WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Palm Beach Atlantic’s dream of a national title is still alive. The Sailfish defeated Florida Southern 3-1 (25-13, 25-21, 26-28, 25-20) on Saturday night to claim the school’s first NCAA South Region Volleyball Championship.

The winner of each of the eight regions will all advance to Tampa, Fla. and the Bob Martinez Center for the national tournament that will begin on Thursday, Dec. 10.

The Sailfish came out hot in the third match against the Mocs this season, hitting .364 and .459 in the first two sets, taking those sets by scores 25-13 and 25-21. The ‘Fish (29-4) had a chance to close it out in three, leading 24-21 in the set but the Mocs rallied to overcome four match points in the set, taking the third 28-26.

In the fourth the Sailfish pulled away late. After the Mocs tied the set at 15-15, the ‘Fish scored three straight on kills by Stephany Brown and another from Faith Rohn. Three points later the Sailfish were leading 23-17 and the home crowd could sense the ending was coming. The Mocs scored two straight but this time were unable to complete the rally as Ally Rohn provided the championship clinching kill for the Sailfish.

Faith Rohn led all players with 20 kills in the match, hitting .304 as the team hit .272 for the match. The Mocs were held in check all night long, hitting just .180 despite a .324 clip in the second set. Sarah Ragland hit .458 in the match and collected 14 kills and three blocks.

Katie Ballantyne added nine kills as did Ally Rohn who also finished with 24 digs and 34 assists. Stephany Brown and Emma Ballantyne each added eight kills as Ballantyne hit .412. Alexandra Roberts collected 15 digs and 20 assists to earn a double-double as did Faith Rohn with 17 digs to go along with her 20 kills.

Ally Rohn nearly collected another triple-double with nine kills to go along with her digs and assists total. Rachael Holehouse led all players with 29 digs, many diving attempts to keep the point alive. Susie Forbes added 15 digs.

The Sailfish will take on New York Institute of Technology in their first matchup on Thursday. The Bears are the champions from the East Region after defeating Bridgeport 3-0 in the finals on Saturday night. The Bears entered the regional tournament as the No. 4 seed and also defeated No. 5 LIU Post and No. 1 Adelphi.

More details will be released as the official bracket is released.