WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team returned home to Rubin Arena on Monday evening, facing off in an SSC matchup with Tampa.
Monday's match was rescheduled because of Hurricane Milton. Tampa entered the match ranked No. 4 in the AVCA top 25. The Sailfish had some bright spots in the match but ultimately lost to the Spartans 3-0.
Sydney Corbett led the Sailfish with eight kills, hitting a team-high .304 with seven digs.
Kelsey Rogers and
Abbie Zylstra notched four kills each. K. Rogers showcased her presence at the net, totaling four blocks. Zylstra tied for the team lead with nine digs.
Gabi Ashcraft tallied a team-leading 11 assists with nine digs.
Anna Beth Stokes recorded eight assists with five digs.
"Sydney and Kelsey did a really good job today," PBA head coach Jeff Huebner said. "Our team managed some positional adversity today and put together a good serve and pass day, which is our focus this week. I thought we got good defensive play from Gabi, Abbie, Sydney, and AB thanks to the work our blockers did to slow down the Tampa offense."
The Spartans got off to a hot start early in the first set. After UTampa built a 9-3 lead, PBA called a timeout. The Sailfish regained their composure, trading points with UTampa before rattling off a 5-1 run with kills by Corbett and
Giulia Santuari. PBA cut the deficit to two, forcing Tampa to call a timeout of its own. PBA hung with the visitors until a 6-1 run ended the set, with the Spartans winning 25-17.
The second set mirrored the first. After Tampa built a 9-3 lead, the Sailfish chipped away. Kills from K. Rogers and Ashcraft followed by an ace from Stokes, making it 13-10. Unfortunately for the Sailfish, two 4-0 runs late in the set allowed Tampa to pull away 25-16.
The trend continued in the third set. The Spartans led 11-6 before the 'Fish battled back to make it a 13-12 set. UTampa pulled away with a 9-1 run that put the frame out of reach. The Spartans took the third, 25-17, after three consecutive kills.
"We had some trouble attacking tonight on the pins, which ultimately put us in a tight window for success," Huebner said. "After some early struggles in each set, we responded well and played even to finish the set. We will spend time working on improving our early game performance and are looking forward to SAILGATING on Friday!"
PBA continues its home stretch this weekend, hosting Florida Tech on Friday at 7 p.m.
