JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.- The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team took to the floor for their first official competition of the 2013 season on Friday and came away with a win and a hard-fought loss on the first day of the Carson Newman Classic. The Fish easily took care of their first opponent in UNC-Pembroke by a 3-0 tally while falling late in a 3-2 loss to Tusculum (Tenn.) College in their second match of the day.

Ranked No. 25 in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) coaches’ poll, the Sailfish headed north to Tennessee to participate in the Carson Newman Classic for the second straight season.

Palm Beach Atlantic will battle two more opponents on Saturday as they will square off against Carson Newman at 12 pm and Converse College at approximately 2 pm.

Match One (PBA vs.  UNC-Pembroke)

The season’s first matchup pitted the Fish against UNC-Pembroke where PBA rattled off three straight solid victories by the scores of 25-16, 25-14 and 25-17.

Sophomore outside-hitter Faith Rohn began what would be a big day for the Cedar Lake, Ind. product as she pounded out a match-high 13 kills on 33 attacks (.212 attacking percentage) to lead the PBA efforts.

The Sailfish started a bit sluggish in the opening set as the match was tied 9-9 after an Alex Ljesevic kill midway through. After back-to-back points from the Braves put them up 11-9 the Blue and White would respond with an 8-0 run to regain command.

The team finished with a match-high .250 team hitting percentage in the opening set and settled for a .159 attacking mark for the match.

Perhaps the story lied with the PBA defense as they limited UNC-Pembroke to a -.029 attacking mark for the three set match.

Following Rohn in the kills category was fellow sophomores Stephany Brown and Rachael Holehouse with five kills each while the freshman Ljesvic also chipped in five kills.

Junior Becca Acevedo and sophomore Alex Marszalek split the setting duties with Acevedo finishing with 14 assists while Marsalek added in 11 helpers. Marszalek and Holehouse proved the most effective with their serve as Holehouse posted four aces while Marsalek chipped in three.

Melissa Buckingham led the defensive efforts from the libero position with a match-high 22 digs while Holehouse added in 12 digs.

Match Two (PBA vs. Tusculum)

The second match of the afternoon featured perhaps the premiere matchup of the early-season tournament as Palm Beach Atlantic and Tusculum both finished the 2012 season in the NCAA Sweet 16.

Facing off against a team who has been to four straight NCAA Tournaments in Tusculum, the young Sailfish were upended by the Pioneers as they claimed a come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

A hotly contested match from the start, the Pioneers (1-0) knotted the score at 2-2 when they claimed a 27-25 win in the fourth set while shaking off an 8-2 deficit in the fifth and final set to claim a 15-13 win.

It was the Pioneers who began with a hot start as they earned a 25-22 win in the first set while PBA moved ahead 2-1 with wins of 25-21 and 25-23 in the second and third set respectively.

One of the major keys to the 2013 season for Palm Beach Atlantic is the challenge of replacing the production of last year’s All-American outside-hitter in Mariela Quesada.

Although an important player last season with 309 kills, Rohn appears primed to take that challenge in stride as she put home a career-high 25 kills versus Tusculum.  She did so on 63 total attacks while finishing with 15 errors as well.

Brown and Holehouse each added in with 12 kills with Brown managing a team-best .360 attacking percentage.

Buckingham finished with match-high honors of 28 digs while Acevedo and Marsalek each reached double-digits in assists with 40 and 12 respectively.

Rohn finished with a double-double of 25 kills and 18 digs while Holehouse also managed a double-double with 15 digs to go with her 12 kills.

Freshman Emma Ballantyne led the PBA blocking efforts with six total blocks (four assists, two solo).