WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team played its home opener in front of a raucous Rubin Arena crowd on Friday night against No. 8-ranked St. Cloud State.

The Sailfish (3-2) squad played well with the top-10 Huskies (6-0). PBA pushed the Huskies to the brink in two of the three sets but fell short to St. Cloud State, 3-0.

Angeleyshka Curbelo and Abbie Zylstra tied for a team-high nine kills. Curbelo hit a team-high .364 from the outside. Zylstra finished with eight digs. Mary Morgan Formby totaled five kills, hitting .235 with two blocks. Jayna Bredenberg led the 'Fish with a team-high 10 digs while Jayden Otto had a team-best 26 assists.

The energy was electric in the Rubin for the first set. The Sailfish traded points with the highly ranked Huskies. For most of the opening frame. The Huskies held an 18-17 lead before they began to pull away. A 4-1 run by St. Cloud State gave it a four-point cushion over the 'Fish.  A bad set kept PBA in the set, but the Huskies ended the set on a 3-0 run to win 25-19.

The second set had a similar start to the first with the Sailfish hanging with the Huskies until midway through the period. PBA led 9-8 after a kill by Formby that preceded a 16-2 run by St. Cloud State that put the visitors ahead, 24-11. The Huskies won the set, 25-12 to take a 2-0 lead.

PBA started strong in the third set. A kill from Zylstra put the 'Fish ahead 10-9. A run by the Huskies gave St. Cloud State a 15-11 lead. PBA refused to go down easily. Kills from Curbelo, Formby, and Zylstra brought the 'Fish all the way back to tie the set at 17 to force a St. Cloud State timeout. The Huskies pulled away again to lead 23-19, but a service error, an ace by Zylstra, and a block by Kaileigh Ammons and Otto cut the deficit to one. St. Cloud State closed out the set and match with a pair of kills. The Huskies took the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.

St. Cloud State outhit the Sailfish .298-.140 in the match. The Huskies totaled 10 aces in the match compared to two for the 'Fish. St. Cloud State blocked nine PBA attacks in the contest.

PBA plays a pair of matches on Saturday to close out the 2022 Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach. The Sailfish start the day against New Haven at 11:30 a.m. followed by a matchup against Barton at 7 p.m. in Rubin Arena.