OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — The Pratt Institute men's volleyball team returned to the win column taking both ends of a tri-match on Saturday, sweeping host SUNY Old Westbury (25-14, 25-10, 25-16) before downing borough foes Brooklyn College in four sets (25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 25-19).
Pratt (4-6) snapped a three-match skid and picked up a their first win ever over Brooklyn College.
The Cannoneers dominated in the opening match of the day against Old Westbury, trailing just once briefly in the third. Jason Raymond slammed nine error-free kills for a .474 hitting effort to go along with two blocks (one solo). Joji Kawamura put down eight kills on .250 hitting while serving up five aces. Max Wang put away seven kills and brought up a team-high-tying 12 digs. Brooks Reid dished out 22 assists with nine digs, two blocks (one solo) and three kills. Devaun Longley also had three kills on three swings.
Old Westbury (0-2) was limited to 11 kills and a -.085 hitting in defeat with Anthony Moyett leading the hosts with seven kills.
In the matchup with their borough rivals, the trio of Kawamura, Raymond and Wang combined for 37 kills with Kawamura and Wang putting down 13 kills each in a double-double effort as Wang had 15 kills and Kawamura popped up 11. Raymond had another efficient hitting match landing 11 kills at a .265 clip and stuffed five blocks (three solo). Reid handed out 35 assists as the team combined for a season-high 41 kills and also had four blocks (two solo).
A highly-contested opening set saw 14 ties and seven lead changes with neither team able to pull away by more than two. Pratt fell behind 21-19 before closing out the set on a 6-1 run capped off by back-to-back kills by Raymond to clinch the set. The Cannoneers rode the momentum into the second and raced out to a 11-4 lead and never looked back powered by five kills each from Raymond, Kawamura and Wang in a combined .256 hitting set.
The third saw another back-and-forth battle. Pratt assembled a four-point lead early but later found themselves knotted at 14-all with a Brooklyn 5-1 spurt putting them up by four and ahead for good. The momentum swung in the Bulldogs favor to start the fourth as they built as large as a six-point lead at 13-7 and remained ahead at 19-15. But Pratt rallied and won the final 10 points in a row – Wang landing three kills in the run – to deny a Bulldog comeback bid.
Aaron Siu had 12 kills and Armand Kaloshi added 10 kills to pace Brooklyn.
Riding their first win streak since the 2022 season, Pratt travels to the Bronx to face Lehman College on Tuesday, March 5 in a 8 pm showdown.
