SENATOBIA, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team had a short turnaround after Wednesday evening as they traveled to Senatobia on Thursday for a doubleheader against the Rangers and Freed-Hardeman. The Wildcats fell to NWCC 3-0 (19-25, 16-25, and 23-25), but rebounded in game two, defeating Freed-Hardeman 3-1 (25-9, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13).
NORTHWEST 3, PEARL RIVER 0.
Pearl River (4-6 overall) opened the scoring in set one through an Anna Claire Sheffield (Canton; Jackson Academy) kill.
Northwest (2-8) proceeded to grab the lead with three straight points, but the Wildcats were able to weather the early storm, cutting the deficit to 3-2 off a Hannah Burks (Ocean Springs; Vancleave) kill.
The Rangers soon found themselves up 9-8.
Northwest was able to go on a small run to extend its lead to 13-9, but Pearl River got itself right back into the set after three straight kills by Burks, Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon), and Jasmine Burden (Biloxi), setting the score at 13-12.
The teams again exchanged scores with Northwest gaining late momentum to take set one 25-19.
The Rangers opened the scoring in set two by grabbing the first five points.
After a quick Bartholomew kill, the Rangers continued to pile it on, opening the lead all the way out to 8-1.
Pearl River followed it up with a run of its own and managed to eventually work the deficit down to two at 15-13.
Northwest went on a hot streak and propelled itself to a 25-16 set two victory.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in set three, but the Rangers again responded quickly and managed to take an early 5-2 lead.
From there, the match was deadlocked with neither side able to pull away from the other, until the Rangers found themselves ahead 23-22. They then closed out the set 25-23.
PEARL RIVER 3, FREED-HARDEMAN 1.
The Wildcats were off and running in the first set, scoring the first six points of the match.
The Lions (0-2) were able to grab a quick point, but Pearl River was not fazed grabbing three more points via a Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) kill and back-to-back Burks aces to take a 9-1 lead.
FHU briefly halted the run, but the Wildcats immediately responded with another. The run was led by an Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) kill, a Sheffield and McNeely combination block, and back-to-back kills by Bartholomew to set the score at 13-2 and force a Lion timeout.
The Lions made the most of the timeout by grabbing a point to halt the run, but Pearl River went on another run that included a Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs) kill to push the lead out to 16-4.
The Wildcats never took their foot off the pedal in the first set and coasted to a 25-9 victory.
FHU opened the scoring in set two and managed to grab a 3-1 lead. Pearl River tied the score at 3-3 through kills by McNeely and Sara McKinney (Delaware, Okla; Oklahoma Union).
Allison Carpenter (Ocean Springs) sent the Wildcats on another run that included three straight service aces to give the Wildcats a 9-4 lead.
The Wildcats held on to the early momentum and road it to a 25-19 set two victory.
Set three saw Pearl River explode out of the gates to a 10-3 lead, but the Lions did not let that deter them and fought their way back into the match 12-11.
FHU capitalized on their only run of momentum and were able to earn a hard-fought 25-22 set three victory.
Pearl River took no chances in set four by spotting themselves a comfortable 10-4 lead.
Despite a valiant effort late by the Lions, Pearl River claimed victory 25-13 to win the match.
LEADING THE WAY
Bartholomew was a force all day for the Wildcats tallying 18 kills between the two matches.
McNeely finished the day with eight kills and five blocks.
Lillie Franks added six kills of her own.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats continue the road trip on Saturday as they head to Owl Invitational. The first match against Itawamba is set to get underway at 1 p.m.
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