POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River Volleyball team faced off against Bishop State Thursday evening in Poplarville. Bishop State rallied after dropping the first two sets, but Pearl River regained control, winning 3-2 (25-20, 26-24, 24-26, 12-25, and 15-12).

"Being able to close out set five was huge for us, especially after dropping a set five earlier this week," head coach Haley Chatham said. "We need to internalize that just because a few things go wrong doesn't mean that everything has to go wrong, and matches like tonight help with that."

MATCH RECAP
Pearl River (12-12 overall) opened the scoring in set one courtesy of a Lillie Franks (Ocean Spring) kill. After a quick Bishop State (0-0) response, PRCC regained the advantage 4-1 with a small run that included a Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) ace. From there, the two teams exchanged scores and leads, eventually finding themselves in a 6-6 deadlock.

Pearl River found momentum through another run and took a 10-6 lead. The run included a Delaney Sission (Auburn, Ala.) ace, a Lillie Franks kill, and a thunderous block by Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs). BSCC was able to respond with a quick point, but Pearl River was not fazed and quickly rattled off three straight points with kills from Lillie Franks and Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) and a Smith block to extend the lead to 13-8 and force a BSCC timeout.

Shortly after, Pearl River began to pull away 22-17 slowly. Despite a late BSCC rally, Pearl River ended set one emphatically with back-to-back Lillie Franks kills to take set one 25-20. 

Set two was nip and tuck from the very start as neither team could find its footing and were deadlocked 8-8 near the middle portion of the set. After another scoring exchange, Pearl River found an edge with back-to-back kills by Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) and Bartholomew to set the score 17-15. 

With momentum in its favor, Pearl River started to pull away with two kills from Smith and an Abbie Franks ace to force a BSCC timeout with the lead at 21-18. Despite the deficit, BSCC managed to make things interesting, but Pearl River held on to take set two 26-24.

PRCC exploded out of the gate to a 5-2 start in set three courtesy of a run through the serving of Jolee Gibson (Brandon). From there, the two teams began another scoring exchange, with Pearl River getting a plethora of kills from Smith, Bartholomew, Hoffmayer, and Addie McNeely (Brandon; Hartfield Academy) to help keep things all square at 15-15. 

BSCC grabbed momentum shortly after and held off a late Pearl River rally to claim set three 26-24 to force a fourth set.

Set four was all BSCC from start to finish, and despite their best effort, Pearl River couldn't overcome the early deficit and dropped set four 25-12. 

Hoffmayer established herself as a force offensively early and often in set five with two booming kills, helping Pearl River open up an early 6-3 lead to force a BSCC timeout. PRCC was not fazed by the timeout, snatching the following two points to extend the lead 8-3.

After BSCC responded, Abbie Franks halted the rally by perfectly tapping the ball over the net to catch the defense off guard for a kill. From there, it was all Pearl River as they went on to win set five 15-12, with the final point courtesy of another emphatic kill by Hoffmayer.

PROVIDING A SPARK
Chatham talked about the play of Lillie Franks, Abbie Franks, and Hoffmayer after the match.

"Abbie and Lillie both played well at the net, and Peyton made herself the go-to late in the match," Chatham said. "It's always good to see a freshman perform well under pressure."

UP NEXT
The Wildcats head to Bay Minette, Ala. Friday to take Coastal Alabama South. First serve is set for 7 p.m. 

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