ANDALUSIA, Ala. — The Pearl River volleyball battled against stout competition in Andalusia, Ala. on Friday. The Wildcats lost in straight sets against Enterprise State (18-25, 19-25, 19-25) and 3-1 against hosts Lurleen B Wallace (25-19, 17-25, 14-25, 18-25).  

ENTERPRISE STATE 3, PEARL RIVER 0

Pearl River (11-11) jumped out to a quick lead, 3-0, over Enterprise (15-4) behind the serving of Jolie Gibson (Brandon). Both teams battled back and forth throughout the first set, with Enterprise taking the lead, 8-6. Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) took advantage of a bad Enterprise set to send a spike through the Boll Weevil defense to reduce the deficit to one, 8-7. Enterprise built momentum to extend the lead to nine in the middle of the set, 17-8. The Wildcats battled throughout the first set before Enterprise secured the advantage, 25-18.

Both teams fought to gain momentum early in the second set. Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) helped tie the game early, 3-3,  with a well-placed shot against Enterprise's defense. The serving of Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) gave the Wildcats a three-point lead, 8-5, leading to a Boll Weevil timeout. The Wildcats maintained the lead midway through the second set, holding on to a 12-11 advantage. With the score tied 14-14, Enterprise grabbed the momentum and took set two 25-19.

Enterprise carried the momentum gained at the end of set two to jump out to an early 7-3 lead in set three. The Wildcats relied on the net play of Bartholomew and Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs) to cut the lead to two 9-7. A monster kill by Smith cut the PRCC deficit to one, 18-17. The Boll Weevils closed out the match with a 25-19 set three victory.

LURLEEN B. WALLACE 3, PEARL RIVER 1

The Wildcats struck first in the day's second match against host Lurleen B. Wallace (16-5). Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) and Smith opened the match with solid back-to-back blocks to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. After the Saints scored their first point of the set, Hoffmayer followed with a strong spike in the corner of the Saint defense, 3-1. Pearl River turned to the serving of Sammie Smith, who scored nine straight service points, 12-1. Assisting Smith during the run was Bartholomew, who converted four kills against the Saints and McNeely with two blocks at the net. LBW turned the tide and reduced the Wildcat lead to five, 14-9. Smith and Lillie Franks helped flip the momentum back to the Wildcats, registering multiple kills to bring the Pearl River lead to seven, 18-11. Pearl River was able to close out the first set 25-21.

LBW jumped to a quick 12-5 lead in set two, forcing Pearl River into a timeout. PRCC cut the lead to six multiple times through the set before the Saints closed out 25-17 to tie the match 1-1.

The Saints kept the Wildcats off balance in set three with a 25-14 win, giving LBW a 2-1 advantage.

Pearl River opened the fourth set with a quick 3-0 advantage. After LBW battled back to take a one-point advantage, 4-3, McNeely tied the match with a spike at the net. Pearl River won three points behind the serving of Smith to take a 7-4 lead. The set was evenly matched, with LBW taking a 15-12 lead. Lillie Franks brought the score to 15-13 with another strong play at the net. The Saints maintained the lead and secured the match with a 25-18 third-set victory.  

NEXT UP

The Wildcats travel to Senatobia on Monday to face in-state foe Northwest. Opening serve is 5 p.m., and you can watch the livestream on RangersTV.

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