WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- A busy day of volleyball went as planned on Friday for the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish as the team completed six solid sets en route to a pair of 3-0 sweeps over their competition in Stonehill College and Georgia College at the Rubin Arena. Both matches featured plenty of standout plays as head coach Bob White was able to experiment with some new lineups as the ‘Fish inch closer to being fully healthy.

PBA continues to see the surging play of senior Christina Alessi while underclassmen in Faith Rohn, Stephany Brown and Elly Raush have all stepped up their game to present a formidable attack for the Sailfish.

The stingy Palm Beach Atlantic defense also continues to contribute solid showings as they limited both of their Friday opponents to under a .150 team hitting percentage.

PBA returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they will take on Claflin University at 2 pm and Georgia Regents University-Augusta at 4 pm.

Match One (PBA vs. Stonehill College)

Members of the Northeast-10 Conference and hailing from Easton, Mass. the Skyhawks (11-6) presented a formidable opponent for PBA as they began the day’s play at 1 pm.

A tight first set would eventually see the Sailfish pull away as they posted a 25-19 win before really hitting their stride in the final two sets. Set number two featured a strong PBA hitting attack (.333) while limiting the Skyhawks to eight kills and eight errors (.000) as the ‘Fish cruised to a 25-17 victory.

The match would end in three sets despite Stonehill holding the attacking advantage in the third set as they posted a .289 team hitting percentage while PBA could muster just a .262 hitting mark. The PBA side remained in front however and claimed a 30-28 win to improve to 13-3 on the season.

Alessi and Rohn tied for the team-lead in kills with 12 each while Brown added in nine kills on just 19 attacks for a superb .368 attacking percentage.

Becca Acevedo led the offensive charge all day from the setter position and finished with 45 assists while adding in five digs and a pair of service aces.

Melissa Buckingham followed her career-high of 32 digs earlier this week at Florida Southern College with another fine showing of 24 digs to pace the defense. Rohn and Rachael Holehouse, both outstanding sophomores, finished with 18 and 15 digs respectively.

PBA managed 14 total blocks as a team with Alessi topping the chart with four block assists.

Stonehill was led by Delia Phillips as she produced a near double-double of nine kills and 10 digs.

Match Two (PBA vs. Georgia College)

Moving on to the nightcap the Sailfish would host a first-year NCAA Division II program in Georgia College to close out the day’s action.

The Bobcats (4-14) showed great promise for their future as a member of the Peachbelt Conference as they earned a win earlier in the day versus Claflin and provided a solid challenge for the Sailfish.

In the end the talent and experience of PBA would win out as they claimed set victories of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-13. Palm Beach Atlantic finished with a .247 team hitting percentage while limiting Georgia College to a .063 team mark.

Alessi once again led the way in kills with 10 while Rohn was right behind with nine kills.

Buckingham chipped in 14 digs while Rohn just missed her second double-double of the day with 11 digs to go along with her nine kills. Acevedo dished out 30 assists in the win while Brytney Annis and Brown tied for team-high honors in blocks with three each.

Freshman K.C. Locke and Emma Bottenfield each saw their first playing time in the win and continued to showcase the strong depth on the PBA roster.

The Bobcats were led by eight kills from Rachel Reynolds while Micayla Patterson added in 21 assists and 11 digs.