Indians fall in Region 23 elimination match

FULTON, Miss. – The Itawamba Community College volleyball team (16-11) lost 3-2 at home to Pearl River (23-12) in the elimination round of the Region 23 Tournament on Friday.

Down 1-0 after dropping the opening set 25-22, ICC bounced back to pull even with a 28-26 win in the second set. The Indians fell behind 3-0 to open but answered with a 3-1 run to make it a 4-4 contest. The Wildcats took an 8-7 lead, but the Indians rallied with an impressive run to go ahead for first time in the set and flip the scoring advantage in their favor to get the win.

Pearl River rushed out to a 10-5 advantage in the third set, but ICC answered with an impressive run to tie the match 14-14 after a timeout. The Indians continued their strong play to close the set on an 11-5 run to take a 2-1 lead after a 25-19 win in the third set.

The two teams traded leads throughout the fourth set. The Wildcats eventually flipped the scoring advantage in their favor and forced the match into the final frame with a 25-23 win.

The Indians saw a 3-0 advantage melt away after a 7-0 run from the Wildcats. Despite facing match point on three different occasions, the Indians rallied to make it a 14-10 set before Pearl River was able to get the final kill of the evening to earn the 15-10 win.

Kailynn Johnson, Aubrey Swanson and Olivia Hines put up career-bests for the Indians.

Johnson had 21 kills to lead the Indians with Swanson adding another 16 kills. Hines had an impressive 35 digs on the night. Sarah Allyn Thornell was an assist away from tying her career-best effort with 41 assist in her final match as an Indian.

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