PERKINSTON, Miss. — Pearl River volleyball continued its road trip Monday, taking on archrival Gulf Coast in the first-ever matchup between the teams. The teams battled most of the match, with Pearl River holding onto late momentum in set four to defeat the Bulldogs 3-1 (26-24, 25-16, 22-25, and 25-20).

"It was a really exciting first-ever conference matchup between these two programs, and I thought our players handled the moment really well," head coach Haley Chatham said.

SET ONE
The two teams traded blows to start set one, with Gulf Coast (5-2 overall, 0-2 MACCC) holding onto a slim 5-3 lead. Avery Wheat (Gonzales, La; East Ascension) brought the match back to a 5-5 deadlock with two monster kills. The back and forth continued throughout set one, with Wheat and Lila Willett (Chelsea, Ala) pacing the offense for Pearl River (6-3, 2-0), keeping them in the set.

As things progressed, the two teams found themselves tied at 24. Wheat rifled a kill down the line to give the Wildcats the lead and forced a Bulldog timeout. Claire Smith (Coldwater; Lewisburg) was not fazed as she placed a service ace near the back corner to give the Wildcats the set victory 26-24.

SET TWO
Pearl River opened the set on the front foot with back-to-back booming kills off Willett's hand to set the score 2-0. After the Bulldogs tied things up, Jordan Wilks (Independence, La; Hammond Magnet) sent the Wildcats on a small run through her serving to reclaim the lead 5-2.

Despite MGCCC's best effort, Pearl River dominated the set offensively, eventually claiming a commanding 21-8 lead. The Bulldogs found momentum late, but Pearl River claimed the second set 25-16.

"We committed to a high-risk, high-reward serving strategy, and it paid off because not only did it give us points, but it also kept them out of the system and limited their options offensively," Chatham said postgame.

SET THREE
Pearl River again opened on the front foot 4-2, this time through electric play by the sophomore Morgan Mears (Hurley; East Central). As yet another back-and-forth ensued, it looked like the Wildcats were on their way to winning yet another close set, leading 16-15.

The Bulldogs played spoiler by claiming late momentum and taking the set in the dying moments 25-22.

SET FOUR
Set four was all Pearl River to start with Willett, Mears, and Reagan Ziegler (Lacombe, La; Lakeshore) propelling the offense and grabbing a commanding 19-6 lead. MGCCC was not fazed in the slightest and claimed 14 of the next 18 total points to draw to within three at 23-20.

Wheat took matters into her own hands after a Wildcat timeout and blasted a ball down the line, followed by a Bulldog offensive error, to win the set 25-20.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return home on Wednesday against Jones College. The match is set to get underway at 6 p.m

TUNE IN
All home Pearl River Volleyball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/gold. Fans who have 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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