THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 3, Nichols 1 (25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22)

Records: Emerson Lions (0-0) ; Nichols Bison (0-0)

Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym)

Date: January 27, 2022

The Lead: Paced by 12 kills and six blocks from sophomore Neiko Pittman, the Emerson men's volleyball team used four sets to complete a 3-1 victory over Nichols in the Lions' season opener on Thursday night at Brown & Plofker Gym. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON 

Pittman: 12 kills & six blocks
Bayden Slavik: 11 assists 
Rory Dobbins: four aces
Bryson Beck: 10 digs 

NICHOLS 

Tanner Soracco: 13 kills
Jake Harasyko: 13 kills
Nicholas Basco: 18 assists & 12 digs
Collin Hunter: seven blocks

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET ONE 

• Down by two at 6-4, Emerson fired off the next eight of nine points and gained the five-point advantage at 12-7 when Nichols committed a service error. 
• Midway through the frame, the teams remained neck-and-neck as Nichols was able to slim their deficit down to two on three occasions. After a kill by Soracco put the score at 18-16, a Bison error at the service line followed by a swing from Dobbins set the Lions off on another spurt.
• A 4-0 spurt by the hosts put the Lions up 22-16, but Nichols was able to respond on their end with a run of their own. The Bison racked up the next six of seven points to pull within one at 23-22. 
• Emerson locked up the set one win after the Bison committed back-to-back mishaps with the score set at 25-23. 

SET TWO 

• Emerson began the second set down 5-2, but with the help of a kill from Pittman, the Lions set off for the set's next six of eight points to lock the score at 8-all. 
• A swing and Lions attack error allowed Nichols to regain the two-point edge, yet the hosts battled back and reclaimed the lead back with an 8-2 run to put the score at 16-12 in Emerson's favor. 
• Nichols responded with five of the next seven points to gain the slight 19-17 edge over Emerson, but once again, Emerson capitalized two Bison errors to lock the score at 19-all. 
• Four of the next five points went to Nichols as the visitors held the 23-20 after a bad Lions set. Despite being down three, Emerson fought and tallied the set's final five points to claim the 25-23 comeback. With two sets in the book, Emerson held the 2-0 lead. 

SET THREE

• Emerson jumped out an early 11-7 advantage over Nichols only to see the Bison set off on a 10-1 run to stretch their lead to 17-12. 
• Three was the closest Emerson was able to keep pace with Nichols at 18-15 for the visitors rattled off five more points to put the Lions in a seven-point hole at 23-16. 
• The Lions registered one last point on a swing from senior Josh Elliot, but the Bison used a pair of swings to take the third set, 25-17. 

SET FOUR 

• Momentum stayed on Nichols' side to open the fourth as the Bison jumped out to a 7-4 edge. Emerson, however, quickly answered with the next four scores to gain the 8-7 lead on three kills and a Dobbins ace. 
• After the Lions leveled the score at 12-all, the Bison rolled out seven of the next eight points as the hosts looked at a five-point deficit at 19-14 entering the final stretch of the fourth. 
• Emerson pushed the score to 20-19 on two Bison's errors before the visitors earned back two scores and the Lions' deficit back to three at 22-19. 
• It was all Emerson down the stretch as a Pittman kill helped spark what would become the game-winning run. 
• Sophomore Luke Roehm served up two aces to square the set at 22-all that were followed by two Bison errors and allowed the Lions to take the late 24-22 edge. 
• With Roehm still serving at the line, the Bison defender deflected the serve out of bounds and sealed the 25-22 comeback win for the hosts. 

UP NEXT

• Emerson makes the quick turnaround as they head across town to take on Emmanuel (Mass.) in a GNAC matchup on Friday, January 28th at 6:00 p.m.