LEICESTER, MA -- Pratt rebounded from a 3-2 loss to Mitchell College and overcame a 2-1 deficit to host Becker College to knock off the Hawks 3-2 Saturday afternoon.
In the win over Becker, HVIAC Player of the Week Alli Houghton led the way with 28 assists and a match- and career-high 16 service aces, including four straight aces to open the deciding set, which ultimately decided the match. Junior Diana Lezama added a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 10 digs, and freshman Joan Wyeth enjoyed the most productive match of her young career, firing six aces to go along with a team-best 13 digs as the Cannoneers snapped a four-match slide and improved to 4-5.
In the opening set, Pratt led late in a tightly contested set before Becker stormed back by scoring the final four points to seal a 25-21 win. The Cannoneers led the majority of the set, taking a four-point lead on a Houghton ace at 16-12. Leading 23-21, a Kaitlyn Burns kill and a Lezama attack error tied the set at 23-23 before Burns sealed Becker's 25-23 come-from-behind win with two straight service aces.
After squandering the late lead, Pratt responded with its most emphatic run of the season to open the second set, which would also ultimately slip away in Game 2. Six Houghton aces sparked a 10-0 run to open the set, and the Cannoneers took a 15-1 lead after a pair of Hawks errors. Becker responded with an 18-5 run to come within a point at 20-19, but Pratt scored the next four with the help of three Hawks errors to set up set point at 24-19. Becker tied the set at 24-24 on a Jacquelline Chila kill, but a pair of Hawks attack errors then handed Pratt a 26-24 win.
Trailing 10-8 in the third set, a Joan Wyeth service ace and back-to-back Lezama kills pulled Pratt on top 15-10, which also wouldn't last. With Pratt ahead 17-12, an 8-1 Becker run led by two of Marissa Turner's match-high 24 kills put the Hawks on top for good at 20-18 in the team's 25-22 win.
A Tuner attack error put Pratt on top 3-2 in Game 4, and the Cannoneers led the rest of the way. On top 7-6, a 6-0 run capped by back-to-back Hannah Calderwood kills extended the Cannoneers lead to 13-7, and another kill from the freshman put the visitors on top 19-12 as Pratt held on for a 25-19 win, forcing a fifth and deciding game.
Houghton gunned four consecutive service aces to open the deciding set as Pratt took a 6-1 lead, another lead the Hawks erased. A 5-0 Hawks run with Kayla Prior at serve promptly tied the set at 6-6. With Pratt clinging to a 10-9 lead its freshmen came to life, with a Calderwood kill and Wyeth's sixth ace upping the lead to 12-9. Two attack errors and a service error from Becker's Alexandra Berthaut later, Pratt had closed out a 15-11 win to seal a split in the Bay State.
Pratt freshman Charlotte Burch stuffed the stat sheet in the win, swinging for six kills with only one error on 16 attempts for a team-best .312 hitting percentage, adding four aces, four digs and a solo block.
The Cannoneers and Mitchell exchanged wins in the first two sets, with Pratt taking the opener 25-17 and the Mariners capturing the second set 25-18. Pratt led by as many as six early on in Game 3, but in what would become a theme, the Cannoneers let the lead slip away before rebounding late. An illegal set from Houghton gave Mitchell its first lead of the game at 20-19, but it was Pratt that this time scored the final four points after trailing 23-21, as back-to-back Calderwood kills closed the book on a 25-23 Game 3 victory.
Leading two sets to one, Pratt had a chance to seal a win over Mitchell in Game 4 leading 20-15 before two Amanda Garcia kills sparked a 4-0 run for the Mariners. With the game tied at 23-23 and Lezama serving, another Garcia kill and one from Amanda Rowan completed Mitchell's comeback, 25-23, forcing a fifth set.
Lezama's kill gave Pratt a 2-0 lead, but Mitchell went on to score five of the next seven and never trailed again. A Charles error allowed Pratt to inch within 14-12, providing optimism with Houghton at serve, but Garcia kept the lid on Mitchell's lead, delivering a kill to seal the 15-12 win.
Lezama nearly tallied another double-double, finishing with nine kills and nine digs, and Calderwood complimented her nine kills with a match- and career-best six aces. Renia Kagkou led all players with 11 digs to go along with seven kills in the loss.
Pratt returns to the court in non-league play on Tuesday at Maritime at 7:30 p.m.
