TAMPA, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team continued their quest for a NCAA Regional Championship on Friday evening as as they conquered Christian Brothers University by a 3-0 score. The Sailfish received contributions from up and down the lineup including a team-high 12 kills from freshman Rachel Jones to lead the PBA volleyball program to their first-ever championship final.

The Sailfish move ahead to take on the winner of No. 1-seed University of Tampa and No. 5-seed Florida Southern College on Saturday at 7 pm.

Although the 3-0 score may look like a dominating win, it took strong performances in all three sets to hold off Christian Brothers (21-13) as the Sailfish (35-3) produced wins of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-15.

After a strong serve and a dominating hitting effort from the likes of Mariela Quesada and Faith Rohn led PBA to an opening-set win over Rollins College on Thursday, the Fish produced a more balanced effort against the Lady Bucs.

Jones led the way with 12 kills on only 18 attacks for a spectacular .611 attacking percentage. Quesada was next with 11 kills while Elly Raush and Rohn chipped in with seven and six kills respectively.

Perhaps more impressive that the team’s attack at the net was their defense against CBU.

After limiting their opposition to a .141 attacking percentage in the opening set, the Sailfish put together a superb showing in set two by holding the CBU attack to a -.040 attacking percentage (seven kills, eight errors) while adding in some strong work at the net.

A .115 attacking percentage by Christian Brothers wouldn’t slow down the Fish in the third set as they jumped out quickly to a 12-3 lead including six straight points from the serve of junior Lexie Grizzle.

Becca Acevedo led the PBA offense with 36 assists while Melissa Buckingham made another nice showing from the libero position with 14 digs. Rohn also topped double-figures in digs with 10.

Jones wasn’t just strong on the attack, she also had a team-high five block assists to go with her 12 kills.

Alecia Stewart gave CBU seven kills to lead their attack.