BRONX -- After relinquishing a Game 1 lead and dropping the second set 25-10, Pratt came from behind to force sudden death at 24-24 before dropping Game 3 26-24 as Lehman won its ninth in a row, besting Pratt 3-0 in non-conference play at the APEX.
Freshman Charlotte Burch led the Cannoneers with eight digs, one short of match-high honors. Junior Diana Lezama and freshman Hannah Calderwood paced the offense with five kills each, but 21 Lightning service aces and a .227 team attack percentage paced the home team, winners of nine in a row and 10-2 overall.
Lezama and freshman Joan Wyeth each threw over a pair of service aces, Wyeth's coming during a critical Pratt Game 3 comeback, but Pratt dropped to 3-4 on the year, falling in straight sets.
Pratt hung tough early on, as a Burch service ace put the Cannoneers ahead 7-5 in the opening set, but two Lehman kills and a pair of Besa Zebalaj aces storming the Lightning on top 14-11. Three more Zebalaj aces in a 7-0 Lehman run forced a Pratt timeout trailing 21-12, and the Lightning went on to win 25-12, with Zebalaj and Imani Dubois each totaling five aces in the set.
Dubois picked up where she left off in the first set, firing three straight aces in five straight Lehman points to open Game 2. A pair of Lezama kills and a service ace from the Cannoneers junior pulled Pratt to within 8-3, but back-to-back Jessica Gonzalez aces forced a Patricia Keenan timeout trailing 11-3. Calderwood kills twice cut the deficit back to 10, but it would be as close as Pratt would come as the Lightning went on to win 25-10.
A Houghton ace and two Dubois attack errors found the Cannoneers on top 3-1 to open Game 3. After four straight Lightning points, Pratt battled back with a Calderwood kill on a pass from Wyeth to tie the contest at 6-6. A 5-0 run again distanced Lehman, then a Lezama ace and a Lightning attack error cut the margin to 14-12, forcing a timeout by Lehman head coach Elvis Rodriguez.
That's where things got interesting. A kill from Pratt junior Melissa Au made it a 15-14 Lehman lead, and a two Wyeth aces and a Lehman error capped a 4-0 run that swung the Cannoneers on top 18-16.
A Lightning kill and service ace re-tied the set at 19-19, and following a kill from Dubois -- inserted for the first time all game -- Lehman looked as if it had the match under control. With the Lightning at match point, a Lehman error and kills from Nicole Teitel and Au, who entered the match owning a combined five kills on the year, and an error from Lehman's Julia Mercado knotted the set at 24-24.
With the set tied at 24-24, the stars of the opening two sets took control, as kills from Zabelaj and Dubois put the set away at 26-24.
At 3-4 on the year, Pratt returns to play with its second tri-match in two weekends, traveling to Becker College in Leicester, MA to take on Mitchell College and the host Hawks Saturday afternoon starting at 1:00 p.m.
