POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team was full of grit and determination on Wednesday against Gadsden State. Although the Wildcats found themselves in a 2-0 deficit, they rallied back to take three consecutive sets to defeat the Cardinals 3-2 (21-25, 26-28, 27-25, 25-15, 15-5). 

"It took us two long sets to figure out their offense. We were setting up for hard swings, and they weren't really giving us any," Pearl River head coach Haley Chatham said. "We made sure we took care of every tip and off-speed shot and tried to turn those into points.

"If they got a couple of hard shots into the corner, we were okay with that and would move to the next one. We defended the tip and made them swing and I think that was the difference."

SET ONE
Pearl River (3-0 overall) got on the board first in set one but found itself in an early 8-4 hole against Gadsden State (0-3). The Wildcats battled back to even things up 13-13.

Down the stretch of the set, the PRCC pulled within two points at 18-16 when Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) sent a booming kill onto the Gadsden State side of the court. 

Pearl River continued to fight over the final few points of the set, but the Cardinals secured a 25-21 set one victory.

SET TWO
The Wildcats fought to take a 5-2 advantage in set two with the help of a well-placed ace off the hand of Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy). The Wildcats continued to keep their foot on the gas pedal as they moved ahead 16-13 with back-to-back kills off the right hand of Bartholomew. The Cardinals didn't go down quietly, though, as they went on an inspired run to take a 20-19 advantage. 

Lauren McLamore (Brandon) briefly pulled Pearl River back even with Gadsden State when she fired an ace off the body of the Cardinal libero to make the score 22-22. The teams fought back and forth over the final portion before GSCC won the set, 28-26.

SET THREE
Set three was tightly contested from start to finish. The Wildcats went ahead 2-1 when Jolee Gibson (Brandon) set up a thunderous kill from Sammie Smith (D'Iberville).

Neither team was able to pull ahead throughout the middle portion of the set as the teams remained tied 12-12 after Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs) sent a kill through a block attempt and onto the floor.

The Wildcats really showed their fight from that point forward, battling through five ties. With the game deadlocked at 25, McNeely and Smith activated their clutch gene, demolishing back-to-back kills to take the set 27-25.

SET FOUR
Staving off defeat seemed to inspire Pearl River as set four was all Wildcats. With Gibson serving, Pearl River rattled off eight consecutive points. In the 8-0 run, Gibson picked up a pair of aces, Smith earned a kill and Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) mashed a kill onto the Gadsden State side of the court. 

Smith was responsible for PRCC's 14th, 15th and 16th points as she turned in kill after kill to move the Wildcats in front 16-10. Pearl River continued to pile it on down the stretch before Smith struck again with a kill to end the set, 25-15. 

SET FIVE
Gibson picked up where she left off in the fifth set, sparking a 6-0 run which included three straight aces and an assist on a McNeely kill. 

Smith put her all into a swing a few points later as her kill brought a Gadsden State defender to the floor, 7-2.

The Wildcats stretched out their lead to 9-5, and with the help of several Cardinal miscues, Pearl River secured a 15-5 come-from-behind victory.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats hit the road for the first time Friday for a 4 p.m. match against Mississippi University for Women.

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