BOONEVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team matched up with in-state foe Northeast for the first time in history Wednesday evening, and the Wildcats made the most of the matchup, sweeping the Tigers 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21).

"We are glad to bring home a win after our first meeting with Mississippi's newest JUCO program," head coach Haley Chatham said. "Give credit to coach (Brenda) Mayes and her bunch for playing some big-time hustle defense that kept many of our attacks off the floor.

"Our schedule only gets tougher as we get deeper into the season. While we were able to squeak out the sweep in our first conference match, we must continue to work towards being faster and more disciplined defensively to compete and find more success down the stretch. Tonight's win was a step in that direction, and we hope to get better every match."

SET ONE
Pearl River (10-9 overall) fell behind in the first few points of the set to Northeast (2-15), 3-1, but roared back to square things at three apiece after a Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) block.

PRCC saw its lead swell to four points, 10-6, after back-to-back kills off the right hand of Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) and too many hits by the Tigers on the following play. 

The lead grew to 16-11 midway through the set thanks to a Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) kill that was tucked just in front of the back line.

Pearl River found itself ahead 24-17 late in the match after an authoritative Smith block, but the Tigers didn't go away quietly as they fought back to force a Pearl River timeout with the score sitting at 24-22. 

PRCC finally capped the first set when a dig attempt sailed back over the net, and Smith was there to slam it onto the Tiger side of the court, 25-23.

SET TWO
Changes made by NEMCC between sets were working to start the second set as the Tigers jumped ahead 5-0 quickly. Luckily, the Wildcats were up for the challenge as they instantly rattled off a 5-0 run of their own to square things up at 5-5.

After the two early runs, the second set turned into one of the most back-and-forth of the year. NEMCC took an 11-8 lead, but Bartholomew brought the Wildcats within one, 11-10, with a kill.

The Tigers then pulled ahead 13-11 before Pearl River battled back to take its first lead of the set at 15-14. The teams played to two more ties in the set, with the last coming at 17-17.PRCC took the lead for good following a service error by NEMCC and walked away with a 25-21 set-two victory.

SET THREE
The third set was fueled by runs for each team. Northeast started things out with a 6-3 run before PRCC embarked on an impressive 5-0 run that made the score 8-6. It was aided by an Addie McKneely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) ace. 

A 7-2 run followed for the Wildcats as Smith sent a kill off the Tiger middle blocker and out of bounds for a point, and Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) set up a booming kill from Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs). The run was capped by a Northeast error and made the score 15-9. 

A 5-1 run by the Tigers cut their deficit to two points, 16-14, but PRCC rattled off three straight points to extend the lead back out to five points, 19-14.

NEMCC tried to claw back into the set down the stretch, but Pearl River pulled off a 25-21 victory to earn a sweep in the match.

UP NEXT
Pearl River returns to Shivers Gymnasium on Tuesday as MACCC rival Itawamba comes to Poplarville for the first time this season. First serve is set for 5 p.m.

TUNE IN
All Pearl River home volleyball games are livestreamed 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.

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.

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