POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Pearl River volleyball left no doubt on the court Monday night, powering past Northeast in a straight-set sweep, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-26).
Pearl River (22-9 overall; 10-3 MACCC) came out firing in the opening set, racing to a quick 3-0 lead before Northeast (10-20; 3-9) could get on the board. The Wildcats continued to apply the pressure, extending their lead to 13-5 thanks to a big block by Morgan Mears (Hurley; East Central).
Mears dominated the first frame, adding two powerful kills and an ace late to push the lead to 20-11. The Wildcats followed her lead and never looked back, cruising to a commanding 25-15 win in set one.
Set two was a tighter battle early on, with Pearl River and Northeast knotted at 5-5 before back-to-back kills from Reagen Ziegler (Lacombe, La.; Lakeshore) gave the Wildcats a 7-5 advantage. Northeast kept fighting, tying the set three more times, but an Avery Wheat (Gonzalez, La.; East Ascension) kill finally put PRCC ahead for good at 12-11.
From there, the Wildcats took control and never surrendered the lead. Late in the set, Skyla Rann (Gonzales, La.; East Ascension) delivered two clutch service aces in a row to stretch the lead to 23-18, helping seal a 25-19 win and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Pearl River faced early pressure in set three, falling behind 4-3 before a momentum-shifting block from Lila Willett (Chelsea Ala.) and Ziegler evened the score at 4-4. What followed was a fierce back-and-forth battle until the Wildcats broke things open with a 3-0 run fueled by a Willett kill, a Kinsley Jean Stegall (Saucier; Our Lady Academy) service ace and a Wheat kill to make it 13-9.
Following that, PRCC never let up. Late set dominance, highlighted by two Willett kills, a block from Mears and another from Willett, propelled the Wildcats to a 25-16 win — securing the straight-set sweep over Northeast.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats will travel Thursday to play Bishop State at 5 p.m.
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