Fourth-Ranked Sailfish Hand Tritons First Loss of Season

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Fourth-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic lived up to its billing on Friday night, fighting off a third-set comeback by the Triton volleyball team to complete a straight-sets win in the McArthur Center in Eckerd's Sunshine State Conference opener.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: No. 4 Palm Beach Atlantic 3, Eckerd 0 (20-25, 18-25, 26-28)
Records: PBA 8-0 (3-0 SSC); Eckerd 4-1 (0-1 SSC)
All-Time Series: PBA leads, 22-18

HOW IT HAPPENED
* Eckerd got off to a quick start in set one, rolling off three straight points for an early 7-4 lead.  The lead grew to 11-7 after a kill by Sarah Johnshoy and an ace from Arielle Erillo.  However, the Sailfish won points on the next seven rallies aided by five straight Triton attack errors to swing the set in their favor.  
* EC pulled back within a point at 14-13 but got no closer in the first set.  Four more attack errors in the next nine rallies helped PBA extend its lead to six points at 21-15.  The Tritons quickly cut the deficit in half before the teams exchanged points on five consecutive rallies to bring the Sailfish to set point, which ended on Eckerd's 13th attack error of the set.
* The Sailfish raced out to a 10-2 lead in the second set, and Eckerd never recovered as Palm Beach Atlantic saw its advantage grow to 10 points on five occasions.  The Tritons made a late run to get back within six points but committed another attack error to bring the set to an end, giving the Sailfish a 2-0 match lead.
* In the third set, Eckerd won points on seven of eight early rallies to build another 11-7 lead forcing PBA to take a timeout.  The stoppage broke EC's momentum as the Sailfish took four straight points to tie the set and eventually took a 13-12 lead.  However, the Tritons recovered as the teams played a string of side-out rallies before Palm Beach Atlantic inched ahead, 20-18.
* The Tritons again responded positively, taking points on seven of the next eight rallies to force set point at 24-21.  The Sailfish, though, won three straight points to extend the set and later broke set point twice more.  After breaking it for the final time, PBA put away two more kills to complete its seventh straight-sets win of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
* Attack errors proved to be Eckerd's undoing as the Tritons committed 30 - including 13 in the first set - and hit .048, while the Sailfish committed 18 attack errors and hit .200 for the match.  Kills were nearly even as PBA held a narrow 40-36 advantage.
* Palm Beach Atlantic, which is consistently one of the top blocking teams in Division II, totaled 13 blocks in the match.
* Paula Hoffmann recorded a career-high 17 kills to lead the Triton attack. No other Triton had more than four.
* Fernanda Reis had 30 assists.  Kaitlyn Sibson (14) and Kali Boatwright (10) both reached double-digits in digs while Stephanie Karlovics had five blocks.

NOTABLE
* The Tritons played without the team's top hitter, Abbie O'Ferrell, who missed the contest due to an injury.
* The Sailfish have won seven of their eight matches in straight sets.  Eckerd had yet to drop a set before tonight's contest.
* Hoffmann narrowly missed her third double-double of the season, coming up one dig short.

UP NEXT
The Tritons return to the floor on Saturday in SSC play, hosting Rollins at 4:00 PM.  The Tars lost to No. 21 Saint Leo on Friday, 3-1.