POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball snatched the early lead on Wednesday but couldn't hold on to the momentum as Bishop State rattled off three straight wins to take the match, 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 14-25, 17-25).

MATCH RECAP
Pearl River (8-9 overall) found itself in an early 4-2 hole against Bishop State (4-5) but roared back to square things up after a Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) block and a Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) ace.

The score was deadlocked at 11 apiece in the first set before Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) single-handedly put the Wildcats ahead 14-12. She first tucked a kill inside the left line before pushing a ball over the net and down for the next point. She wrapped up the run with a forceful kill off the hands of a BSCC player and out of bounds.

The teams continued their back-and-forth battle late into the set when they reached an 18-18 tie. PRCC put its foot on the gas and raced away with the set, using a Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) kill and a Hoffmayer block to end the set, 25-19.

In set two, PRCC went head 3-2 in the early going after a return by Bishop State was mashed back across and down by Hoffmayer. The Wildcats moved ahead 10-8 midway through the set on a Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) ace. 

The teams fought to five more ties down the stretch, but the BSCC took the set 25-21.

The third set appeared that it was going to be a dogfight as the teams were squared up at nine midway through, but BSCC went on an impressive run down the stretch and walked away with a 25-14 victory.

In proved to be the final set of the day, PRCC and BSCC couldn't be separated for portions of the fourth set. Bishop State finally grasped the set late and rode the momentum to a 25-17 victory.

UP NEXT
Pearl River goes on the road Monday for a match against Coastal Alabama. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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