Men’s Volleyball Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker at Nichols in NECC Semifinals

DUDLEY, Mass. – The No. 3 seed Eastern Nazarene College men's volleyball team fell at second-seeded Nichols 3-2 in a hard-fought New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament semifinal battle Thursday evening.

The Lions finish the campaign with a 14-13 overall record with the result. The Bison improve to 16-11 on the year and advance to their first-ever NECC championship match.

Alejandro Garcia Fernandez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) racked up a match-high 30 kills to go with six digs and three aces. Delfy Soler (Lawrence, Mass.) notched seven kills and 10 digs. Jacob Zarges (Quincy, Mass.) finished with six kills, 10 digs, and a pair of service aces. Aaron Huang (Quincy, Mass.) tallied 43 assists on the night. Defensively, Fernando Paredes (Passaic, N.J.) collected a team-best 11 digs.

The home side eked out a 26-24 win in the first set to claim a 1-0 lead.

The visitors responded with a 25-14 victory in the second frame to level the match at 1-1.

Nichols regained a one-set advantage, 2-1, with a 25-17 decision in the third.

Eastern Nazarene prevailed 25-22 in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set.

The Bison clinched the match with a narrow 15-13 win in the fifth frame.

Ray Wang paced Nichols with 16 kills while Tanner Sarocco posted 14 kills and nine digs. Nick Martin registered 45 assists and Nicholas Basco finished with 11 digs.