BROOKLYN -- Pratt dropped a 3-2 decision to Yeshiva University (22-25, 25-25, 18-25, 25-23, 13-15) and lost 3-0 (17-25, 13-25, 17-25) to Sage College to finish the Cannoneers return season at .500 on Sunday at the ARC.
Trailing two games to one against Yeshiva, a Connan Moody kill opened up a 16-12 lead for Pratt. Four straight Maccabees points tied the set at 16-16 before another Moody kill broke the tie in Pratt's favor, and the Cannoneers led the rest of the way in the team's 25-23 win that sent the match to a deciding set.
Kills by Alex Arsovski and David Cutler helped send Pratt out to a 3-1 lead in Game 5, but a kill and a block assist from Yeshiva's Menacham Goldstein later tied the set at 8-8. Two Goldstein attack errors around an Ari Grant kill followed, putting Pratt in the driver's seat leading 11-8.
With a win and a chance at a winning season at stake, Cannoneers errors handed the lead to Yeshiva and would not relinquish it, as a service error, a ball handling error and three attack errors, all in succession, swung the lead in the Maccabees favor at 13-8. A Cutler kill on a feed from setter Chris Fantin brought Pratt to within 14-12, but Yeshiva answered with a Joseph Lipton kill to take a 15-13 win to seal the match.
For the match, Pratt out-hit Yeshiva .090 to .063, but the Macs mustered 54 kills over 191 swings compared to only 44 on 166 for the Cannoneers. Cutler tied with Goldsetin for match-high honors with 19 kills and led all players with a .255 hitting percentage, tying teammate Meijun Cai with a match-best 22 digs. Making his season debut in today's tri-match, Ari Grant totaled 12 kills and led all players with a pair of solo blocks.
Against Sage, Cutler threw down a match-best nine kills, but the Gators hit .141 as a team and held Pratt to a -.099 attack, handing out 26 assists to only 11 for Pratt. Four Cannoneers totaled six digs each, but Sage earned its second victory of the day with a 3-0 triumph.
Pratt finishes the team's return to play at .500, going 4-4. The Cannoneers with join the rest of Pratt's teams in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) when the team returns in 2015.
