BRONXVILLE, NY -- A team effort led by Hannah Calderwood and Abby Nagy helped Pratt overcome a Game 1 loss in the team's 3-1 win (24-26, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21) at Sarah Lawrence College in non-conference women's volleyball play Friday night.
Calderwood led all players with 21 kills and three solo blocks, completing a double-double with 14 digs, and distanced Pratt with three crucial kills late in the deciding fourth set. Nagy followed with eight kills and a team-high 20 set assists, and Joan Wyeth led all players with 21 digs, pacing four Cannoneers with 14 or more.
For Sarah Lawrence, CJ Kelley led the way with 16 digs and dished out a match-best 24 assists.
Three Pratt attack errors, two from Calderwood, found the team in a 5-0 hole to open the night before two Calderwood kills and two Gryphons attack errors marked a 4-0 run that pulled Pratt to within 11-10. Sarah Lawrence responded with a 7-1 run sparked by Ellen Spentzouris' service ace leading to a Pratt timeout, but kills from Linsey Kromer and Beryl Perron-Feller preceded a Calderwood ace that forced a Gryphons timeout as the hosts clung to a 20-17 lead.
A Wyeth kill and Sarah Lawrence error made it a 22-21 game, forcing another Gryphons timeout, out of which Nagy's kill tied the set at 22-22. A ball handling error and bad set by Alli Houghton handed the Gryphons a 24-22 lead, but a Marie Richter service error and Calderwood kill retied the game at 24-24. From there, a Kelley kill and Calderwood attack error closed out Sarah Lawrence's 26-24 Game 1 win.
Pratt led from the outset in Game 2, with three Calderwood kills putting the visitors on top 9-3. Her attack error and a Seven Green kill brought Sarah Lawrence to within 10-7, but a Perron-Feller service ace reopened the margin to five at 13-8. Calderwood responded with a kill out of an Ashley Greene timeout, raising the lead back to three, and Nagy and Calderwood kills closed out a 25-17 win.
A Calderwood kill and Gryphons attack error tied Game 3 at 7-7, but back-to-back Spentzouris service aces gave the Gryphons the team's biggest lead yet, 15-11. A Nagy kill forced a Gryphons timeout, after which two Nagy aces, two Gryphons errors, and a Houghton kill found Pratt suddenly on top 19-15 after an 8-0 Cannoneers run.
After Green called a timeout while clinging to a 21-19 lead, a Kromer ace and two Gryphons attack errors closed out Pratt's 25-22 win.
Sarah Lawrence scored three straight on kills from Green and Kelly to take a 7-6 lead to start Game 3. With the teams trading leads, kills from setters Nagy and Houghton wrapped around a bad Green set put Pratt on top 16-13. A Calderwood kill and Wyeth service ace led to a Sarah Lawrence timeout trailing 20-17, after which Calderwood threw down kills number 20, 21, and 22, all from Nagy, to go on top 23-17.
Sarah Lawrence rallied for three straight out of the timeout, but a Calderwood solo block followed by a well-placed Perron-Feller attack sealed a 25-21 Game 4 win and Pratt's 3-1 match victory.
Led by Calderwood's .212 attack, Pratt hit .174 as a team, while the Gryphons (2-12) hit .086.
With the win, Pratt improves to 5-12 and has now alternated wins and losses in its last six matches, a string the team looks to snap in Sunday's tri-match versus the Culinary Institute of America and Yeshiva University.
