WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle volleyball suffered its fourth defeat of the season on Friday night, the third of which has come against a nationally-ranked opponent. 18th-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic defeated the Eagles in three sets (25-13, 25-22, 25-19). ERAU fell to 10-4 on the season while PBA improved to 11-3.
 
The Sailfish outhit the Eagles .275 to .008 on the night as the Blue and Gold committed 28 attack errors, a season-high total for a three-set match.
 
"We never really got into a rhythm offensively tonight," ERAU Head Coach Joslynn Gallop said. "Palm Beach Atlantic is a solid team and they frustrated our attack all night long. At the same time, we know that we can't have 28 hitting errors in three sets and expect to win in this conference, so that's something we're going to have to clean up tomorrow."
 
Evelina Abdurakhmanova led ERAU with 14 kills while Ana Pajic chipped in with nine. Amanda Saunders picked up a match-high 15 digs and Tamires Ferreira tallied 25 assists.
 
Embry-Riddle led early in set one (4-3), but a 5-0 run gave the Sailfish an 8-4 lead and they never looked back. PBA closed out the frame on a 12-2 run to win going away, 25-13.
 
Set two saw the Eagles again take an early lead (4-2), but this time the Blue and Gold were able to extend the margin to as many as five points (17-12). Palm Beach Atlantic chipped away at the lead and eventually drew even at 22-22. An Abdurakhmanova kill put ERAU within two points of a set win, but the Sailfish scored three straight to steal the frame, 25-23, taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Palm Beach Atlantic started set three with a 4-1 lead and never trailed in the stanza. The Eagles' longest scoring run of the set came late on a pair of Abdurakhmanova kills followed by a Ferreira termination that trimmed a 23-16 deficit down to four points (23-19), but back-to-back Faith Rohn kills closed out the match for PBA.
 
The Eagles return to the court tomorrow as they travel to Miami Shores to face Barry at 4 p.m.