WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- It would take a comeback effort but the Palm Beach Atlantic University volleyball team knocked off Barry University on Friday night before a big crowd on hand for Senior Night at the Rubin Arena. After dropping the first-set and then moving ahead 2-1 with wins in sets two and three, the Sailfish dropped the fourth set back to Barry to force the deciding fifth game. A big swing by sophomore Christina Alessi clinched the win for PBA as they earned the hard-fought 3-2 win.

The postgame senior festivities honored the careers and accomplishments of five special young ladies who have all left a lasting imprint on the PBA volleyball program. Those seniors were Jessie Kubiak, Janeen McCormick, Allie Warren, Lanae Robinson and Jessica Way.

In a match that would feature momentum constantly shifting between the two teams, the Sailfish improved their overall record to 22-3 on the season while earning their first win against Barry University (11-14) in the NCAA-era of the Sailfish volleyball program.

After the opening set win by Barry came by way of a 25-22 win, the Fish reeled off back-to-back victories by the scores of 25-18 and a dominating third set effort of 25-8. Now leading 2-1, the Fish were upended by the BU attack when they took an exciting fourth set by a 25-23 total before PBA held on for the 15-13 win in set five.

The win improves PBA’s NCAA regional record to 10-3 with no more regional competition left to play and only two remaining regular season matches left on their schedule. PBA travels to Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, November 5th to take on Southeastern University at 4:30 pm before wrapping up their home schedule on Wednesday, November 9th in a home date with Warner University back at the Rubin Arena.

The Buccaneers (11-14) were coming off a 3-0 sweep of conference rival Lynn University their last time out and have showed recent improvement under first-year head coach Steve Hendricks.

Friday night proved the tradition-rich Bucs still have plenty of talent on their side as they pushed the Fish to their second five-set thriller in their past three outings.

In the end however it was the Sailfish supporting cast who came up with big play after big play including career nights from the likes of Alessi and freshman Kelsey Fox as well as an inspired performance by Robinson up front.

Junior Mariela Quesada tied Alessi for the team-lead in kills with 16 however it came at a cost as the Costa Rica native was whistled for a season-high 14 hitting errors as well. Quesada did manage yet another double-double performance with 15 digs to go along with her hitting output.

Alessi’s performance was worth noting not only for her career-high output in kills but the fact that she came up biggest when the match was on the line. She tallied the team’s last three kills in the fifth set including a big left-hand with the score at 14-13 to secure the win as the PBA bench emptied into a mob around the 6’2” sophomore from West Palm Beach. Alessi finished with just one error on 32 attacks for a superb .469 attacking percentage on the night.

Robinson carried her team at times as the Cave Creek, Arizona native registered a season-high 15 kills with just four hitting errors for a .324 attacking percentage while proving big on the block as well with four block assists.

Fellow senior Janeen McCormick added in nine kills while assisting on five blocks while Fox answered the bell of her starting assignment with a career-high of 10 kills on the night.

Freshman setter Becca Acevedo tallied a career-high 53 assists in the win while adding in six digs and three service aces. Warren was one of four PBA players to reach double-digits in digs as she posted 13 digs and a team-high four service aces. Kubiak chipped in 10 digs while freshman Melissa McPeek tied Quesada for the team-lead in digs with 15 on the night.

Barry was paced by a solid hitting effort from junior Tania Torres who finished with 16 kills (.268 attacking percentage) while Mariana Lisboa and Lanie Muys added in solid performances of their own with 15 and 10 kills respectively.

Mima Hajdukovic finished with 39 assists in the loss while Alicia Guerrero led all players with 19 digs.

After stumbling out of the gate with a .167 team attacking percentage in the first set, PBA rebounded with an overall performance of .242 for the match. Barry was limited to a .194 team attacking percentage.