KINGS POINT, NY -- Pratt Institute fell to 0-3 with a pair of 3-0 setbacks to Farmingdale State and Brooklyn College at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) Tournament Saturday afternoon.
The Cannoneers battled back after a 25-10 opening set loss to Farmingdale State, but dropped the final two games 25-22 and 25-20. Junior Joan Wyeth and sophomore Madelyne Grabowski tied for team-high honors with six kills each, while Hannah Calderwood added five on 10 swings for a team-best .300 attack percentage. Limited by the Rams 13 block assists, Pratt hit only .054 as a team, with Farmingdale hitting .300 on the match.
The Rams opened the day with a pair of Amanda Masson kills and scored the first five points of the set. Two Christine Hickey aces later sparked a 6-0 run to close out the 25-10 win. The Cannoneers rebounded to open Game 2, going on top 4-2 on a Joan Wyeth kill. A Joanna Yeung kill later snapped a 15-15 tie, but that would mark Pratt's last lead, as back-to-back Katie DeGraff kills fueled a late 5-0 run that distanced the Rams in the team's 25-22 win.
An early 4-1 hole proved too much to overcome in Game 3, but the Cannoneers came to within 17-15 on a Farmingdale attack error and 18-17 on Alli Houghton's match-best fifth service ace. A Calderwood kill later pulled Pratt to within 23-20 before a kill and an ace from Hickey capped the Rams 25-20 win.
Hickey's 15 kills led all players, while Piscotta tossed a match-high 32 assists.
Against the Bulldogs, 24 errors marred the Cannoneers in the team's 25-16, 25-15, 25-14 setback to Brooklyn College. After hitting .171 as a team in the first set, Pratt turned in negative hitting percentages in the final two sets.
Calderwood tied for match-high honors with nine kills, and junior Linsey Kromer tied for match-best with 13 digs.
A Calderwood kill put Pratt in front 3-1 to open the match, but three Pratt attack errors in a 7-1 Brooklyn run broke a 6-6 tie in distancing the Bulldogs for good in the team's 25-16 Game 1 win. Sasha Roopchand chucked three aces in a 5-0 run to open the second set, but a Wyeth ace capped an 8-2 run that brought the Cannoneers to within 15-13. With Roopchand back at serve, Brooklyn rattled off the final eight points, the last coming on a Brianna Montana kill, in the Bulldogs 25-15 victory.
As Pratt did in Game 1, the team jumped out to an early lead in the third set, going on top 5-2 after a Houghton ace and Wyeth kill. With the set tied at 7-7, two Crystal Wu aces and six Pratt attack errors allowed Brooklyn to close the set on an 18-7 run, winning 25-14.
Led by Wu's match-high 23 assists, the Bulldogs hit .222 as a team, while the Cannoneers hit -.021 on the match.
Pratt returns to play on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., taking on Rutgers-Newark in the Cannoneers home opener.
