WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- A back-and-forth battle throughout the match, the Palm Beach Atlantic University and Flagler College volleyball teams got together for an early-season encounter on the Sailfish home floor on Tuesday afternoon in the Rubin Arena. After splitting the opening two games, the Saints pulled together and were victorious in the final two games to earn a 3-1 win.

The Saints (1-4) were coming off a tough showing at a season-opening tournament at the University of West Florida where they dropped all four matches to a variety of tough opponents. Behind the strong hitting of Katie Beale, Justine Burkhardt, and Meg Weathersby, the Saints slugged their way to the win. Flagler earned a 25-21 win in the opening game, followed by a 25-16 win for the Fish in game two. FC prevailed 25-19 and 25-21 to close out their first victory of the young season.

Junior Kristin Carroll led the Fish with 11 kills (.095 hitting percentage) while also chipping in 11 digs. Sophomore Lanae Robinson put together perhaps the most dominating performance of the day for PBA with seven kills and no errors in 14 attack attempts for a stellar .500 hitting percentage. Junior Liz Fugate also added in seven kills while senior Jennifer Eldridge posted six kills.

Eldridge led the defensive efforts for the Fish with 23 digs followed by freshman Heather Shulke with 17 kills from the libero position. Setter Jessica Way aided the defensive effort with 14 digs in addition to 32 assists.

The Saints were paced by a big performance from Beale who led all players with 16 kills and only two hitting errors for a .333 hitting percentage. Burkhardt followed close behind with 14 kills (.325 hitting percentage) and 11 kills from Weathersby.

Casey Gnann paced the defensive efforts for the Saints with 25 digs followed by Weathersby at 20 digs.

PBA will hit the road for their next outing as they take on a number of tough opponents on Friday-Saturday, September 4th-5th, when they participate in the 4th annual Sharks Classic on the campus of Nova Southeastern University. All four PBA matches will be called live and podcasted on the Sailfish Sports Network.