MELBOURNE, Fla. – After a slow start the No. 9 Sailfish fought back to earn a 3-1 victory (19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 26-24) over Florida Tech on Saturday night. The ‘Fish close out the regular season at 26-4 and will wait until Monday night for their NCAA Tournament pairing.

Sarah Ragland highlighted the Sailfish offense on Saturday, turning in a season-high 17 kills and a .414 attack for the Sailfish. The sophomore added seven total blocks. The ‘Fish were slow out of the gate, hitting just .114 in the opening set but rebounded to hit .236 in the match including a .359 clip in the third set.

Faith Rohn added 11 kills and 14 digs for the ‘Fish while Ally Rohn added eight kills, 27 assists and six digs. Stephany Brown and Emma Ballantyne each had seven kills while Katie Ballantyne chipped in with five.

The Sailfish fell behind early in set one, trailing 16-11 before ripping off six straight to take a 17-16 lead on a kill by Ragland. The Panthers fought back to win seven straight of their own to take a 23-17 lead and control of the set.

PBA had to come from behind in the second set after taking the early lead. The Sailfish went on top 8-5 in the early going only to have the Panthers tie it up at 13-13. FIT took the lead at 16-15 and pushed the margin to two, 18-16. It was nearly all ‘Fish from there, as PBA closed the set on a 9-4 run including winning the final six points, capped off with a kill from Ragland.

The ‘Fish kept the momentum going in the third, jumping out to an 11-6 lead and pulling away from a 16-16 tie with a 7-0 run. Katie Ballantyne had four kills in the set as did Ragland. The Sailfish collected 16 of their 55 kills in the set, committing just two errors along the way.

In the fourth the ‘Fish led early by five but the Panthers stormed back to take a 16-13 lead. PBA rallied to tie it at 16-16 as the teams started to trade points. PBA had the first chance to take the set, leading 24-22 after a kill by Ally Rohn. The Panthers rattled off two straight to tie it again at 24-24 but Ragland answered for the ‘Fish to give PBA the lead. An attack error by FIT ended the set and gave the Sailfish the four-set victory.

Rachael Holehouse led the Sailfish with 22 digs as Susie Forbes chipped in with 11. Both Holehouse and Forbes added three service aces each as the team totaled nine in the match. Alexandra Roberts added 19 assists for the ‘Fish and also added eight digs.

The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and is streamed live from NCAA.com. The first three rounds of the tournament will be held at the site of the highest ranked team in the south region. The first round will begin on Thursday, Dec. 3.