POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball took on Pensacola State for the second time in a six-day stretch Tuesday evening, falling to the Pirates 3-0 (17-25, 21-25, 12-25).

"Pensacola State is very talented — credit to them for good leadership and coaching and some great players," head coach Haley Chatham said. "I know the set scores might not have looked like it, but we actually made some nice adjustments to defend their attacks so much better than we did last Thursday. If we could have congruently minimized our unforced errors, two of those sets would suddenly become a lot closer.

"I like the way we devised a plan to make changes against the same team in such a short turnaround. We have another weekend of tough teams ahead of us, and we will continue to rely on this kind of competition to make us better."

SET ONE
Pearl River (6-4 overall) moved out to an early 3-0 advantage in the first set against Pensacola State (9-1). The Pirates fought back to square things up at 9-9 before they started to pull away in the match, going ahead by as many as 11 points at 20-9. 

The Wildcats cut the deficit to nine, 21-12, after a kill off the hand of Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) and then to eight points, 24-16, on an Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs) kill.

PSC put an end to the set moments later, 25-17. 

SET TWO
The teams found themselves locked in another tight contest to begin the second set as they fought to a quick 4-4 tie. Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) brought the Wildcats ahead 6-4 when her serve was mishandled by a Pirate and went out of bounds for an ace.

Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) made it a three-point 10-7 advantage by faking a hard-hit kill attempt and instead dropping it over the net and down. On the ensuing rally, Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) turned away a kill attempt with a forceful bock, making the score 11-7.

The Wildcats pulled ahead by as much as six points at 17-11 in the set, but the Pirates didn't go away as they fought back to square the game up at 18-18.

Pearl River couldn't overcome the momentum that Pensacola State had collected as the Pirates won the set 25-21.

SET THREE
PSC jumped out to a 6-2 lead to begin the third set before Bartholomew slammed a kill down in front of a diving Pirate player to cut the deficit to three, 6-3.

It was all Pensacola State throughout the middle portion of the third set as they stretched out a 10-point 15-5 advantage. 

Trailing 19-6, Pearl River started a run of its own. Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs) faked as if she was setting up a kill attempt and instead tossed it over and down for a kill, 19-7. Two plays later, Bartholomew dropped in a kill, and Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) followed by tucking a kill down the right side and just inside the line, 19-10. 

PRCC added two more points down the stretch, but the Pirates took the set, 25-12.

UP NEXT
Pearl River heads to play in the Mississippi/Alabama Crossover hosted by Wallace State - Hanceville on Friday. The Wildcats take on Gadsden State at 5 p.m. followed by a match against Calhoun at 7 p.m.

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