TAVARES, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic beach volleyball team played two more matches today at the AVCA Small College Championship. The Sailfish finished off a perfect 3-0 pool play by taking down Colorado Mesa 3-1, but championship hopes ended as PBA fell to Spring Hill for the second straight year.
Match 1: PBA - 3, Colorado Mesa - 1
The Sailfish continued to outclass their opponents in Pool 3 as the top-seeded 'Fish took down the second-seeded Mavericks.
Jazz Schmidt and
Lunden Evans were able to pull out a close first set 24-22 before rolling in the second set 21-13 of the No. 1 position match, and
Lyndzey Minter and
Abby DeVido were able to win their No. 2 match 21-15, 21-18. The Mavericks took the No. 3 match as
Karla Cantero and
Julia Golichowski fell 21-16, 21-14. However, the 'Fish were able to secure the match win as
Olivia Finckel and
Abigail Mason came out on top 21-14, 21-17. With PBA having the match secured, the No. 5 match with
Emma Vann and
Gabriella Aziz wasn't completed.Â
Match 2: PBA - 2, Spring Hill - 3
After winning Pool 3, the Sailfish played Spring Hill who finished second in their Pool 4 play in an extremely close match. Schmidt and Evans remained one of the best and most reliable pairs in all of the country as they won in straight sets 21-15, 21-11 in the No. 1 match. Minter and DeVido took the first set of their No. 2 match 21-16 before pulling out an extended second set 26-24. Unfortunately, the remainder of the matches went the way of the Badgers. The No. 3 match with Cantero and Golichowski had each set go to extended points but Spring Hill won them both 23-21, 25-23. Finckel and Mason won their first No. 4 set 21-11 but were unable to get another set, losing 21-10, 16-14. Aziz and Vann bounced back from a dropped first set, 21-16, to take the second 21-13, but fell in the third 21-19.
 Despite the defeat, play for the Sailfish isn't over. They will fall into silver bracket play and battle Carson-Newman at 8 am. The winner of the match between the Sailfish and Eagles will then face the winner between Saint Leo and Texas A&M Kingsville.
