TAVARES, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic beach volleyball team kicked off play in the AVCA Small College Championship today. The Sailfish are the No. 3 overall seed and the top team in Pool C as they got off to a 2-0 start today with wins over Florida Southern and Tusculum in pool play. 

Match 1: PBA 4, FSC 1

The Sailfish faced off against a familiar foe to start what they hope will be a long postseason run, as they defeated the Mocs for the fourth time this season. PBA's No. 1 duo of Jazz Schmidt and Lunden Evans got the Sailfish off to a strong start cruising in straight sets 21-7, 21-13. Florida Southern was able to get a point at the No. 2 position as Abby DeVido and Lyndzey Minter dropped a close three-set match 21-18, 25-27, 15-12. The Sailfish bounced back to close out the match as Emma Pieper and Olivia Finckel won in two sets 21-11, 21-8 at No. 3, and at No. 4 Jessica Nodell and Sydney Wagner were victorious 22-20, 21-10. Gabriella Aziz and Julia Golichowski wrapped up the match playing at the No. 5 position winning 21-13, 21-15.

Match 2: PBA 5, Tusculum 0

After winning their first match in Pool C, the Sailfish stayed atop the group by taking down the Pioneers in the second match of the day. Schmidt and Evans once again got the Sailfish off to a strong start as they won both sets 21-16. PBA's No. 1 team is now 15-3 on the year. Minter and DeVido bounced back from the first match with a strong performance winning 21-19, 21-17 to take their record to 13-5. Finckel and Pieper pulled out a close first set 23-21 before securing the match for the 'Fish by taking the second set 21-15 and improving their record to 10-7. Nodell and Finckel came out on the right side of two close matches winning 21-19, 21-17 and moving their record as a duo to 11-7 on the year. Aziz and Golichowski improved to 9-7 after closing out the sweep winning 21-11, 21-10. 

The Sailfish's sixth team of Abigail Mason and Carla Cantero entered into the Pairs Challenge Division Pool Play. They sit atop their pool after going 2-0 with wins over Spring Hill 21-10, 21-17 and Corban 21-9, 21-15. 

It was a perfect start for the Sailfish in their postseason debut. They will face off against Texas A&M-Kingsville tomorrow to see who wins Pool C with the top two teams moving on to gold bracket play and the bottom two moving into the silver bracket. Full information and scores on the AVCA Small College Championship can be found here.