Release courtesy of Pratt Athletics
NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Third-seeded Pratt fell short in its quest to return to the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship match, falling to No. 2 Culinary Institute of America 3-1 Sunday afternoon in HVIAC semifinals play at The College of New Rochelle.
Juniors Charlotte Burch and Hannah Calderwood led Pratt with 11 kills each, the latter adding two solo blocks and two block assists. Linsey Kromer and Abby Nagy totaled team-bests of 14 digs each, and in her final college match, senior setter Alli Houghton handed out 28 assists to go along with nine digs.
Culinary's Marcela Andonie fired a match-high 10 service aces, including three in a row late in Game 4 that lifted the second seed into the conference championship.
A Nagy ace opened the afternoon with the Cannoneers scoring the first three points, but Game 1 belonged entirely to the Steels after that point. With Pratt leading 6-5, an 8-0 run featuring three Dakota Asbury kills busted the set open at 13-5 in Culinary's favor. The Cannoneers climbed to within 17-12 after a Burch kill, but the Steels scored the final eight points in a 25-12 rout.
The second set opened similarly to Game 1, with a Joan Wyeth kill landing Pratt on top 4-2 before eight straight from Culinary, which took a 10-4 lead. Consecutive Calderwood kills snapped the Steels streak, and another kill from the junior forced a Culinary timeout clinging to a 15-13 lead. Facing set point, two Culinary attack errors later tied the set at 24-24, but Pratt returned the favor with a pair of errors to hand the Steels a 26-24 second set win.
After another Kromer ace gave Pratt its third early lead in three sets at 5-3, the Cannoneers remained in control throughout Game 3, with back-to-back Burch kills forcing a Steels timeout down 8-4. Burch and Beryl Perron-Feller combined on a block assist that again saw the lead grow to four at 16-12, and consecutive Burch service aces out of Culinary's second timeout polished off the Steels at 23-16 in Pratt's 25-16 victory.
Unlike the prior three sets, Pratt started sluggish in Game 4, and the slow start was too much to overcome. Kills from Asbury and Andonie before a Houghton ball handling error forced an Ashley Greene timeout with Pratt trailing 12-7. A Calderwood solo block and Burch kill cut the margin to three, 17-14, but Andonie took over with three straight aces to give Culinary a 21-15 lead, and Andonie's kill closed out a 25-19 Steels win, sending Culinary to the league title match.
For the match, the Steels hit .206, holding Pratt to a .079 attack.
The Cannoneers wrap up 2015 at 7-14, while Culinary improved to 9-6.
In the championship, The College of New Rochelle won its second straight title, 3-0 over the Steels.
