engineers proved to be too strong a match in the end, sealing the game in three sets following a 19-25 Bison loss.

The Bison will continue their season at Lasell University on Tuesday, February 10th at the Lasell Athletic Center. Start time is set for 7:00 PM.