WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- Taking part in day two of the Northwood University Tournament, the Palm Beach Atlantic University volleyball team came out a bit rusty but recovered in time to take the match 3-1 over host Northwood on Saturday afternoon. The victory over the Seahawks pushes PBA’s tournament record to 3-0 and their season record to 8-8.

With the victory over NU, PBA will now move on to face Clearwater Christian College in the tournament’s championship match later this afternoon at approximately 2:30 pm.

Once again utilizing a deep lineup in order to see much needed court time for her young squad, head coach Beth Avila came away with an even better understanding of how her 2008 squad is shaping up.

After dropping the opener 26-24, the Fish stormed back to take the final three sets with  much more ease as they were victorious 25-20, 25-20, and 25-10. PBA’s final game saw the Fish produce 10 kills and not a single hitting error. The loss drops Northwood to 7-14 on the season.

Senior setter Emily Ryerson had a busy afternoon as she came away with 35 assists, seven digs, and four block assists as she guided the Sailfish offense through their four games.

Many of those Ryerson passes headed to fellow senior Chrissy Gulden who paced the Sailfish attack with 10 kills and only two hitting errors while hitting at a strong .400 clip.

Other PBA hitters making a solid impact in the stat sheet were senior Brittany Erickson who ended the match with a thunderous kill, her seventh of the afternoon. Sophomore Kristin Carroll and freshman standout Allie Warren also produced solid efforts as they each tallied eight kills.

Liz Fugate, a 6’2’ sophomore from Ozark, Missouri, paced the Sailfish front line from a blocking standpoint as she accumulated seven block assists with teammate Gulden not far behind with six block assists.

Freshman Jessica Way led the defensive effort for the Fish with 11 digs from the back row.