POPLARVILLE - Despite a highly-contested first match, Northwest came up on the short end of things at Pearl River, dropping a pair of 3-0 decisions to the Lady Wildcats on Friday afternoon.

Northwest dropped to 4-8 on the season with the losses. The Lady Rangers will travel to Itawamba on Wednesday, March 3 for a 6 P.M. Region 23 matchup.


Pearl River 3, Northwest 0
(Set scores: 22-25, 21-25, 22-25)
Similar to the season-opening meeting between the two teams on January 23, this matchup went wire-to-wire in all three sets, but Pearl River did just enough to survive all three sets.

Northwest came out with the hot hand to start the third and final set, as the Lady Rangers held the lead until the middle of the set. A kill from Sydney Sides pulled Northwest back to a 17-17 tie, only for Pearl River to take the next four points and pull away for the three-set victory.

Soto, India Jeffries and Kapria Manning combined for seven kills apiece, while Alexia Davis led the team with 12 assists.

Soto also led the way with eight digs, followed by five from Kamryn Conner.


Pearl River 3, Northwest 0
(Set scores: 11-25, 19-25, 17-25)
Pearl River wasted no time pulling away from the Lady Rangers in the second match, as the Lady Wildcats stunned Northwest with a 25-11 first set decision that set up another three-set match result.

Soto finished with a team-best five kills, while India Jeffries and Chariah Mabry earned three kills apiece. Davis once again led the Lady Rangers in assists, finishing with 13.

Sides totaled seven digs, followed by six from Conner and five from Taylor Smith.