WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team lost to No. 3-ranked Tampa 3-0 on Saturday at Rubin Arena, with set scores of 19-25, 20-25 and 31-33.
"Sydney was incredible today for us and I love the way we competed and fought for each other today," PBA head coach Jeff Huebner said. "Leah had her best match of the year and Jess came up really big for us in her first match setting full time. Can't wait to work on the road this week."
The Sailfish pushed the third set into extra points and moved from a 10-11 deficit to a 15-12 lead, but the Spartans eventually took the set 33-31 to complete the sweep. The Sailfish finished with 52 kills and hit .275, while UTampa hit .368 and held a 7-1 edge in service aces.
Sydney Corbett led the Sailfish with 15 kills and 16 points while hitting .483 and adding eight digs.
Leah Burlison added a season-high 12 kills on a .444 hitting percentage.
Juliana Imbuzeiro finished with 23 assists and added two kills.
Jess Horn recorded a season-high 21 assists.
Ava McIntyre collected 10 digs, six kills and three blocks.
The Sailfish stayed even through the early stages of the first set and moved ahead 9-8 on a Corbett kill, but the Spartans answered with five straight points, including three Ainhoa Molleja service aces, to put the Sailfish behind 13-9. McIntyre helped the Sailfish respond with consecutive kills to make it 13-11, but UTampa kept the lead the rest of the way and took the set 25-19.
The Sailfish spent most of the second set trying to recover after the Spartans moved ahead 11-3. After UTampa reached 24-16, the Sailfish answered with four straight points, including a Burlison kill and back-to-back kills by Corbett, before the Spartans closed the set 25-20.
The Sailfish pushed the third set into extra points, but UTampa scored the final two points to take it 33-31. Earlier, the Sailfish turned a 10-11 deficit into a 15-12 lead, with Burlison recording three kills in that stretch and Corbett adding another. The Sailfish later moved ahead 24-23 on another Burlison kill and was tied as late as 31-31 before the Spartans closed the set.
Up next, the Sailfish travel to Boca Raton, Florida, to face Lynn on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m.
