BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Jason Raymond and Brooks Reid had near double-doubles and the Pratt Institute men's volleyball team had two one-set leads, but couldn't hold off Purchase College at the Activity Resource Center on Tuesday night.
Raymond led the Pratt (0-3) attack with 13 kills and brought up nine digs, also added three aces and two blocks. Reid put away nine kills and handed out 21 assist to go along with a block and two aces. Max Wang anchored the defense with 14 digs and chipped in six kills, three aces and three assists.
Purchase (2-3) was paced by 14 kills each from Luca Spadinger and Marcus Garguilo, Spadinger also bringing up a match-best 16 kills for a double-double.
The gold-and-black took an early lead in a hotly contested opening set, 26-24, that featured 10 ties and five lead changes. Raymond landed a kill to erase a Purchase set point two points later combined with Wang to stuff a block to seal the opening frame.
Purchase took the second stanza wire-to-wire to level the match before another battle in the third. Raymond and Wang would combine for seven kills in the third set which featured nine ties and three lead changes. With the set tied at 18-all, Pratt closed out the set on a 7-3 run to pull ahead 2-1 in sets.
After five early ties in the fourth and the frame knotted at 7-all, the visitors used a 9-2 run to break away and set up a deciding set. In the fifth set, Purchase built a 4-2 lead that doubled into an 8-4 lead at the side change and Pratt couldn't dig themselves out of the early hole.
Pratt continues a three-match week heading to the Bronx to take on the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Thursday, February 2 starting at 6 p.m.
