Pearl River volleyball thumps Bevill State
Published 8:06 pm Sunday, October 3, 2021
POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River volleyball team controlled the match from start to finish Wednesday as it rolled over Bevill State, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-5).
“Smart and aggressive serving was definitely a high point in today’s match,” head coach Haley Chatham said. “We always take the risk of a few more errors with choosing to serve tough but today we were able to minimize those.”
SET ONE
Pearl River (14-3 overall) jumped on Bevill State (1-19) out of the gate, claiming the first two points of the day one of which came on a Julianah Overstreet (Vancleave) service ace.
BSCC immediately took the lead back by taking the next five points of the set, earning a 5-2 advantage.
Pearl River flexed its muscles right after going on an impressive 15-0 run led by the excellent serving of freshman Allison Carpenter (Ocean Springs).
In a span of four points, Carpenter tallied three service aces and gave the Wildcats a 7-5 lead.
Pearl River grabbed three more points, two of which were off of an Overstreet tip and an Avery Beth Durdin (Olive Branch; Lewisburg) kill, making the score 10-5.
Over the next five points, Carpenter added two more aces to her total, making the score 15-5 and forcing a Bevill State timeout.
Out of the timeout, Pearl River added two more points to their total after a Leah Draine (Mobile, Ala.; Mattie T. Blount) kill and Carpenter’s sixth ace of the run.
The Bears finally broke the run up on back-to-back points, making the score 17-7.
The Wildcats swung the momentum back in their favor and made the score 20-7. Draine placed a ball perfectly in front of a BSCC player for a service ace and Diamond Jones (Gonzales, La.; East Ascension) smashed a ball at the Bears who could not handle it.
Pearl River promptly closed out the first set, winning 25-10.
SET TWO
Bevill State looked to rebound in set two as they took an early 6-3 lead and eventually stretched the lead out to 10-5.
Pearl River was then powered by another gigantic run this time taking 13 consecutive points.
The serving throughout this run was off the hand of Amy Wright (Palm Bay, Fla.; Melbourne Central Catholic).
A few points into the run back-to-back kills from Hannah Burks (Ocean Springs; Vancleave) and Leighton Willoughby (Brandon; Northwest Ranking) tied the match up at 10 each.
The Wildcats then stretched their lead out to 18-10.
BSCC took three of the next four points to make the score 19-13.
The Wildcats closed out the set by taking the next six points thanks to a kill, ace and tip from Overstreet as well as a block from Emma Bahr (Ocean Springs), winning the set 25-13.
SET THREE
Pearl River had the momentum from start to finish in what proved to be the final set of the day as they immediately jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Bears got on the board to make the score 5-1.
A Payton McKerchie (Vancleave) kill then made the score 6-1.
The Wildcats stretched their lead out to 9-4 before they really took control of the set.
After a Draine kill, Durdin stepped up to serve and sent the Wildcats on a 9-0 run.
Two Willoughby blocks and an Overstreet kill made the score 14-4.
The Wildcats then made the score 19-4 on back-to-back kills from Overstreet and Draine, a service ace by Durdin and a Willoughby kill,
BSCC added on a point to make the score 19-5 before PRCC put the game to rest thanks to kills from Draine and Jones and four consecutive aces by Wright, giving the Wildcats a 25-5 win in the set and closing out the match.
After the match, Chatham highlighted the play of Wright and Carpenter.
“Amy and Allison are two of our most consistent behind the service line whether its serving teams out of system or earning a point on an ace,” she said. “They certainly led the way today.”
UP NEXT
Pearl River returns to Shivers Gymnasium on Monday to host Coastal Alabama – East. The match will begin at 5 p.m. and will be livestreamed on PRCCMedia.com/gold.