TAMPA, Fla.- Volleyball is a game of momentum and it was Rollins College who stole the momentum on Thursday afternoon. The Tars overcame match point by Palm Beach Atlantic in the fourth set to rebound for a 3-2 win in the first round of the NCAA Regional Tournament while reversing last year’s first round fortune after PBA ended Rollins season in 2012.

The South Region Tournament is being held once again at the Bob Martinez Center on the campus of the University of Tampa which plays host as the No. 1-seed. Not only was the No. 2-seed Sailfish upset in their match versus the No. 7-seed Tars but the No. 3-seed Eckerd College was also defeated by the No. 6-seed in the University of West Florida in five sets.

Having faced the Tars twice during the regular season including their final regular season match on Nov. 17th the two teams were more than familiar with one another. The two teams split the season series while the memory of last year’s NCAA Tournament match certainly was in the not too distant memories of many players in action on Thursday.

PBA jumped in front early with a 25-20 first set victory while Rollins fired back with a .333 hitting percentage in the second set on their way to a 25-18 win.

The Sailfish regained the momentum in set three with a 25-22 win before Rollins shook off a 24-22 deficit in set four to rally for the final four points and a 26-24 win. Senior Camille Indest produced kills on the final two plays of the set to break a 24-24 tie and even the match at 2-2.

Perhaps stunned by the quick shift in momentum, the Sailfish could not slow down the Tars attack in the fifth and final set as RC rolled to a 15-5 win including 11 kills in the set with no hitting errors.

Thursday’s match concluded the fine career of Palm Beach Atlantic’s only senior in Christina Alessi. The former King’s Academy standout came through with one of her best matches of her four-year career on Thursday by tying her season-high of 21 kills while boasting a superb .415 hitting percentage.

Sophomores Faith Rohn, Elly Raush and Stephany Brown followed Alessi in kills with Rohn adding in 10 kills while Raush and Brown each contributed seven kills. Brown was solid in limited action with a .412 hitting percentage.

Juniors Melissa Buckingham and Becca Acevedo also produced solid showings in the five-set loss with Buckingham coming away with a career-high 40 digs while Acevedo added 53 assists. Rohn added 13 digs while sophomore Rachael Holehouse and freshman Katie Ballantyne each topped double-digits in digs with 11 and 10 respectively.

Rollins was led by 21 kills from Indest while fellow senior Kelly Meredith added in 17 kills.

Both teams produced well at the net with each registering 18 team blocks with PBA led by Alessi’s seven block assists.

Despite the disappointing loss for Palm Beach Atlantic, the team is set to return its strong core of young stars which has helped lead them to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons for the first time in program history.

The team reached new program milestones in 2013 with a No. 19 national ranking by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) while improving their record over the past three years under head coach Bob White to a remarkable 94-13.