St. Paul, Minn.- In a rematch of the 2006 NCCAA National championship game, the Palm Beach Atlantic University and Cedarville University volleyball teams were at it again, this time in the opening round of this years tournament held at Northwestern College (Minn.).

While last season featured a Cedarville squad that handed the Sailfish a 3-0 defeat, tonight’s match was a full-length, instant classic that saw the Fish end up on top this time by a match tally of 3-2.

After opening up with a solid 30-17 victory in game one, the Fish came back down to Earth in the next game as the Yellowjackets capitalized and came away with a 31-29 victory in a back-and-forth tilt. After PBA appeared to once again gain control after a game three victory of 30-14, the resilient Jackets once again proved pesky as they forced a fifth and deciding game with a 30-28 game four win.

Game five however would belong to the Fish as they went up 8-2 early on and rode that momentum to the 15-12 win, pushing the #7-seeded Sailfish past the #6-seeded Yellowjackets in the opening round of play.

Brittany Erickson (La Mesa, Calif.) continued her torrid 2007 campaign as the NCCAA Southeast Region Player of the Year put together another fantastic performance against the Jackets. Erickson tallied 20 kills while adding in 11 digs, and four total blocks.

The NCCAA Southeast Region Setter of the Year, Emily Ryerson (Winter Springs, Fla.) continued her solid work as well as she totaled a sound all-around game which featured a performance of 38 assists, 17 digs, four kills, and six total blocks.

Other PBA players registering double-digits in kills were seniors Ali Mitchell (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Bia Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who both registered 10 kills while freshman Kristin Carroll just missed out on double-figures with nine kills. Santos paced the Sailfish defensive effort with 24 digs followed closely by Mitchell with 22 digs.

Now 1-0 to start pool play, the Fish will have another tough opponent on Friday when they square off against #2-seed Bethel College (Ind.) in what should be an electric match. The Pilots are coming off an impressive 3-2 match victory over #3-seed The Masters College. The match is set for 12:00 p.m.

Stay tuned to the PBA athletics site for updates, recaps, and highlights of Palm Beach Atlantic’s trip to the NCCAA National Tournament.