Poplarville, Miss. – Riding a six-game win streak into Friday night's regional showdown with Pearl River, the Indians battled but dropped a 3-0 decision to the Wildcats.
Pearl River took the sets in order, 26-24; 25-18; 25-18.
The Indians (11-6) fell behind as the Wildcats started to opening set scoring five unanswered points, but the Tribe rallied and led 24-21. Pearl River called a timeout and then went on their second 5-0 run of the set to pick up the 26-24 opening set win.
In the second set, the Indians found themselves behind early again, but once again fought back and tied the contest at 11-11 on a Zakhia Taylor (Olive Branch) kill. However, the Wildcats would regain the lead and close out the set on a 14-7 run to take a 2-0 lead.
The Indians lead early in the third set, but the Wildcats would go on to finish off the match and pick up the region victory.
LaMaya Newsome (Southaven) led the team with 8 kills, while Sarah Allyn Thornell (Atoka, Tenn.) had a team-high 18 assists. Londyn Bakeris (Olive Branch) led the team with 14 digs.
Next Wednesday, the Indians will return to the friendly confides of the Davis Event Center to take on Snead State at 5 p.m.
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