BROOKLYN -- The Cannoneers held leads at the midway point in both of the first two sets, but fell 3-0 to the College of St. Elizabeth before a straight-set loss to New Jersey City University at the Pratt tri-match Saturday at the ARC.
Against St. Elizabeth, junior Hannah Calderwood led the Cannoneers with eight kills, while setter Alli Houghton led the team with 14 assists.
For the Eagles, Carolina Marte led all players with 17 kills, while Nicole Morera tossed a match-best 38 assists.
Back-to-back Marte service eaces opened up a 9-3 Eagles lead to start the day, but three straight St. Elizabeth attack errors and a Calderwood solo block handed Pratt a 16-13 lead that forced an Amanda Rodrigues timeout. The Eagles responded with an Ashley Morera kill that trimmed the margin to 20-19, and sister Nicole's ace put the Eagles on top 23-19 in a 7-0 run that saw the visitors close out a 25-19 win.
Calderwood kills extended an early Pratt lead to 5-2 and then to 7-2, as a rejuvinated Cannoneers team scored nine of the first 11 to start the second set. A Marte kill forced a tie at 13-13 to cap a 11-4 run, and another kill from the freshman outside hitter swung the lead in in the visitors' favor at 18-16. A Kiana Cunningham kill extended the lead to 20-16, and St. Elizabeth hung on for another 25-19 win.
The Eagles momentum from the second set continued, as the team jumped out to a 6-0 after a Marte kill in opening Game 3. A Houghton ace later pulled Pratt to within three at 15-12, but St. Elizabeth scored seven of the next 10, going on top 22-15 on an Ashley Morera ace and winning 25-18.
For the match, the Eagles hit .255, while Pratt hit .113 as a team.
New Jersey City spotted Pratt an early 6-5 lead thanks to back-to-back Gothic Knights attack errors, and an Abby Nagy kill upped the margin to 9-6 early in Game 1. A Calderwood ace again made it a three-point game at 13-10, as did an ace from Houghton at 17-14.
The Gothic Knights rallied to score four of the next five points before a Nagy and Madelyne Grabowski block assist tied the contest at 18-18. With the set tied at 20-20, NJCU again scored four of five points, with a Shege McIntyre kill widening the margin to 24-21 in the Knights 25-21 win.
Calderwood and Joanna Yeung kills tied Game 2 at 6-6 before a Rayo kill and McIntyre ace around a Pratt timeout suddenly found NJCU up six, 15-9. An Elyssa Magee ace made it a seven-point contest at 20-13, as the Knights coasted, 25-17.
Shege Haxhaj's solo block sparked an 8-1 NJCU run opening the third set. A Jacqueline Romero kill put the visitors up double figures at 17-7 before a Nagy ace trimmed the margin to eight at 23-15. That would be as close as the Cannoneers would come, as a Romero ace helped close out NJCU's 25-15 win.
Calderwood totaled nine kills on 20 swings with only one error for a .400 attack percentage, all Pratt bests, while Haxhaj threw down 10 kills with one error over 20 attacks for a .450 average. Houghton handed out a season-high 19 assists, and McIntyre dished out 21 for the Knights.
In the middle match, St. Elizabeth's (4-2) knocked off NJCU (5-2), 3-0.
Pratt (0-6) continues its homestand on Thursday at 7:30 against Purchase College.
