BROOKLYN -- Pratt locked up a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Confernece playoff berth with a third win in four matches, a 3-0 victory over Sarah Lawrence College Monday night in HVIAC women's volleyball play.
Freshman Hannah Calderwood (Clinton, WA/South Whidbey) led all players with seven service aces, nine kills and a season-high .818 hitting percentage, making zero errors on 11 attempts. For the freshman it was her second match in a week with an attack percentage over .700.
Junior Diana Lezama (Bethesda, MD/Hotchkiss) added six aces and seven kills with only three errors on 18 attempts as Pratt fired 19 aces as a team in clinching a winning HVIAC record at 4-3 in league play. Sophomore Alli Houghton (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) notched a double-double of 15 assists and a match-best 11 digs as the Cannoneers moved to within a game of .500 at 7-8 overall.
A Lezama ace upped Pratt's lead to 7-1 in the first set, which Pratt never trailed. Lezama's kill upped the lead to 18-10 and forced a Jillian Kalvik timeout, and the Cannoneers used a 13-3 run to take a 21-10 lead in its 25-13 win.
Another Lezama kill followed by a Calderwood ace put Pratt on top 19-10 in Game 2. A Nicole Garcia (Bogota, Columbia/Damascus) kill helped fend off a Gryphons rally and upped the lead to 23-14 in the Cannoneers 25-14 victory.
In Game 3, a Calderwood kill snapped a 7-7 tie, and a 6-0 run featuring four Calderwood aces put Pratt on top for good at 14-8. Back-to-back Clarisse Taboy (Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia/George) aces brought Sarah Lawrence to within 23-19, but a Taboy service error and one of HVIAC aces leader Houghton's three aces iced the 25-20 win.
For the Gryphons (3-19, 1-4 HVIAC), Taboy led the way with five aces and 10 digs, and freshman setter Janet Tonyan (McHenry, IL/McHenry) dished out a match-best 16 assists.
Pratt returns to play on Thursday in non-conference play at John Jay and honors seniors Garcia, Melissa Au and Regnia Kagkou on Saturday against the College of Staten Island at 1:00 at the Pratt ARC.
