WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- Although he would have liked to have come out of their season-opening tournament with a few more victories, Sailfish volleyball head coach Bob White has to be pleased with the effort of his young team. The Fish closed out the Hyatt Place Sunshine Classic on Saturday with a five-set win over the University of Southern Indiana in the morning followed by a tough 3-0 loss to No. 7-ranked Washburn in the afternoon match.

The Sailfish finished up the tournament with a 2-2 record as they downed Northwest Missouri State University and Southern Indiana while falling only to No. 17-ranked Lewis University on Friday night and the highly-ranked Washburn side on Saturday.

Match One (PBA vs. USI)

After a late match the night before, the Sailfish had to quickly rebound to knock of USI who is coming off an appearance last season in the NCAA Tournament. The Screaming Eagles would put up a strong fight as they forced a five-game match that left the Fish once again playing a long match.

Alternating victories through the first four matches (25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 18-25), PBA would leave no doubt in the fifth and deciding set with a dominating 15-5 effort.

Junior Mariela Quesada led all players in kills as she blasted home 26 spikes (.297 attacking percentage) while being joined in double-figures by Christina Alessi (16 kills, .314 attacking percentage) and freshman Rachel Jones (11 kills, .423 attacking percentage). Jones was particularly impressive with no hitting errors and a team high attacking percentage.

Giving the team a lift on defense was sophomore libero Melissa Buckingham with 25 digs to lead all players while Quesada chipped in 14 digs for a double-double. Freshmen Faith Rohn and Rachael Holehouse each added in 11 digs.

Handling the setting duties for her second straight five set match was sophomore Becca Acevedo who managed a strong showing of 61 assists to go with seven digs.

The Fish limited USI to a .145 team attacking percentage in the match with Emily Deidrich leading their efforts with 13 kills.

Match Two (PBA vs. Washburn)

Entering play with an undefeated tournament and season record of 3-0, the Lady Blues of Washburn would leave the Rubin Arena with a still unblemished record as they earned set victories of 25-20, 25-17 and a thrilling 30-28 win to close out the match.

Each set saw the PBA squad compete as they took on the very strong and deep Blues who hail from Topeka, Kansas.

NCAA All-American Jessica Fey proved her worth time and time again with her big right-arm swing as she produced 13 kills with only one hitting error for a solid .480 attacking percentage. Hillary Hughes also came through nicely on the front-line for WU as she added in 11 kills.

The Fish were once again paced by the hitting efforts of Quesada, a senior from San Jose, Costa Rica.

She would finish with 15 kills while Alessi proved strong again with 12 kills.

Buckingham closed out a solid tournament showing with 17 digs while Acevedo had 35 assists in the loss.

The Fish will break away from tournament play for their next match as they will travel across town to battle Northwood University on Tuesday, September 4th at 7 pm. They will then begin preperations for a trip to USC-Aiken for another tournament next weekend.