IMMACULATA, Pa. — The Pratt Institute women's volleyball team fell in straight sets to Immaculata University on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 25-16, 25-14, 25-21 Atlantic East Conference decision at Alumnae Hall.
Immaculata (8-16, 3-2 Atlantic East) commanded the opening frame, building an early 7-2 lead before pushing the margin to 16-8 behind Madi Kyle's attack. Pratt (8-11, 2-3 Atlantic East) answered with consecutive points, getting an ace from Zoe Broerman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and a kill by Joanna Doyle (Warren, N.H.), but the Mighty Macs maintained their cushion to take the set, 25-16.
The Mighty Macs carried that momentum into the second set, racing to leads of 10-7 and 14-8. Colleen Russell (Asbury, N.J.) delivered consecutive kills to keep the Cannoneers within range at 16-12, but Immaculata responded with an 8-1 surge to earn set point at 24-13 on the way to a 25-14 win.
Pratt mounted its strongest charge of the afternoon in the third set. Trailing 8-4, the Cannoneers pieced together a 4-0 run behind the serving of Jamie Shoemake (La Crescenta, Calif.) — who fired three consecutive aces — to tie the score at 8-8. Later in the frame, down 14-11, Emma Hwang (Dallas, Texas) keyed a 4-0 spurt with an ace and a Shoemake kill to give Pratt a 15-14 lead. The Mighty Macs countered with a 5-0 burst to take a 19-15 advantage. Pratt battled back to pull within 21-20 and 22-21 on kills from Shoemake and Russell, but Immaculata secured the final three points to finish off the sweep, 25-21.
Shoemake paced the Cannoneers with five service aces, four kills, and four digs. Russell contributed six kills, six digs, and two assists, while Doyle added four kills on .154 hitting. Hwang ran the offense with 16 assists, four digs, and two service aces. Broerman led the back-row defense with a match-high 14 digs and added an ace.
Pratt totaled 19 kills, seven service aces, and 41 digs on the day. Immaculata hit .267 as a team with 33 kills, nine service aces, and 40 digs.
Kyle led the Mighty Macs with a match-high 12 kills on .391 hitting, while Sophia Banach added eight kills and seven digs. Angelica Santini Bulerin orchestrated the host offense with 25 assists, five digs, and three kills, and Adriana Ventura collected 10 digs.
Pratt returns to action looking to sweep the two-game series against Saint Elizabeth University on Wednesday, Nov. 4 in Morristown, N.J. starting at 7 p.m.
