MELBOURNE, Fla.- After a slow start to set one that saw the Sailfish volleyball team fall behind 17-12, it was nearly all Blue and White on Tuesday evening at the Clemente Center at Florida Tech as the Fish brushed off their tough beginning for a 3-0 sweep. Playing in front of a solid showing of Panther faithful, the Fish responded well to the environment as they seemed to gain momentum with each passing point.

The Fish improve to 13-2 on the season while the Panthers drop to 8-2. Florida Tech entered the night tied atop the Sunshine State Conference teams list in terms of winning percentage following a dreadful 6-24 season last year. Tuesday left the Fish on top with scores of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-14.

Playing with enthusiasm behind their raucous crowd, the Panthers jumped ahead of the Sailfish early on with some big hits. Leading 17-12 and forcing a second PBA timeout of the set, the Sailfish then turned things around, and in a hurry.

Palm Beach Atlantic rattled off a 13-4 run to close the opening set and firmly grabbed hold of the momentum of the match.

Set two belonged to the Fish from start to finish.

PBA jumped in front 11-4 and never looked back as they managed a .235 hitting percentage for the set. Leading 13-10 after an FIT service error, the Fish turned to freshman Rachael Holehouse who would serve the next six points including a pair of aces as PBA pushed in front 19-10 to put some comfortable distance between them and the Panthers.

Set three saw the Fish produced their strongest hitting percentage of the match at .310 while limiting the Panthers to a -.030 (eight kills/nine errors).

A 5-1 early lead turned into a 25-14 win despite a rally by FIT in the middle of the set.

Mariela Quesada had a monster match for PBA as she produced a match-high 18 kills with only one hitting error for a spectacular .447 hitting percentage.

Christina Alessi followed with nine kills while Elly Raush chipped in with five kills.

Becca Acevedo supplied the setting assistance with 32 assists on the night while adding in 10 digs. Melissa Buckingham paced all players with 17 digs.

Freshman Kim Juriga led the Panthers with seven kills.

PBA will turn their attention to another opponent for their next match when they travel to St. Augustine, Florida for a showdown with Flagler College at 7 pm on Friday, September 21st. The two teams have already played once this season with the Fish pulling out a 3-2 win on a neutral floor at the USC-Aiken Invitational.