POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team secured its second sweep in as many matches on Monday evening, but it certainly wasn't easy.
Despite trailing by as much as nine points twice in the match's third set, Pearl River managed to make the set an instant classic, fighting back to secure the sweep, 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 26-24).
"It's really advantageous not only for them to be able to come from way behind but to understand how capable they are of overcoming deficits this early on," head coach Haley Chatham said. "Of course, no one likes to get in a hole, but now we have that final set to look back on for the rest of the season."
Chatham showed the utmost confidence in her team in the third set as she never called a timeout through the deficit.
"I really feel like in these early games, it's important for them to experience some sink or swim moments — especially when they are up two sets, and there is a little wiggle room," she said. "It's always a risk, but I am willing to take them early to help them find out what they are made of. Not a soul in that gym wants to win that match more than they do, and tonight they proved they have the guts to come out on top."
The victory marks the first over Coastal Alabama South since the program started in 2019.
"For the last couple of years, we've thought and said 'tonight could be the night' when facing Coastal Alabama South," Chatham said. "We have taken them to five sets numerous times, and most of those, we dropped the last one by only two points. Something felt a little different tonight when we talked about it. We played some gritty volleyball, the stars aligned, and we finally won against them."
SET ONE
Pearl River (2-0 overall) emphatically took the lead to begin the day as Sammie Smith (D'Iberville) blocked a kill attempt back down on the Coastal Alabama South (0-1) side of the court. CAS tied things up briefly, but the Wildcats stormed back ahead 5-2 when Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) smashed a kill just to the right of a diving Coyote.
PRCC went ahead 9-4 after back-to-back stellar defensive plays. Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) dove forward for a dig to keep the rally going. The defensive play was followed by Lauren McLamore (Brandon) diving to her left for another dig. The rally eventually ended when Coastal Alabama – South hit the ball into the net. Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs) forced a CAS timeout midway through the set when she picked up a solo block to make the score 12-6.
Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) sent a kill off the hands of the CAS libero and into the back wall to pick up the 23rd point of the set before Sammie Smith racked up back-to-back aces to end things, 25-9.
SET TWO
The Wildcats found themselves in an early 3-0 deficit to begin the second set, but a Coyote miscue got PRCC going once again as they rallied to tie things up at 4-4.
Pearl River briefly retook the lead 10-9 after a long rally. Three consecutive kill attempts by Smith were returned before Abbie Franks ended it with a big-time block, 10-9. The point sparked a rally for the Wildcats as they went ahead 14-11 shortly after.
Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs) picked up a kill that made the score 18-14 by lightly tapping a ball over the net that the Coyotes didn't handle properly.
Smith wrapped up the set when she sent a thunderous kill across the net to help the Wildcats take set two, 25-20.
SET THREE
The third set of the match will go down as one of the most hard-fought sets in program history. Nothing was doing for the Wildcats for most of the set as they found themselves in a nine-point deficit twice at 15-6 and 18-9.
The switch in momentum began shortly after that. Hoffmayer picked up a solo block to make the deficit 18-10. Hoffmayer struck again moments later after Allie Varner (Madison; Germantown) picked up a diving dig. McNeely continued the rally as her ace froze the defenders for the Coyotes.
Madison Butler (Biloxi; D'Iberville) entered the picture with Pearl River trailing 20-13 and was an instant energy boost for the Wildcats. In addition to being valuable defensively, she picked up a pair of aces in a three-point span and set up the Wildcat hitters in great positions to cut the deficit to 20-16.
"Madison isn't afraid of anything," Chatham said. "She's going to make the play or die trying. Who wouldn't want her on the court in a fightback situation. That kind of toughness and confidence as a freshman in her second match of the season speaks for itself. I'm so glad she's on our side of the net."
With the help of four balls out of play by the Coyotes, Pearl River fought back to take its first lead of the set at 21-20. The Wildcats went ahead 24-21, but the CAS stormed back to even up the score 24-24.
Bartholomew moved PRCC back in front when she sent a booming kill off the hands of a CAS player and into the Shivers Gymnasium entryway. The emotional set finally came to an end when the Coyotes sent a ball into the net, securing an instant classic 26-24 victory in the final set.
UP NEXT
Pearl River will wrap up a three-match home stand on Wednesday as Gadsden State makes the trip to Poplarville for a 5 p.m. first serve.
CASHLESS BOX OFFICE
To help improve traffic flow and fan experience, PRCC athletics box offices are cashless. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted at the box office. Fans are encouraged to beat the lines and purchase their tickets in advance at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets or fans can download the HomeTown Ticketing app to their mobile device to purchase and store their tickets.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2023 Pearl River soccer season are available now at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets! General admission tickets are $8 or a season-pass can be purchased for $63.
TUNE IN
The Wildcats will once again livestream all matches for free at PRCCMedia.com/gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).