Tars Take A Set from Undefeated No. 4 PBA, But Fall in Four, 3-1

Rollins Hands Undefeated Sailfish Their Fourth Dropped Set of the Season

West Palm Beach, Fla. (October 17, 2017) – The Rollins volleyball team earned a 26-24 win in set two, marking just the fourth time this season the fourth-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic volleyball team has dropped a set, but the Sailfish were able to come out on top with a final score of 3-1 on Tuesday evening in Rubin Arena. 

The 3-1 loss (17-25, 26-24, 16-25, 22-25) moves the Tars to a mark of 7-10 overall, and 4-6 in Sunshine State Conference action, while the undefeated Sailfish advance to a record of 18-0, and 10-0 in conference play.

The senior tandem of Bri Civiero and Shannon McDonough led the team once again, as Civiero posted a match best 16 kills, and McDonough earned 13 on the night. Along with her match high 16 kills, Civiero also led the match with the only two service aces of the night. McDonough added 13 digs, marking her 12^th double-double of the season.  Cassidy Cason led the match with 43 assists, seeing a total of 143 set attempts for a setting percentage of .301 on the night. Senior Becca Wilson amassed a match best 27 digs on the day, while Rachel Fletcher earned 11.  At the net, three Tars posted three blocks apiece, as Civiero earned the Tars' lone solo block of the night and added two assisted stops, while Madison Jenkins and Sam Schlesman earned three assisted blocks apiece.  Kerra Tirado added two blocks of her own, while contributing seven kills, while Jenkins added nine kills to her performance.

The Sailfish saw a team best 14 kills from Ally Rohn, while Sarah Kimmey and Maddie Span earned 12 each.  Molly Burkhardt and Rohn split time dishing out the assists, withBurkhardt earning 30, and Rohn collecting 28.  Susie Forbes amassed a team best 24 digs, followed by Rohn with 20, Lauren Alberti with 12, and Burkhardt with 11.  Rohn's 13 kills, 28 assists, and 20 digs mark her eighth triple-double of the season.  As a team, Palm Beach Atlantic put up 24 blocks on the night, led by Kimmey and Span with six apiece. Span posted the team's lone solo block on the night.

COACH ROBINSON'S THOUGHTS:
"PBA did a great job controlling their first contact tonight which always makes a team hard to defend, but I was really proud of our resilience and fighting until the end. If we can bring that level of play for the rest of the season, some really good things will happen."

NOTES:

• Palm Beach Atlantic led in the final set, 22-14, but the Tars battled back to score six straight points to pull to within two, 22-20. Three of those points resulted from three straight blocks by the Tars, as Madison Jenkins and Sam Schlesman teamed up to earn points 18 and 19, while Shannon McDonough and Schlesman earned the block assist for the Tars' 20^th point of the set.
• Rollins staved off match point with a kill by Jenkins to set the score at 24-22, but the Sailfish grabbed the win on a kill by Maddie Span to earn their 18^th victory of the season.
• Entering into the match, Palm Beach Atlantic had only lost three sets in 17 matches.  The first two sets the Sailfish dropped were against Embry-Riddle on Friday, September 1, which was followed by 33 straight sets won before the West Florida Argonauts were able to claim a set on Saturday, October 14, at the 2017 South Region Crossover.
• Rollins' second set win marks just the fourth time this season the Sailfish have lost a set.
• Out of the Tars' 17 matches this season, seven have been against opponents who were nationally-ranked at the time of competition.
• Civiero notched her 16^th match with double-digit kills, including her 11th straight.
• McDonough notched her 15^th match with double-digit kills, and has posted 14 straight with double-digit kill counts.
• McDonough earned her 12^th double-double of the season
• The match was tied on 29 separate occasions, and saw 10 different lead changes. Set two proved to be the most contested, with five lead changes and the score tied 17 times.

NEXT UP:

• Date: Thursday | October 18, 2017
• Opponent:  Lynn University
• Location: Warden Arena – Alfond Sports Center | Winter Park, Fla.
• Time: 7:00 p.m.
• Coverage: LIVE STATS  |  VIDEO

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