POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Pearl River showed its toughness Monday evening. Despite falling in its first match to Louisiana Christian 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 19-25), the Wildcats rebounded with a dominant 3-1 (25-8, 25-7, 22-25, 25-8) victory over Mississippi University for Women in the second match.
"There was some disappointment in the way things went the first match, so I am glad they had another shot to wrap up the day with a win and play they are proud of," head coach Haley Chatham said. "I love being able to get players in and to have the opportunity to see them live. In-match experience is huge. Everyone on this team has a very important role and sometimes that role is to come in and be a game changer, so we want to make sure that the entire team is prepared to come in and make a difference."
LOUISIANA CHRISTAN 3, PEARL RIVER 0.
PRCC (8-8 overall) jumped ahead 4-2 to begin the afternoon after a long rally took place that ended when Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) softly tapped a returned ball over and down for a point.
Louisiana Christian battled back to even up the match at 10-10 before going on a four-point run to move ahead 14-10. Pearl River roared back to even it up at 14 apiece after Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) tapped a ball over the net that was mishandled and Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) dropped in an ace.
LC took a 22-18 advantage late in the set before Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs) single-handedly brought PRCC within two after a kill and a block, 22-20.
Louisiana Christian put away the set shortly after, 25-20.
LC went up big to open the second set, 10-3 before PRCC started to crawl. Back into the match with the help of a booming kill off the hand of Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville), 11-9.
Pearl River's deficit grew to seven points late in the set before LC put it to rest, 25-19.
Set three was tight for both teams throughout the early going, as they tied seven times before LC took an 11-8 lead.
Pearl River cruised ahead 12-11 with a four-point run, but Louisiana Christian fought back to take a 16-14 lead. They continued to pour it on, taking the set 25-19.
PEARL RIVER 3, MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN 1.
The Wildcats were on a mission in their match against MUW as they embarked on an impressive 12-2 run to begin the first set. The run was highlighted by an emphatic Bartholomew block and an ace by Smith that hit the net and fell just in front of an Owl player.
The Pearl River advantage increased to a 21-8 mark and then to 25-8 on the back of two huge kills off the right hand of Smith.
Set two was more of the same for the Wildcats as they used an early 6-1 run to grab the momentum. Allie Varner (Gluckstadt; Germantown) extended the advantage to 13-6 when she sent a kill attempt through a block and down for a point.
PRCC kept its foot through the final portion of the match before Hannah French (Ocean Springs) tallied an ace, and Annalaura Williford (Bay St. Louis; Our Lady Academy) ended things with a kill, 25-7.
The Owls had to fight off defeat in the third set and were up for the challenge. PRCC took an early 7-6 lead when Madison Butler (Biloxi; D'Iberville) dove for a dig that set up a massive Bartholomew kill.
MUW surged back to take a 13-9 lead, which eventually grew to 19-12. The Wildcats weren't going down quietly as they turned in an impressive run down the stretch. Williford mashed a kill through a block and out of bounds to cut the deficit to one point, 23-22, but MUW claimed the victory 25-22.
In the fourth set, Pearl River went right back to dominating, leaping out to a 10-4 lead on an Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs) kill. The Wildcats extended their lead to 19-7 on back-to-back plays by Williford. On the first, she tapped the ball over and down for a kill. The following play saw her slam a kill into the back right corner of the court.
Williford capped off the incredible set by tucking an ace inbounds to secure the set victory 25-8 and the match.
"I am not afraid to mix things up until we can find something that is consistently effective," Chatham said. "Annalaura came in and hit, covered, and passed well. She is doing good things in practice and is speeding up on the court."
NEXT UP
Pearl River hits the road Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match at Bishop State.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).