AIKEN, S.C. – Palm Beach Atlantic opened up the 2014 USC-Aiken Tournament with a 2-0 showing on Friday afternoon from the Convocation Center, defeating Francis Marion in its first game of the weekend and Lees-McRae in the second, both in straight sets.

GAME ONE
The only real danger of losing a set on the entire day came right away for PBA, when they saw themselves facing a Francis Marion set point at 24-23. Enter Katie Ballantyne, the sophomore from Oviedo, Fla. With the game on the line, Ballantyne crushed three kills to give the Sailfish the set victory and spark the momentum they would need to go on to the 3-0 sweep. The ‘Fish defeated the Patriots 26-24 in the tight first set and then rolled to 25-12 and 25-15 victories to end the match.

Palm Beach Atlantic’s second set was brilliant from a statistical standpoint, pounding out 13 kills in 26 attempts while having just two errors for a .423 attack percentage. Melissa Buckingham added three aces, and Becca Acevedo had 11 of her 30 total assists in the set.

PBA’s third set went much like the second, dominating play from start to finish. Though they hit just .250 from the floor, they still managed the 10-point victory.

Ballantyne led the way with 11 kills and an eye-popping .611 attack percentage for the match. She was joined in double-figure kills by Faith Rohn and Emma Ballantyne, who each had 10. Junior Rachael Holehouse and freshman Susie Forbes each had 15 digs.

GAME TWO
PBA proved the old adage, “It’s better to win ugly than lose pretty,” in the second match of the day against Lees-McRae, laboring to another 3-0 sweep.

Both teams took a while to figure each other out in the first set, with PBA hitting .195 (14 kills, 6 errors, 41 total attacks) while Lees-McRae hit just .030 (7 kills, 3 errors, 33 total attacks). After the match started to move along, both teams rose the level of their play.

The Sailfish and Bobcats fought tooth and nail in the second set, with Palm Beach Atlantic pulling ahead in the end to win 25-20. Rohn was absolutely devastating on the attack during the second stanza, notching eight kills on just 10 attacks.

In the end, PBA was able to pull out the third set victory after yet another tough battle, 25-21.

Katie Ballantyne continued her strong play, once again leading the team with a 14 kill performance. Rohn was just behind her with 13. Becca Acevedo had another great match, finishing with an impressive 43 assists in the three-set sweep.

Ballantyne finished the day with 25 kills on 47 attacks and just one error.

Palm Beach Atlantic returns to action Saturday morning taking on Limestone College at 10 AM and then finishing off their run in the USC-Aiken Tournament with the host Pacers at Noon.