MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team continued its road stint with a trip to SSC opponent Florida Tech on Friday night. 

The Sailfish got off to a slow start in the match, dropping the first two sets, but PBA (12-12, 6-8 SSC) flipped the script at the midway point in the match. The Sailfish took the third and fourth sets to force a decisive fifth set. The Panthers (13-11, 5-8 SSC) stepped up in front of their home crowd and rebounded to take the fifth set, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.

Kayla Matthews led the Sailfish with 16 kills and 15 digs. Mary Morgan Formby and Angeleyshka Curbelo tied with 12 kills each. Curbelo also added seven digs to her stat line. Harper Stokes made her first start as a Sailfish, totaling 10 kills and hitting an efficient .409. Anna Gregerson took turns with Stokes in the front row. The senior notched seven kills, hitting a team-best .462 with five blocks. Jayden Otto was one assist shy of tying her season-high, finishing with 51 kills. Lauren Cummings tallied a team-best 23 digs in the match.

Each team rattled off a sizeable run in the opening set. Florida Tech was the first to pull away, taking a 12-7 lead. The Sailfish worked their way back to a 17-16 lead of their own thanks to three consecutive kills from Stokes. The Panthers answered with an 8-1 run, including four unforced errors by PBA, to retake the lead, 24-18. PBA recorded two points before FT closed it out with a kill.

Both teams saw their attacking percentage rise in the second set. Florida Tech pulled away again early, partly due to the Panther block and a pair of ball-handling errors from the Sailfish. Florida Tech found itself with a 21-14 lead before the Sailfish went on a 5-1 run with two kills from Gregerson, a kill and block from Formby, and an ace from Matthews that cut the deficit to three points. Unfortunately for the 'Fish, it was too little too late as the Panthers won the set, 25-21.

PBA jumped to a quick lead in the third set thanks to the trio of Curbelo, Stokes, and Formby. The Panthers hung around in the frame until a 5-1 run tied the third at 20. Matthews and Formby came through in the clutch for the Sailfish to seal the set 25-22 and gain some momentum for PBA.

The Sailfish got to play with a lead early in the fourth set. A 5-0 run with two kills from Matthews and a block from Gregerson helped make it 13-7 PBA. Florida Tech cut the deficit to one, but an 8-2 run topped off by a Stokes and Otto block gave the 'Fish a 22-15 lead. PBA went on to win 25-19, hitting a match-best .367 in the set. 

Errors came back to bite the Sailfish in the fifth set. A service error, an attack error, and an ace helped FT take an 8-5 lead. The Sailfish hung around but failed to put together a run of points. Florida Tech hit .304 in the set before winning 15-12.

The Sailfish outhit the Panthers in the match .232 – .218, but it was not enough to overcome FT. PBA totaled 12 service errors in the match, its fourth-most in a match this season.

The Sailfish hit the road again on Saturday to take on Saint Leo. The match in Saint Leo, Fla. takes place at 4 p.m.