BROOKLYN -- Pratt Institute men's volleyball suffered its first loss in 2015, falling 3-0 (17-25, 19-25, 21-25) to visiting Purchase College Thursday night in non-league play at the Pratt ARC.
For the second time in two nights, sophomore David Cutler led the Cannoneers in kills, totaling 12 with a .286 attack percentage. Setter Chris Fantin handed out 18 assists, while middle hitter Connan Moody led all players with three total blocks.
For Purchase, outside hitter Kevin Carges threw down match-highs of 20 kills on 35 swings for a .400 hitting percentage. Riley Damerell added 11 kills and led all players with seven digs in the win.
An Alex Arsovski ace opened Pratt's night ahead 3-1, but two Purchase kills from Matthew McCarthy led to a Jason Demas timeout trailing 13-10, after which a Damerell kill extended the lead to 14-10. Another Arsovski ace pulled Pratt to within 14-15, but Carges totaled four kills in the Panthers 10-3 run to close out the 25-17 Game 1 win.
Pratt earned another early lead on a Moody ace that placed the Cannoneers ahead 8-5. Four Purchase errors followed by an Arsovski kill found Pratt on top 12-5, and the Cannoneers looked poised to tie the match at 1-1. The Panthers promptly answered with a 10-0 run fueled by three Andrew Schwab kills and capped by a Matthew McCarthy service ace, going on top 15-12. Two Carges kills in the final three points closed out Purchase's 25-19 victory.
A Cutler and Matthew Valentine block assist sent Pratt in front 6-4 to open the third set, and a Valentine kill later snapped an 11-11 tie. With the set knotted at 14-14, the Panthers rallied to score six of the next eight points, with a Cutler service error closing out Purchase's 25-21 win.
Arsovski and Moody tied for match-high honors with a pair of aces each.
For the night, Purchase hit .288, holding Pratt to just a .114 attack.
The Cannoneers return to the court on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., traveling to Brooklyn rival Medgar Evers College.
