PALM BEACH ATLANTIC SAILFISH RETURN TO THEIR WINNING WAYS

Courtesy of Palm Beach Atlantic Sports Information. The parenthetical remarks are purely my fault.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- With sophomore Mariela Quesada (Official Balladeer’s Blog nickname “The Q”) leading the way with 18 kills, the Palm Beach Atlantic University volleyball team shook off a recent two match losing streak on Tuesday evening by handing St. Thomas University a 3-0 loss at the Rubin Arena. Despite battling team-wide injuries the Fish managed to earn solid victories over the Bobcats to drop STU to 10-3 on the season and interrupt their recent seven match winning streak.

After starting the season 11-0, the Fish were tripped up their previous two matches with losses versus Lynn University (The Fighting Knights, to distinguish them from all those Pacifist Knights out there) at home (3-0) and a heartbreaking loss of 3-2 versus Florida Tech (The Panthers. I’m trying to talk them into changing their name to The Pink Panthers but no luck so far.)in Melbourne (Florida, not Australia, as I learned after arriving Down Under to cover the game) last week. Tuesday evening would be a different opponent and a different outcome as PBA (Palm Beach Atlantic, NOT the Professional Bowler’s Association) dominated with 25-13, 25-21, and 25-13 victories to cruise to their 12th win.

Quesada (“The Q”) and the Fish (The Sailfish) came out firing in game one as the 5’9″ outside-hitter produced eight kills (and left several seriously wounded) in the team’s first set while also mixing in as a setting option in games two and three.

Hitting .378 for the match, Quesada led the Sailfish hitting efforts with her 18 kills (In honor of Quesada’s nickname they should call them “Quills” when she gets them) while also adding in 10 digs for yet another double-double. As a team, Palm Beach Atlantic finished with a .344 team hitting percentage while four players hit at least .333.

Senior Jennifer (“Eldritch”) Eldridge produced six kills as did freshman Paige (“The Rage”)  Mitchell and junior (“Jumping”) Janeen McCormick. Mitchell and McCormick also produced well on the block as Mitchell led the team with four block assists and McCormick chipped in with a solo block and block assist.

(“J-Way” herself) Jessica Way (I was going to call her Jessica “Curds And” Way but thought better of it.) managed 33 assists in the win while also adding in four kills on four attempts for a perfect hitting percentage. Allie Warren (Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: “The Lethal Libero”) produced 15 digs to lead the way defensively while Eldridge and Quesada joined Warren with double-digit totals in digs with 10 digs each. (But did any of them remember to “Call before you” dig?)

The Bobcats were led on the night by Betina Schmidt who came away with a team-high 11 kills. The Brazil native managed a .219 hitting percentage but had only two teammates with at least four kills. STU connected for a .030 team hitting percentage but were held to negative hitting percentages in set one and three. (Courtesy of that potent Sailfish defense! I’ll say it even though their release is too modest to!)

PBA (This time it DOES mean the Professional Bowlers Association, oddly enough) will have the next few days off from game action while they prepare to host the Pepsi Bash at the Beach Tournament on Friday and Saturday, October 8-9 at the Rubin Arena.