WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball showed just how difficult it is to win in Rubin Arena on Friday night, defeating Eckerd College in straight sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-22) in their home opener. The ‘Fish were 14-1 at home a year ago.

PBA (8-2) has now won five straight as freshman Ally Rohn led the club on Friday with 13 kills on 25 attacks, good for a .400 attack. Stephany Brown added eight kills and a match-high .467 attack for the Sailfish. Outside of those two the team struggled, hitting just .175 for the match but came in at .267 in the third set.

Eckerd (5-5) hit .186 for the match but just .071 in the final set after picking up 17 kills and a .245 attack in the second set. The Tritons led 10-5 early in the second before the ‘Fish rallied to tie the set at 12-12. The Tritons again took control, leading 21-18 before four straight points by PBA gave them the 22-21 lead. Eckerd scored two straight to take the lead back but kills by Emma Ballantyne and two from Ally Rohn ended the set. Rohn finished the set with five kills while her sister, Faith, added four. Sarah Ragland chipped in with three in the set.

The third set saw the ‘Fish grab an early 5-2 lead before Eckerd came back to tie it at 6-6, setting the tone for most of the rest of the set. Neither team was able to go on a long run as the biggest lead was just three points until PBA took a 20-16 lead on a kill by Stephany Brown. After an Eckerd timeout, the Tritons scored three straight to pull within one but another Kill by Brown ended the run. After trading points until the ‘Fish led by a score of 24-22, Ally Rohn ended the match with her 13th kill of the match.

PBA jumped out to a 14-8 lead in the first set before Eckerd rallied late to cut the deficit to two at 22-20 and then one at 24-21 but Brown again came up big with her fourth kill of the set to end it, 25-23.

Rachael Holehouse led all players with 17 digs while Susie Forbes added 10. Ally Rohn added 17 assists along with her 13 kills, her seventh double-double of the season. Alexandra Roberts led the team with 18 assists and also added five digs. Sarah Ragland led all players with four block assists.

Eckerd was led by Katie Arnette who posted nine kills. Tjasa Kotnik added eight kills for the Tritons as Lauryn Nelson and JaQuayla Baker each had seven.

These two teams will meet again this year in St. Petersburg on Halloween. Next up for the ‘Fish is a visit from Saint Leo (6-4) who fell to Barry 3-2 on Friday night. The matchup with the Lions is scheduled for Saturday (Sept. 26) at 4 p.m. in Rubin Arena.