POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team played its final regular-season match on Wednesday night against Mississippi University for Women. Despite falling in the first set, the Wildcats rallied to claim three straight sets to win the match 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-11).
SET ONE
Mississippi University for Women (0-6 overall) opened the scoring in set one by claiming five of the first six points. Pearl River (22-12) quickly responded with a five-point run through the serving of Allison Carpenter (Ocean Springs), taking the lead 7-5.
The Owls were not fazed and quickly tied the score at 7-7 and from there a scoring exchange ensued.
The Wildcats held off the Owls for most of the middle part of the set with a 21-20 lead.
MUW gained momentum and took advantage of a couple of Wildcat miscues to take the first set 25-23.
SET TWO
Set two opened similarly to set one with the Owls leading 5-1. The Wildcats chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the score 8-8.
Shortly thereafter, Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs) grabbed momentum for the Wildcats through a thunderous block, giving them a 9-8 lead.
The Wildcats used that momentum to slowly pull away from the Owls, eventually finding themselves leading 23-21.
Pearl River took the set 25-21 moments later.
SET THREE
The Owls once again opened the scoring in set three, but the Wildcats were able to respond quickly through a Sara McKinney (Delaware, Okla; Oklahoma Union) kill.
McKinney tied the score again moments later with another kill which allowed the Wildcats to build a 4-2 lead with a Carpenter ace and a kill by Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon).
The teams eventually found themselves tied 8-8, but Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) gave the Wildcats the lead back through a monstrous kill that sparked a run that included a Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) ace and a Smith block, increasing the lead to 13-8.
Despite the Owls ending the run, McKinney and Bartholomew registered back-to-back kills to extend the Wildcat lead 16-9.
Jaiden Gaston (Spruce Town, Ala; Tharptown) continued the run with a big block to set the score 17-9.
The Wildcats never looked back from there, taking the second set 25-13.
SET FOUR
The Wildcats opened the scoring in set four taking an early 5-1 lead. After a quick scoring exchange tied the score 6-6, Abbie Franks added another kill to her match total to give Pearl River a 7-6 lead.
The kill sparked a four-point run that also include a Bartholomew kill to increase the lead to 10-6.
After a quick Owl response, the Wildcats captured all momentum and ran away with the final set and match 25-11.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action Friday in the first round of the Region 23 Tournament against Itawamba. The match is set to get underway at 6 p.m. and will be livestreamed at LetsGoICCTV.com.
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