FULTON, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team made the long trip to Fulton on Wednesday to face an Itawamba squad that swept the Wildcats earlier in the season. Behind solid defense and opportunistic serving, the Wildcats left town with an exciting 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23) victory over the Indians.

"I'm so happy and proud for these kids doing things they didn't quite know they could do, before," Pearl River head coach Haley Chatham said. "That's the key to getting better at something – doing things you didn't know you were capable of. Tonight's win was big for a lot of reasons, most important being that they proved to themselves they could."

"We will draw on these successes and use them to remind us what we are capable of. We have some really tough matches coming up for prep heading to the tournament," Chatham said. "We are going to compete and let these matches make us better."

SET ONE
Set one set the tone throughout the match between Pearl River (12-21 overall; 6-4 MACCC) and Itawamba (18-10; 7-3). Both teams battled to find a footing early on in the match, with the Indians taking a quick 3-1 lead before the Wildcats battled back and grabbed a 4-3 lead off an Avery Wheat (Gonzales, La.; East Ascension) kill. After the Indians tied the match, Wheat transitioned from finishing to setting with a set to Madi King (Leakesville; Greene County) for a big kill to give Pearl River a 5-4 lead.
Itawamba battled back to take a 9-7 lead over the Wildcats. AnnaLaura Williford (Bay St. Louis; Our Lady Academy) stopped the Itawamba run with a kill that the Indians played into the net, reducing the deficit to one, 8-9. Madison Butler (Biloxi; D'Iberville) started a strong night of serving for the setter, winning two service points to give the Wildcats the lead, 10-9. Both teams traded points before Pearl River went on a run to give them a 17-13 lead. The run was sparked by a kill by Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs), assisted by a Jordyn Wilks (Independence, La.; Hammond Magnet) dig and Butler set. The Wildcats extended the lead to five, 19-14, following a Williford cross-court kill off a Skyla Rann (Gonzales, La.; East Ascension) set.
Butler once again kept the Indians off balance, winning four straight service points giving the Wildcats a 24-17 lead. Morgan Mears (Hurley; East Central) closed out the set 25-18 with a big kill off a Butler set.

"They committed to staying disciplined in their defense. Volleyball happens so fast and it's easy to catch yourself in motion during the attack or moving out of position while following the ball," Chatham said. "Tonight, they committed to position, staying still, making the read, and going for the ball.

"Our setter defense was good with Skyla and Bulter. Avery, Sophie and Jordyn stayed steady in the deep court throughout the match."

SET TWO
Pearl River carried the momentum from set one, picking up a quick 3-1 lead. The Wildcats were paced by Hoffmayer, who had two early kills. Itawamba battled back to take a 5-3 lead. Pearl River halted the Indians' momentum with a great dig by Sophie Warren (Brandon) off a big Indian kill attempt. Butler sent the dig to Wheat for a big kill to bring the Wildcats within one, 5-4. King followed with a block to tie the score, 5-5. With the Indians holding on to a one-point lead, Butler again swung the momentum the Wildcats way. Toeing the service line, Butler opened a five-point service run with an ace. She was aided on the run by kills from Mears, Williford and Hoffmayer, giving the Wildcats a 15-11 lead.
With the lead cut to three, 17-14, Mears had her own three-point service run to give the Wildcats a 20-14 lead. Itawamba battled back to cut the Pearl River lead to three, 20-17. Hoffmayer stopped Itawamba's momentum with a big kill off a Bulter set, 21-17. The Pearl River defense came up big again, with Warren coming up with a great dig off an Itawamba block. Allie Richardson (Fruitdale, Ala.) finished the play to give the Wildcats a 22-19 lead. Following a Wheat ace, Williford closed the set with a finish at the net and a set sealing block of 25-20.

"We created a good plan, and our setters and hitters stuck to it," Chatham said of the Wildcats play at the net. "We created great matchups on offense. Defensively, we knew which hitters they were going to, so our blocks were on time and efficient."

SET THREE
Both teams continued their great play in the third set, trading points early in the frame. King knotted the set 4-4 with a block after a lengthy back-and-forth between the teams. Rann helped the Wildcats build a 6-4 lead with two service points. The series was highlighted with another great dig by Warren off a strong Itawamba kill attempt. Rann settled under the Warren dig to set up Wheat for a kill.
After multiple lead changes, Itawamba made a run to take a 13-10 lead, forcing Pearl River into a timeout. The Indians extended the lead out of the timeout, 21-13. Strong serving by Butler late in the set helped the Wildcats close the gap, but Itawamba held on to a 25-20 set win.

SET FOUR
Pearl River jumped out early in set four behind the serving of Wilks and the play at the net. Wilks helped her own cause with a strong dig on the back line that set up Wheat for the kill, giving the Wildcats a 4-1 lead.
A three-point Pearl River run extended the Wildcats lead to five, 9-4. The run was highlighted by strong net play by King with two timely plays at the net and the serving of Rann.
Richardson stopped an Itawamba run with a strong kill to give the Wildcats a 10-7 advantage. An ace by Warren extended the Pearl River lead to 12-9.
The Indians took the lead midway through the set, 13-12, but a Mears momentum-killing block knotted the score at 13-13.
After multiple lead changes, Pearl River, down by one, 19-18, called a timeout.
Itawamba took advantage of the timeout, extending their lead to three, 22-19.
A big block by Mears swung the momentum to the Wildcats and put Butler back on the service line with Pearl River down two, 22-20.
The Wildcats tied the score, 22-22, behind Butler's serving, which included an ace, forcing Itawamba to call a timeout. With Butler still on the service line, Hoffmayer had a kill down the line after a long rally. Warren and Butler came up big on the next serve with two great digs that ended with a Williford kill, giving Pearl River a 24-22 lead.
Mears called the match with a kill to give the Wildcats a 25-23 set win.  

"Butler came up with some huge service runs at just the right time tonight. She is good under pressure," Chatham said. "We were all so glad she was behind the line when it really counted and knew she could get us much-needed points on the board with her strong, smart serving."

NEXT UP
The Wildcats will return home to Shivers Gym on Friday to face Enterprise State. Opening serve is 5 p.m.

TICKETING
Tickets are on sale at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets. Tickets purchased in advance are $8. Tickets purchased on gameday are $10.

TUNE IN
All Pearl River home volleyball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Maroon. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.

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