BROOKLYN -- Pratt Institute improved to 4-4 with a 3-0 win over visiting Sarah Lawrence College in non-conference men's volleyball play Friday night at the ARC.
Outside hitter Alex Arsovski led the Cannoneers with a .462 attack percentage and 11 digs. Sophomore David Cutler hit .409, narowly missing a double-double with nine kills and nine digs, and HVIAC Rookie of the Week Brandon Ryan added nine digs and five assists as Pratt evened its record at 4-4.
The hosts forced the Gryphons into a negative attack percentage in all three sets, and Pratt hit a scorching .261 or better in each of the first two sets. For the Gryphons, Amit Sankaran led all players with 12 digs.
Pratt junior Matthew Valentine got the scoring started with a solo block and a kill that put the Cannoneers on top 8-1 in Game 1. His block assist upped the lead to 10-1, leading to a Jillian Kalvik timeout, and an Arsovski ace later closed out Pratt's 25-7 win.
A pair of service aces from setter Chris Fantin helped send the Cannoneers out to a 10-5 lead in the second set, and another ace from the junior upped the advantage to 23-8. A Moody solo block made it a 24-8 lead before Ryan's kill closed out the team's 25-8 victory.
An Arsovski kill handed Pratt an early 8-6 lead in Game 3, and Connan Moody's kill snapped an 11-11 tie. Cutler's ace increased the lead to 18-14 before kills from Arsovski and Cutler capped Pratt's 25-17 win.
Fantin led all players with four aces and 12 assists for the Cannoneers, which hit .203 as a team. Sarah Lawrence (0-6), meanwhile, was held to a -.176 attack for the night.
Pratt returns to play Saturday at 1:00 against Culinary Institute of America, also at the ARC.
