Pearl River’s Lady Rebels played a tough and competitive match in the bi-district round of the playoffs against a good Leesville squad and their hard work paid off with a 24-26, 25-21, 25-13, 22-25, 15-12 victory at home Thursday.

Pearl River junior Katie Wallace had a good match with eight kills and four blocks.

“It was rough. We started off nervous kind of, but we had to shake it off to get through it,” Wallace said.

Pearl River’s Miranda Craddock (23) attempts to get a kill over Leesville defender Shamyla Hawkins (5) during Thursday’s bi-district match at PRHS. (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

No. 13 Pearl River (23-5, 8-2) advances to the regional round to face defending state champion Cabrini, the fourth seed, on the road tomorrow at 6 p.m. Leesville’s season come to an end at 16-11.

The first game gave fans a glimpse into the rest of the match. The contest featured eight ties and four lead changes. The biggest advantage for either team was 13-8 by the Lady Cats.

Pearl River came back to catch, then pass Leesville, going up 15-14.

From that point, neither team was able to gain more than a three-point lead, which was Leesville at 22-19, but the Lady Rebels scored three in a row, knotting it at 22-22.

After that, the initial game was tied at 22, 23 and 24, but the Lady Cats tallied the final two points for a 26-24 win.

The second game was more of the same.

Pearl River got off to a bad start and had to climb from a 9-4 deficit.

The Lady Rebels started chipping their way back in with two-straight points, capped off by Miranda Craddock’s dink. She finished with six kills and three blocks.

Down 13-9, Taylor Peterson stepped to the service line and came through in a big spot, helping the Lady Rebels go on a 4-0 run to tie the match. During the spurt, she had two of her five aces. Peterson also added 23 digs for the contest. A double-hit gave Leesville the lead back, but two straight by PRHS made it 15-14.

The Lady Cats knotted it at 15-15 with Chelsea Martin’s kill, but Wallace responded with one of her own. Martin registered the next two points on kills and Leesville led 17-16.

Pearl River regained the momentum with a 2-0 run, capped by Shelby Walker’s kill. She logged 16 assists and three blocks.

The Lady Rebels finally took control, holding a 21-20 edge. PRHS scored four of the final five to even the match at one-game each.

The third game was the only one-sided contest of the evening.

Pearl River was up 6-5 and mounted a 10-4 spurt. Catie Bennett’s kill made it 14-9 before the Lady Rebels added two more on Carly Jordan’s back-to-back aces. She totaled 16 assists and three aces.

PRHS extended the lead to 20-11 in a game the Lady Rebels dominated en route to a 25-13 victory.

Things returned to the back-and-forth way of the first two games in the fourth contest. The amazing part of this game was there were eight ties and just one lead change.

Pearl River scored to open the game, but afterward, Leesville posted two straight.

The Lady Rebels got down 9-4 and then 10-5, but battled back. They knotted the game at 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16, but never gain the edge.

The Lady Rebels trailed 23-20 when Peterson got an ace to cut into the deficit, but Leesville sent the match to a fifth game with 25-22 win.

In the deciding game, it appeared Leesville had the momentum. The Lady Cats went up 6-3 on Martin’s ace.

Following a timeout, the Lady Rebels worked their way back in it with consecutive points to go up 7-6. Shelby Walker’s block tied it at 6-6 and Craddock’s kill gave PRHS the lead.

After Leesville evened it at 7-7, Craddock put down another kill to made it 8-7.

Then Bennett stepped to the service line and was there for a bit. She scored four consecutive service points. A Lady Rebels’ lift ended the spurt, but the damage was done and PRHS led 12-8. A double-hit by Leesville put Pearl River closer to a playoff victory. The Lady Rebels scored again to lead 14-8.

But Leesville wasn’t ready for its season to end. Following a timeout and then a PRHS lift, Martin came up three-straight kills, facing match point.

But Pearl River scored the final point to advance.

For the Lady Rebels, Whitney Harris posted seven kills.

Pearl River coach Britanee Symons said she was very proud of her team.

“We fought hard, we stuck with it and pulled it out,” Symons said.