NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-23) loss to visiting Nichols College this evening at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons drop to 10-14 in their inaugural campaign, while the Bison improve to 14-14 on the season.
Nichols hit a healthy .253 for the match, while hitting at least .188 in each set, including .303 in the third frame. Wheaton hit .239 for the match and progressively got better as the match went on with its offense.
Sophomore outside hitter Connor Lloyd (Swansea, Mass.) spiked for a match-high 12 kills on a .269 hitting mark to go with four digs and two block assists to lead the Lyons. Sophomore right side hitter Jack Kenyon (Westerly, R.I.) put away 10 kills, scooped up six digs, fired a pair of aces and registered a block. First year outside hitter R. Bennett Chiappetta (Middlefield, Conn.) swung for seven kills, picked up seven digs and was credited with three blocks. First year setter Jacob Hoy (Essex Junction, Vt.) recorded a match-high 31 assists, three blocks and a pair of digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Adam Vincent (Simsbury, Conn.) put down 11 kills to lead the Nichols. He hit .429 for the match and added a match-high three aces, five digs and a block for the Bison, while junior outside hitter Bryce Bonville (Waterford, N.Y.) contributed with eight kills, an ace and a pair of digs. Junior setter Evan Sachs (Long Island, N.Y.) set for 27 assists, got down for eight digs and up for three blocks.
The teams played within two points of each other through the first half of the opening set with seven ties. Wheaton took a 9-7 margin following a Chiappetta kill, before Nichols ripped off seven straight points, fueled by three kills and two aces from Vincent, to give the visitors a 14-9 lead. The Lyons scored the next three points, including an ace from first year setter Sebastian DeCubellis (Lincoln, R.I.) to pull them within 14-12. The Bison scored five of the next six points, including two kills from sophomore right side hitter Austin Gavin (Clinton, Mass.), to increase their margin to 19-13. Junior middle hitter Bradyn Pomainville (Clifton Park, N.Y.) bumped the Nichols' advantage to 21-14, before a 4-1 run cut the deficit to 22-18 for Wheaton. The Bison scored three of the last four points to close out the frame, including an ace from Vincent on set point to give Nichols a 1-0 match lead.
The sides were tied at 8-8 and traded points to remain deadlocked at 13-13 after a kill from Lloyd in the second set. Nichols put together a 6-2 stretch, backed by a pair of kills from Pomainville and a kill and an ace from Bonville, to take a 19-15 lead. A Bonville kill maintained the margin at 20-16, before a pair of kills from Kenyon helped spur three unanswered points from the home team to close within 20-19. Lloyd kept the Lyons within one at 23-22, before the Bison tallied the final two points of the set to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Chiappetta put down a kill to give Wheaton an early 7-3 lead, but Nichols scored five of the next six to knot the set at 8-8 and later 9-9. The Lyons reeled off six of the next seven, including a block from Hoy to give Wheaton a 15-10 cushion. The Bison responded with a 7-2 burst, led by a pair of kills from Vincent to tie the frame at 17-17. Another Vincent kill kept it even at 18-18, before Nichols scored five of the next seven points to take a 23-20 margin. The Lyons would not back down with three of the next four points, including an assisted block from Hoy and Chiappetta to keep the Blue and White within one at 24-23. Pomainville put down the final kill of the night to give the Bison the sweep.
Nichols returns to the court on Wednesday, April 8 for the first round of the New England Volleyball Conference Championship Tournament, while Wheaton heads to Cambridge, Mass. on April 4 for a tri-match at 12:00 p.m. with host No. 15 Massachusetts Institute of Technology and No. 19 Lasell University.
