BROOKLYN – Pratt Institute earned its fourth straight win, sweeping Webb Institute 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 25-18) Thursday night at the Pratt ARC in non-conference men's volleyball play.
Cannoneers junior David Cutler led all players with 27 kills and 28 digs. On his Senior Night at the ARC, middle hitter Matthew Valentine led Pratt with a .227 attack percentage, totaling eight kills with only three errors on 22 attacks, and setter Brandon Ryan handed out a match-high 43 set assists as the Cannoneers improved to 8-3.
For Webb, Brian Mills led the team with nine kills, and Andrew Pidduck totaled six kills on 12 attacks with two errors, hitting a match-best .333.
A night after going to five sets in the Cannoneers 3-2 win over Brooklyn rival St. Joseph's, the hosts came out predictably slow, as three Webbies threw down kills in a 4-0 visitors run starting the night. Cutler answered that run with three consecutive kills on feeds from Ryan, and a Chris Fantin kill marked the first tie of the set at 9-9. With the game notched at 12-12, Valentine's kill handed the Cannoneers the lead for good, as Pratt held on to win 25-21.
Another sluggish start marred the Cannoneers in Game 2, with three attack errors and back-to-back Tyler Gray-Hoehn kills helping the Webbies jump out to a 10-3 lead. Trailing 11-4, an 11-4 Pratt run featuring two kills each from Valentine and Cutler evened the set at 15-15. Eight ties later, with the game knotted at 25-25 after a Ryan Chozick kill, untimely attack errors from Chozick and Pidduck decided the set, with Pratt prevailing 27-25.
Valentine kills tied Game 3 at 5-5 and 6-6. The senior's third kill of the set sparked a 7-0 run highlighted by all three of Andreas Haji-Georgi's match-best three service aces, and Haven Gordon's fifth kill of the night increased the Cannoneers lead to seven, at 18-11. Webb answered with five straight points to pull within 18-16, but two Ryan service aces and a Fantin kill widened the lead to six, and the Cannoneers cruised to a 25-18 victory.
On the night, Pratt hit .196, while holding Webb to a .105 attack percentage.
Fantin, Valentine, and Wong were honored in a pre-match Senior Night ceremony. All three student-athletes crucial members of the foundation of Pratt men's volleyball, Fantin entered tonight averaging a career-high 1.67 digs per set, Valentine eclipsed a career single-season mark with 66 kills in 2016, and Wong notched a career-best 20 digs in last night's win over St. Joseph's.
At 8-3, on a four-match winning streak, and winners of six of eight, Pratt travels to Culinary Institute of America on Sunday. Pratt bested CIA 3-1 at the ARC on March 5.
