BROOKLYN – Pratt Institute men's volleyball fell 3-0 to visiting Sage College Saturday afternoon at the Pratt ARC.
Freshman Dean Liaw led Pratt with eight kills but hit only .033 as the Cannoneers were limited to -.083 hitting by Sage's sizable front line. David Cutler's 13 digs and fellow senior Ari Grant's two solo blocks and two block assists led the Pratt's defense, though the Gators sizzling .518 hitting proved insurmountable.
Sage set the tone early, scoring nine of the first 10 points to open the frame. A Bailey Cecchi kill forced Cannoneers head coach Jason Demas' second timeout of the set trailing 16-3, and the junior totaled five kills for the set in the Gators 25-7 runaway victory.
Grant's kill to open the middle set got Pratt out to a 2-1 lead, but the visitors scored four of the next five to force a Pratt timeout with the Cannoneers trailing 5-3. After a 4-0 Sage run, and Andreas Haji-Georgi kill brought Prat to within 12-5, but two Melvin Tejada kills sparked another Gators 4-0 run as Sage prevailed 25-10.
After hitting -.320 in the first, Pratt hit .190 in the second but Cecchi totaled nine kills with only one error on 11 swings for a scorching .727 attack percentage through two sets, which would be his total for the day.
Haven Gordon's kill brought the Cannoneers with within 5-3 to open Game 3, and Grant and Arthur Carmo's block assist made it a two-point game at 8-6. Sage responded with an 8-0 run capped by a pair of Jared Almy kills, going on top 16-6 and winning 25-11.
The loss drops Pratt to 6-4, while Sage improves to 9-8. The Cannoneers return to play March 23 at Webb Institute.
