MELBOURNE, Fla. (Volleyball) - Heading into the end of the 2017 season, No. 6 Palm Beach Atlantic (22-1, SSC 14-1) remained a dominant contender nationally, as the Sailfish upended Florida Tech (9-12, SSC 4-11) in three sets on Tuesday night at the Clemente Center.
Despite holding the six seeded Sailfish to a .118 in the first set, FIT dropped in three consecutive sets 25-19, 25-15, 25-20.
As a team, Florida Tech counted 28 kills to go with 28 assists and 49 kills. The Crimson and Gray tied with Palm Beach in total blocks with eight, while taking a 12-10 edge for block assists.
Leading the offense, freshman Audrey Keenan notched a team-best seven kills, closely followed by outside hitter Kelly Germain with six. Tania Kottke and Olivia Hersey tallied five kills apiece, while defensively Hersey and Kotke collected four and three block assists respectively.
Setter Kiersten Rosa reached the 10-mark for doubles-doubles, combining a match-best 20 assists to 11 digs. Senior Nicole Fortuna and sophomore Kyra Atkinson patrolled the back corners picking up 12 digs apiece.
Opening the match, the Sailfish jumped out to an early 13-8 lead. The Panthers fought back, and tied the score at 13-13. However, Palm Beach took a five-point run to move past FIT and close the frame, 25-19.
In the second set, the teams traded points until PBA took a 5-3 run. In the reminder of the frame, the Panthers defense struggled to hold the Sailfish offense and eventually dropped the stanza, 25-14.
After intermission, Palm Beach set the pace once again, with Florida Tech following closely. With the score tied at 4-4, a kill from Keenan and a block assist by the combo Kottke-Reeves gave FIT a 6-4 edge on the Sailfish. However, Palm Beach quickly rallied back and balanced the score at 10-10. From there, the West Palm Beach lineup never looked back and took a five-point lead to close the match, 25-20.
Next up, Florida Tech will host the last regular season game on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The Panthers will square up against the Lynn Fighting Knights at the Titan Field House on the campus of Eastern Florida State.
For more info, fans can access FloridaTechSports.com.
