WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team continued its SSC slate on Friday night when it hosted Barry at Rubin Arena.
The Sailfish picked up their second straight conference win, beating the Bucs, 3-1. PBA (7-8, 3-4 SSC) has now won 17 of its last 18 matches against Barry (8-4, 4-4 SSC), including eight at home. The win puts the Sailfish in a three-way tie for sixth in the SSC.
The reigning SSC Offensive Player of the Week,
Jazz Schmidt, tallied her fourth triple-double of the season. She led PBA with a team-high 11 kills, along with 17 assists, 12 digs, and five blocks while hitting .259.
Amber Rowoldt was right behind with 10 kills, hitting .333 with four blocks.
Alyse Cundiff totaled nine kills, five digs, and two digs.
Maddy Hooper tallied eight kills, hitting a scorching .800 with seven total blocks.
Alyssa Avitia led PBA with 21 assists, six digs, and an ace. Senior libero,
Ally Smith finished with 10 digs, five assists, and two aces.
The first set was tightly contested until a 6-0 run by the Sailfish with kills from Rowoldt and Cundiff gave PBA some breathing room, making it 16-10 midway through the set. Three attacking errors and a receiving error from the 'Fish allowed Barry to battle back, making it 16-14. With PBA leading 19-17, the Sailfish ended the set on a 6-2 run with kills from Cundiff, Hooper, and
Mary Morgan Formby. A block by Hooper and Rowoldt ended a 25-19 set win for PBA.
The Sailfish carried their momentum from the first set win into the second set. PBA started with a 7-1 run with kills from Rowoldt, Schmidt, Cundiff, and
Ryleigh Blough, with three errors from Barry. The Bucs battled back to make it 9-8 PBA. The 'Fish pulled away again with a 6-0 run with a pair of kills from Rowoldt and Formby to make it 15-8. The Bucs were resilient, staying within striking distance, and eventually finishing the set on a 9-1 run, taking advantage of a poor serve-receive by the Sailfish, to win 27-25 and tie the match.
PBA regrouped at the beginning of the third set, getting out to a 10-3 lead with a pair of kills and blocks from
Anna Gregerson. The Bucs followed the script of the second set, reducing the deficit to one with a 7-1 run. It was PBA who ended the set on a high note in the third, ending the set on an 8-0 run, including three blocks from the Sailfish front line. PBA totaled seven blocks in the third set. The 'Fish took a 2-1 lead in the match after winning the third set, 25-16. PBA hit a match-high, .400 in the set.
The Sailfish did not mess around in the fourth set, jumping out to a 12-4 lead thanks to a trio of kills and an ace from Rowoldt, two aces from
Ally Smith, and a kill from Hooper. PBA refused to let Barry back into the match, dominating the fourth set, 25-13, sealing the 3-1 win.
PBA outhit the Bucs in the match, .306 - .054. The 'Fish finished with 14 total blocks, compared to 10 from Barry. PBA finished the day with just 18 attacking errors. The Sailfish recorded a 55 percent side-out percentage compared to just 41 percent for Barry.
The Sailfish compete again tomorrow afternoon against Florida Tech. The match at Rubin Arena starts at 4 p.m.