WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A slow hitting night didn’t keep No. 17 Palm Beach Atlantic from picking up their seventh straight win, stifling Florida Tech 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-13) on Friday night in Rubin Arena. The ‘Fish hit just .154 for the match but collected 15 service aces to win their 18th straight set.

The Sailfish (17-3) match their season-high with seven straight wins after defeating the Panthers who were held to a negative .028 attack thanks to 12.5 blocks by the ‘Fish. Sarah Ragland led the team with 10 total blocks, two solo and eight assisted. Abby Palkert teamed with Ragland most of the night to pick up seven block assists of her own.  Stephany Brown added four and Emma Ballantyne collected two.

While the offense collected only 29 digs – 13 in the first set as the team hit .293 – the ‘Fish kept the Panthers off balance from the service line. PBA matched a season-high with 15 aces, a feat they accomplished on Sept. 12 against Fayetteville State.

Susie Forbes led the team with seven aces including four in the third set. The sophomore picked up three in a row in that third set as the ‘Fish stormed out to a 10-1 lead. The margin was pushed out to 16-5 before the Panthers scored five in a row to pull within six at 16-10. A service error and three straight attack errors by the Panthers pushed the lead back to 10 at 20-10, capped off by a block from Ragland and Palkert. Forbes also had three aces in the second set and tallied 12 digs for the match.

Ally Rohn added her 15th double-double with 15 assists and 13 digs while Rachael Holehouse led all players with 17 digs. Holehouse also added three aces in the match. Faith Rohn led the team with eight kills, hitting .250 for the match. Sarah Ragland and Stephany Brown each added five kills with Emma Ballantyne and Ally Rohn adding four each.

The Sailfish found themselves in a close set halfway through the first, leading 9-8. Five straight points from the ‘Fish was part of an 8-1 run that put PBA up 17-9. Another five point run by the Sailfish put the set out of reach at 24-11 as Faith Rohn collected three kills in the run. Stephany Brown ended the set with her second kill of the set.

PBA opened the second with the first four points before quickly building a 14-7 lead as Amy Schatzmann picked up an ace. The teams split the next 20 points before Sarah Ragland ended it with her second kill of the set as Alexandra Roberts collected her fifth assist of the set. Roberts finished with 11 assists on the day.

The Sailfish will host a ranked team for the first time to date this season on Saturday as No. 15 Florida Southern (17-4) visits Rubin Arena for a 4 p.m. match. The Mocs were upset by Barry, 3-1, on Friday.