POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team celebrated its sophomore class the right way Monday night inside Shivers Gymnasium, picking up a clean sweep over visiting Northeast, 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-15). Pearl River never trailed throughout the three sets played against the Tigers.
"It was a clean match. We didn't have very many errors," head coach Haley Chatham said. "Most of our errors this year have been unforced, so I am always happy when we can have a clean sheet in that area. I'm just proud of the way that they stayed the same through all three sets."
Before the match, Pearl River recognized its incredible sophomore class that included Madi King (Leakesville; Greene County), Annalaura Williford (Bay St. Louis; Our Lady Academy), Madison Butler (Biloxi; D'Iberville), Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs), Allie Varner (Madison; Germantown) and manager Lainey Hong.
"They're a precious group of girls," Chatham said. "They came last year needing someone to show them the ropes and how to do things. They came back in this year and took hold of that role themselves. We're going to miss them all so much."
Pearl River (11-21 overall; 5-4 MACCC) dominated Northeast (5-22; 2-7) throughout the match as the Wildcats never trailed. In the opening set, PRCC immediately jumped out to a 5-1 lead and soon was holding on to a 10-8 advantage.
The Wildcats followed with a 6-1 run that forced a Northeast timeout following a Morgan Mears (Hurley; East Central) kill down the left side of the court. PRCC went right back to work after the break as Hoffmayer sent a kill off a block, Mears denied a return over the net and Williford smacked a kill, 18-9.
Aided by a few Avery Wheat (Gonzales, La.; East Ascension) kills down the stretch, PRCC pulled away to win 25-12.
The second set was more of the same for Pearl River as it grabbed a 5-2 lead early after King sent a kill flying off the hand of a NEMCC player that landed in the nearby stairwell.
Pearl River rattled off three straight points a while later. Hoffmayer sent a kill off a backline defender for a point. Butler kept the next point alive, laying out for a dig that resulted in a Mears kill. An NEMCC error later, the Wildcats led 13-8.
Back-to-back combo blocks helped PRCC take a 17-9 lead soon after. King and Wheat combined for the first, and Hoffmayer and King tallied for the next one. The lead soon swelled to 20-11 when Allie Richardson (Fruitdale, Ala.) popped a kill onto the court, and the Wildcats closed out the set 25-13 with a Williford kill.
The final set of the night was just as dominant for the Wildcats as they almost instantly found themselves ahead 11-6 following a Williford kill. The Tigers called a timeout to try to slow the momentum, but PRCC picked up right where it left off as Butler dropped in an ace, 12-6. Ahead 15-10, PRCC outscored NEMCC 10-5 down the stretch to walk away with the 25-15 victory and a 3-0 sweep.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats wrap up MACCC play Wednesday as they travel to Fulton to take on Itawamba at 5 p.m. The match will be livestreamed at LetsGoICCTV.com.