DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Despite a career-high 20 kills from freshman Melanie Canfield and a career-high 50 assists from Alyssa Rudd, the Embry-Riddle volleyball team came up just short in its efforts to knock off Palm Beach Atlantic, the fourth-ranked team in the country, on Friday night. The Sailfish won the match, 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-7), to move to 6-0 on the season, while the Eagles fell to 2-2.
 
The match was originally scheduled to be played in West Palm Beach, but due to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the teams elected to swap home dates, with ERAU hosting Friday night's match and the Sailfish hosting on Oct. 24 instead.
 
Canfield led all players with her career-high 20 kills and hit a team-high .318, while Erika Barbour added 16 kills and Theresa Jordan chipped in with eight kills and a career-best 17 digs. Olivia Roa collected 28 digs to lead all players and Rudd's career-high 50 assists were also a match-high.
 
The first set was tight through the first 12 points until a 5-0 run for PBA gave the Sailfish a 10-6 lead. The Eagles cut that margin down to two points on eight different occasions, but ERAU couldn't ever get any closer than that as Palm Beach Atlantic won the opening set, 25-21.
 
Set two featured three early lead changes, with ERAU going on an 11-5 run to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 17-11 advantage, the largest lead of the match in any set for the Eagles. The Sailfish rattled off four points in a row to make it a two-point lead, but a Canfield kill sparked a quick 3-0 response from the Blue and Gold, giving the home side a 20-15 advantage. PBA cut it to just two again at 20-18, but the Eagles held off the charge, utilizing two kills from Canfield and two kills from Barbour to help clinch the set, 25-21, knotting the match up at one set apiece.
 
The third set was a near-carbon copy of the second, with the lead changing hands three times early on and the Eagles going on a 5-0 run to pull out to an 18-11 lead. The Sailfish rallied back, just as they had in set two, trimming the deficit to a single point at 21-20, only to see ERAU score four in a row, including three Barbour kills, to win the set, 25-20, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
 
Palm Beach Atlantic took an early 3-1 lead in the fourth set, and unlike the previous two frames, the lead did not change hands multiple times early on. PBA maintained its lead throughout the entire set with the exception of a 14-14 tie, from which point the Sailfish scored on six consecutive rallies to take a commanding 20-14 lead, which would propel them to a comfortable 25-19 win, sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
 
The Eagles took advantage of three Sailfish errors in the first four points of the fifth set to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Ally Rohn put down a kill to spark what would prove to be the longest run of the match for either side, an 8-0 spurt for PBA that put the Sailfish in complete control at 9-3. ERAU got to within four (11-7) on Canfield's final kill of the match, but Palm Beach Atlantic closed out the match with four straight points to win the fifth frame, 15-7, securing a 3-2 win in the match.
 
The Blue and Gold will look to bounce back tomorrow when they travel to Melbourne to face Florida Tech at 4 p.m.