FULTON - Facing the end of its season in a Region 23 play-in match at Itawamba, Northwest showed some fight and fought through two back-and-forth sets, but ultimately wound up on the wrong end of a 3-0 result to the Lady Indians.

With the win, Itawamba moves on to face No. 18 Pearl River on Saturday, for the rights to the NJCAA South District playoffs in Florida. Meanwhile, Northwest ends its season at 14-19 overall.

Itawamba took the early advantage in the opening set, only for the Lady Rangers to hang around and eventually grab the lead, thanks to a four-point stretch. After trimming the deficit to 19-18 and prompting an ICC timeout, Northwest tied the match at 19-19 to put the Lady Indians on the ropes.

However, Itawamba regained the momentum, claiming five of the final six points in the set, taking a 25-20 decision and a 1-0 match lead.

After ICC stormed out to a 8-2 start in the second set, Northwest called for timeout and successfully rallied back to cut the Lady Indians' lead down to 9-6. Itawamba pulled away yet again for a sizable 19-8 advantage, only for the Lady Rangers to claw back and close the gap to 21-15.

Unfortunately, the rally would come just a little too late for Northwest, as ICC claimed four of the final five points for a 25-16 decision in the second set. 

Trailing the match 2-0, Northwest was just unable to match Itawamba's momentum in the third set, falling behind 6-2 early. The Lady Indians later stretched the lead to 15-9 before earning a 25-15 clincher.

In her final match, sophomore Kapria Manning led Northwest with 10 kills and four digs, followed by seven kills and 10 digs from Julissa Soto. Taylor Smith led the Lady Rangers with 24 digs, while Alexia Davis posted a team-best 14 assists to go along with nine digs.

Additionally, freshman Brinley Steed accounted for 10 assists, while Kayla Beal earned eight digs.