Release courtesy of Pratt Athletics

BROOKLYN – Pratt Institute earned a 3-0 win in its Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's volleyball opener, knocking off The King's College 3-0 (25-6, 25-22, 25-20) Thursday night at the ARC. 

Cannoneers junior Charlotte Burch led all players with 11 kills, while fellow middle hitter Hannah Calderwood added 10 on 22 swings with only one error for a match-best .409 attack percentage. Setter Abby Nagy handed out a match-best 23 assists and added nine digs in the win.

The opening game belonged to the Cannoneers from the outset. After a pair of Joan Wyeth kills, back-to-back service aces from the junior opened up a 7-2 Pratt lead. Fellow Connecticut native Madelyne Grabowski kills upped the margin to 14-3 and later to 20-5 as the Cannoneers cruised, 25-6.

The following two sets were markedly closer, as Game 2 saw a Calderwood kill put Pratt on top 10-7. Several ties later, another kill from the junior opened up leads of 17-15 and 21-17. King's scored four of five to pull within 24-22, but with the set on the line, a Burch kill fended off the Lions rally in closing out a narrow 25-22 win.

Game 3 was also a tightly contested battle in which a Burch kill landed Pratt ahead 14-12 before an Alexandra Rollis kill gave King's a 17-16 advantage. The lead was short-lived, as a Burch kill out of a Lions timeout put Pratt on top 20-18. With the Cannoneers leading 23-20 out of another Jacqueline Randolph, Burch's ace upped the margin to four before a Calderwood kill wrapped up the 25-20 victory.

As a team, Pratt hit .276, while King's hit only -.019.

The Cannoneers stay in HVIAC play, traveling to The College of New Rochelle on Saturday to take on the Blue Angels and Davis College.