ANDALUSIA, Ala. — The Pearl River Volleyball team hit the road on Saturday afternoon to take on Lurleen B. Wallace. The Wildcats battled with the Saints throughout the match but came up short 3-1 (15-25, 25-23. 26-28, 21-25).

"Of course, we wish the outcome would have been different, but we are still happy to have this lineup of competition going into the conference tournament," Pearl River coach Haley Chatham said. "Playing well-coached, talented teams always helps us get better. I consider those matches a plus when we are able to be competitive and grow as a team. This team has done exactly that and they keep doing it."

SET ONE
Lurleen B Wallace (18-10 overall) opened up on a 4-0 run in set one.

Pearl River (18-10) responded with a three-point run that included an Anna Claire Sheffield (Canton; Jackson Academy) and Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) block as well as a Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) ace to cut the deficit to one. 

From there, the teams began to exchange scores for the middle part of the set with the Saints holding on to a slim 10-7 lead. 

LBW capitalized on late momentum and used it to coast to a 25-15 victory in set one.

SET TWO
LBW surged out to an early 5-0 lead to begin set two and continued to pile on the points as the Saints found themselves leading 10-5. 

The Wildcats were not fazed and proceeded to chip away at the deficit through two kills by Julianah Overstreet (Vancleave) and an ace and kill by Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon), cutting the deficit to two at 17-15.

The Wildcats continued to edge closer and took a 22-21 lead courtesy of kills by Sara McKinney (Delaware, Okla; Oklahoma Union) and Jasmine Burdine (Biloxi) as well as a McKinney ace. 

The Wildcats used the late momentum to propel themselves to a 25-23 set two victory.

SET THREE
The Wildcats claimed five of the first eight points to start set three, getting two kills and a block by Burdine. 

From there, the teams traded blows with the Saints slowly cutting into the deficit and eventually taking the lead 13-12. 

Despite the Wildcats rallying late through kills by Overstreet and McKinney, LBW was able to claim a 28-26 victory.

SET FOUR
Set four opened with the Wildcats taking an early 5-2 lead through a thunderous kill from Bartholomew followed by another Burdine block.

Pearl River continued to add to the lead with kills from Smith, McKinney, and Sheffield, setting the score at 11-6. 

The Saints handled the early onslaught by the Wildcats and captured momentum through an eight-point run that gave them a 19-18 lead.

They never looked back from there, taking the set and match 25-21.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats continue the road trip on Tuesday against Gulf Coast State. The match is set to get underway at 6 p.m.

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