WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- In a rematch of NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago the Rollins (Fla.) College volleyball team came away with an impressive come-from-behind win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Tuesday evening at the Rubin Arena. The Sailfish led two sets to none and even came to match point on two different occasions however the Tars would push through each time and eventually claim the 3-2 win.

A matchup of two very evenly-matched teams who have jostled back-and-forth in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national rankings, the match would last nearly two-and-a-half hours in total.

The first set would certainly set the tone for what would be a roller-coaster match as the ‘Fish (10-2) utilized a .314 hitting percentage to claim a hard-fought 29-27 win after Rollins (10-2) had reached set point at 26-25.

Perhaps taking some steam out of the Tars’ early-match expectation the Sailfish would steamroll RC in the second set as they jumped out to a 14-5 lead and never looked back as they claimed a 25-17 win.

Looking to close out the Tars and keep their sweep streak alive the Sailfish would come painstakingly  close to a 3-0 win as they held leads of 24-23 and 26-25 before Rollins rattled off the final three points of the set to claim a 28-26 win.

The fourth set proved to be mostly Rollins as they led 3-0 before pulling away late for a 25-14 win as their defense held  the PBA offense in check with a -.028 hitting percentage in the set.

Only fitting the fifth and final set would be a back-and-forth as well with Rollins holding a 3-1 lead before the ‘Fish would post seven of the next nine points to take an 8-5 lead into the turn. After a Tars timeout the visitors from Winter Park would once again have a run in them as they tied the score with three straight points to knot the score at 8-8.

Although PBA would cut the deficit to 13-12 the Tars would have the final say as they received a kill from Camille Indest and then a PBA attacking error to earn a well-deserved victory with a 15-12 final set win.

PBA sophomore Faith Rohn once again proved spectacular at times with a match-high 26 kills to go along with a team-best 26 digs. The Cedar Lake, Ind. product posted 69 attacks in the loss while finishing with a .203 hitting percentage.

Stephany Brown added 13 kills (.333 attacking percentage) while Christina Alessi returned from injury to play her first match of the season as the West Palm Beach native added in 11 kills in her season debut. The 6’2” right-side hitter from nearby King’s Academy had not competed in a match since Sept. 21, 2012 when she suffered a season-ending injury last season.

Junior Becca Acevedo posted a season-high 61 assists in the match while Melissa Buckingham (23 digs), Rachael Holehouse (16 digs) and Acevedo (11 digs) each topped double-figures in defensive helpers.

Alessi led the team’s blocking efforts with seven (two solo, five assists) while Brown added in six block assists.

Indest finished with a team-high 17 kills and only four hitting errors for the Tars as she posted a .317 attacking percentage. Ruthie Harrington shook off some early struggles to add in 12 kills.

Collyn Welsch led all players with 27 digs as the Rollins libero.

PBA will have some time to rest up for their next match as they will not compete again until taking on the University of Tampa on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 7 pm.

The Sailfish held the advantage in hitting percentage as a team as they finished with a .214 hitting mark compared to a .197 hitting percentage from Rollins.