ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team (11-10, 4-6 Sunshine State) lost to Eckerd (14-8, 6-5 Sunshine State) 3-1 on Saturday, with set scores of 14-25, 25-19, 18-25 and 20-25.
The Sailfish finished with 45 kills and a .207 hitting percentage, while EC totaled 64 kills and hit .312. The 'Fish added six aces, six total blocks and 49 digs in the match at McArthur Center.
Sydney Corbett led the Sailfish with 14 kills and added five digs. Corbett has recorded at least 14 kills in five consecutive games.
Nae Jordan finished with 11 kills while hitting .435 and collected five digs. Jordan has recorded 11 or more kills in two straight games.
Jess Horn recorded 23 assists, five digs, one ace and one block.
Sofia Augusto posted 20 digs, four assists and one ace. Augusto has recorded 20 or more digs in four straight games.
Kaelynn Sims has recorded a hitting percentage of at least .438 in two consecutive games, adding nine kills in today's match.
Simi Kapustova has recorded four or more total blocks in two consecutive games.
"I thought Jess and Juliana did a pretty good job for us creating offense even on a day when we didn't pass, particularly well," PBA head coach Jeff Huebner said. "Sydney and Nae carried a pretty heavy out of system attacking role tonight while making good choices the whole way. It will be so great to have everybody back in the Ruben this week for 'More Than Pink night' on Thursday!"
The Sailfish fell behind 5-0 to open the set and could not erase the early deficit. Later,
Juliana Imbuzeiro, Augusto and Jordan accounted for three straight Sailfish points to bring the score to 18-12. The Tritons closed the set 25-14.
The Sailfish won the second set 25-19 after building an early 5-1 lead with
Lexi Berry's service ace, a
Leah Burlison kill from Horn and an EC attack error. A later service turn from Horn included her ace and a Sims kill, moving the 'Fish from 14-9 to 17-9. The Tritons scored three straight late to get to 24-19, but
Brighten Sedmack finished the set with a kill from Horn.
The Sailfish briefly went ahead 4-2 on Sims' service ace and Corbett's kill, but EC answered with six straight points and forced the 'Fish to play from behind the rest of the third set. The Sailfish got back to 13-16 behind a Sims kill and Berry ace, and Imbuzeiro later added an ace to make it 16-19. The Tritons finished off the set, 25-18.
The Sailfish stayed even as late as 16-16 in the fourth set, getting kills from Corbett, Jordan and Burlison as the set moved point-for-point. EC scored the next three points, and the 'Fish got back within 19-18 on a Sedmack kill before the Tritons answered and took the fourth set 25-20.
Up next, the Sailfish volleyball team returns home to host Florida Tech on Thursday in Rubin Arena at 6 p.m.
