MELBOURNE, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic women’s volleyball team improved their recent win streak to seven matches on Wednesday evening however it was by no means easy. Florida Tech came to match point on two different occasions while leading two sets to one over the Sailfish but could not reach victory as PBA came back each time and would eventually claim a 3-2 win on the road to improve to 17-3 on the season.

A match that would feature seemingly countless changes of momentum it would be the Sailfish who would earn their first 3-2 set victory of the season after falling in their two previous attempts.

Winners of almost every match this season by a 3-0 score it looked as if they might once again take out the Panthers in similar fashion as they held a late lead of 20-16 in the first set. From that point on however it would be evident that the FIT side came to play as they eventually knotted the set at 24-24 before kills from sophomores Stephany Brown and Faith Rohn sealed a 26-24 win for PBA.

Perhaps fueled by their resurgence in the opening set the Panthers seized the momentum in their direction over the next two sets as they outhit PBA by tallies of .364 to .118 in set two followed by a .238 to .149 advantage in set three. They would go on to earn hard-fought victories in each by the scores of 25-21 and 28-26 respectively.

The Panthers (12-5) appeared to be in control late in the fourth set as they attempted to knock of Palm Beach Atlantic for the first time in their past five tries. With the ‘Fish trailing 27-26 and then a few plays later by the score of 28-27 the team remained relentless, first with a kill by senior Christina Alessi followed later by an attack error by the Panthers.

In the end a kill by sophomore Elly Raush would seal the all-important fourth set in favor of the ‘Fish as they marched on to the tune of a 30-28 win.

The fifth set proved to be mostly PBA as they jumped out quickly to a 9-3 lead and never looked back. Even after a mini-run by FIT cut the advantage to 12-8, PBA was able to push through with kills by Alessi and Raush once again claiming the set and eventual match with the game winner.

Rohn led four PBA players in double-digit kills with 19 but was limited to a .090 hitting mark as she accumulated 12 hitting errors over 78 total attacks. Alessi contributed 18 kills (.200 attacking percentage) while Raush and Brown came up big late with big plays and each finished with 10 kills on the night.

Becca Acevedo had a busy night from the setter position with 56 assists in 200 total attempts as she also chipped in eight digs. Melissa Buckingham paced four players in double-figures in digs with 27 while Rohn added in 15 digs four a double-double. Rachael Holehouse and Alex Marszalek continue to be effective in the back-row with Holehouse tallying 15 digs and Marszalek adding in 11 digs.

Both teams performed well in the blocking department which was a major factor in both teams failing to reach higher than a .167 team hitting percentage with PBA totaling 28 blocks including a team-best eight block assists from Brown. Alessi added seven blocks while Emma Ballantyne contributed six block assists in the victory.

Florida Tech was paced by Charlie French with 16 kills while Kim Juriga put down 15 kills. Angie Lassman led all players with 31 digs in the match.

PBA will now have to refocus as they will take part in the South Region Crossover Tournament this weekend that will take place at the University of West Georgia. Stay tuned to PBASailfish.com for tournament updates.