POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team made history Saturday afternoon, winning a back-and-forth, five-set thriller against MACCC rival Northwest 3-0 (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-4) to claim the first Region 23 Championship in program history.

"We are so grateful to our school, our support staff, our families, our fellow athletes, coaches, college staff, game day crew and our community at the River for their constant encouragement and for sticking with us this season," head coach Haley Chatham said. "We are so proud to add one to the numerous championships Pearl River holds."

"This team has proven to themselves and everyone else that they can do hard things. I know I've said it about them multiple times this season, but they take challenges head-on and beat them. It's the best feeling to see it unfold and to know each and every one of them can handle the hard things life is going to throw at them. That is something to celebrate."

With the victory, Pearl River advances to Friday's Gulf South District Tournament at the Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Ala. The Wildcats await the result of Thursday's play-in match between Lawson State and Bishop State to find out their opponent and match time.

MATCH RECAP
Pearl River (23-13 overall) came out of the gate hot, taking four of the first five points to earn a 4-1 advantage, but Northwest (28-17) wasn't bothered, fighting back to square the match up at 7-7. 

Sammie Smith (Biloxi; D'Iberville) put the Wildcats in front with back-to-back nice plays. The first saw her try to get the ball across the net on the third hit but instead drop it in between defenders for a kill. On the following play, she rose high and picked up a solo block, 9-7.

The teams were locked in an 11-11 tie at the midway point before a 4-0 run gave Pearl River a 15-11 lead. The run was highlighted by a stellar play from Lauren McLamore (Brandon), which saw her dive for a dig attempt, but the ball shot over the top of the net and fell in behind the entire Northwest rotation.

Late in the first set, Pearl River pulled ahead 24-14 with the help of a pair of Delaney Sisson (Auburn, Ala.) aces as well as a kill by Lillie Franks (Ocean Springs). The sophomore sent a ball over her head and back across the net that the Rangers mishandled.

The Rangers rallied a little, but Natalie Bartholomew (Brandon) put the set to bed by dropping a kill in on the backline, 25-17.

The Wildcats were strong once again to start the second set, taking an early 5-1 advantage on the back of two Jolee Gibson (Brandon) aces. Northwest rallied back to tie up the match at 8-8 before going on a big run to take a 17-12 lead.

Pearl River fought back late in the set to tie things up at 22-22 when Abbie Franks (Ocean Springs) fired a serve across the net that hit off an NWCC player and fell down onto the court for an ace. PRCC squared it up once more at 23-23, but the Rangers won the set 25-23.

The Wildcats were gritty in the third set of the day. Although they found themselves in a hole for the majority of the set, they began to fight back with Northwest leading 15-13. Gibson set the ball nicely, and middle blocker Madi King (Leakesville; Greene County) thumped the ball down onto the court for a kill. One play later, Bartholomew roped a ball just in front of the backline for a kill to tie things up 15-15. Two plays later, Bartholomew sent a kill attempt off a block attempt and out of bounds for a kill, 17-15. 

PRCC soared ahead 23-19 late with an Abbie Franks ace and eventually completed the massive comeback with a King kill that smacked off a block attempt and down onto the court, 25-21.

Northwest didn't lay down in the fourth set despite the lost momentum, taking a 13-5 lead almost instantly. Pearl River fought back to get within five points, 24-19, as Smith crushed a kill off the hands of a player at the back of the NWCC rotation that flew just above the scoreboard on the back wall. 

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Northwest held on to force a winner-take-all set five, 25-19.

PRCC knew it needed to come out strong in set five and did just that, storming out to a 4-0 advantage on two Smith kills and a Gibson ace. The lead swelled to 7-3 on back-to-back kills off the right hand of Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) and then to 10-4 on two kills by Lillie Franks. 

A Sisson ace off the back of the rotation's hands and a Bartholomew kill made the score 14-4, and PRCC grabbed the victory after a misplay by the Rangers, 15-4.  

GULF SOUTH DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
More information about the Gulf South District Tournament will be made available soon at PRCCAthletics.com.

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