TAMPA, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic beach volleyball team was slated to face Saint Leo and Tampa this afternoon, but scheduling changes deemed that the Sailfish faced off with the Spartans for a doubleheader in Tampa. A battle of the top-two SSC beach volleyball programs saw the Sailfish drop an extremely tight first match 3-2 before falling 4-1 in the second match.  

Match 1: PBA 2, UT 3

The No. 2 position duo of Lyndzey Minter and Abby DeVido got the Sailfish off to a solid start, as they won a convincing third set 15-8 after splitting the first two set 21-15, 20-22. With the win, the pair moves to 5-2 as a tandem on the season. Julia Golichowski and Gabriella Aziz playing at the No. 4 position suffered the opposite fate as they fell in the third set 15-10 after winning the first 21-19 but dropping the second 19-21. The duo falls to 4-3 on the year with the defeat. Jazz Schmidt and Lunden Evans continued their multi-year success now as the No. 1 PBA team as they rolled in straight sets 21-16-21-9. The duo is 6-1 on the year with their only defeat coming against #13 FIU. 

The Sailfish needed one more point between the final two matchups to claim the win but unfortunately, they dropped both hard-fought matches at the No. 5 and No. 3 positions. At No. 5, Jessica Nodell and Sydney Wagner dropped a three-setter after winning the first set 15-21, 21-13, 15-12. The two now carry a 4-3 record for the 'Fish on the year. With the match tied 2-2, Olivia Finckel and Emma Pieper dropped the first set 21-13 before falling in an extended second set 24-22 to secure the 3-2 victory for the Spartans. The duo of Finckel and Pieper are now 3-4 on the season at the No. 3 position. 

Match 2: PBA 1, UT 4

After a close first match that could have gone either way, the Sailfish faced off with the Spartans again. The team of Minter and DeVido once again got the Sailfish out in front by claiming the first point of the match as they won in straight sets 21-10, 21-16. That is where the success ended for the Sailfish on the afternoon as Aziz and Golichowski fell at the No. 4 spot 21-17, 21-12, and Nodell and Wagner lost at No. 5 21-16, 21-15. After winning in the opening match, Schmidt and Evans fell to the same opponents in straight sets 21-9, 23-2. The third point clinched the match for the Spartans but they added one more win as Finckel and Pieper dropped a close match after taking the opening set, 17-21, 21-13, 17-15. 

The Sailfish fall to 4-4 on the year after opening a perfect 4-0 as they have faced an extremely difficult part of their schedule. They will look to get back on track on March 27 when they play a tri-match at Florida Southern against the Mocs and Eckerd.