PRAIRIE VIEW -  Behind a career night from junior middle blocker Victoria Pearson, the Prairie View A&M volleyball team pushed its winning streak to five games after defeating Huston-Tillotson University in a five-set thriller on Wednesday evening in the Baby Dome during Dig Pink Night – the team's annual game dedicated to Breast Cancer awareness.

Prairie View A&M volleyball team honored members of the athletes and staff members of PVAM tonight with a pink volleyball T-Shirt in recognition of Breast Cancer awareness as they are survivors or dealing with cancer now.  The ladies recognized was  Mary Langham who is the grandmother  #8 Jada Mitchell, as well as Kaye Williams who is currently battling cancer, Betty Sue Caffey who is the grandmother of #17 Lindsey Wiley, Kassandra Childs the mother of #14 Skyla Childs and Mrs. Melanie Porter, Administive Associate, III from PV's Department of Athletics.
Set scores were 25-16, 19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-11
 
"Sometimes you have to win ugly," Head PVAMU Volleyball Coach TaCho Tyler said. "The resilience of the team was good. We had to come back and really focus and do what we needed to do. We've been in a lot of five-set matches this year, and we get the win. So they pulled it together. We got some blocks and our defense came alive, so I'm excited about another win."

 
An exceptional start to the opening set for the Lady Panthers (9-17) allowed them to lead by as many as 12. The Lady Rams would try to claw back into it, but Pearson quelled the rally with a thunderous set-ending kill to put PVAMU ahead early on.
 
During the second set, PVAMU fell behind as Huston-Tillotson pulled ahead with a quick 3-0 start. Though the Lady Panthers fought back within reach at 9-8, they were unable to find a steady rhythm throughout the period, aside from short bursts as HTU remained in the driver's seat throughout the frame.
 
Prairie View A&M and Huston-Tillotson battled to a 7-7 tie to open set three, but the Lady Panthers surrendered six straight points to fall behind at 13-7. A late 7-2 Lady Panther run brought the score to 21-19, but they were unable to close the gap and fell 25-21.
 
The teams tied five times to open the fourth set, the latest at 14-14. The Lady Panthers took their first lead of the set at 15-14, but the Lady Rams pushed ahead 18-16. However, the resilience of Prairie View A&M shone through as the Lady Panthers overcame a 22-20 deficit with a 5-1 run – punctuated by a Pearson kill – to tie the match.
 
After trading scores, the Lady Panthers took a 6-4 lead in the final set. The teams tied at 7-7, before Prairie View took another lead at 8-7. With the match tied 9-9, PVAMU reeled off a 5-0 run behind Pearson and junior outside hitter Tamaira Armstrong, who sealed the match with a kill that cut down a last-ditch comeback effort for HTU.
 
Pearson was dominant on the evening, leading the team with a career-high 21 kills on a .606 attack percentage to go with four digs and two blocks. Armstrong followed with 16 kills and nine digs. Freshman outside hitter Alexis Marion and sophomore right side hitter Tamia Hightower also contributed with nine kills each. Senior setter Erica Jimenez (33) and freshman setter Jakarta Hope (26) combined for 59 assists. Freshman libero Skyla Childs added 24 digs, and Jimenez posted 17.
 
Next, the Lady Panthers will play another match against Huston-Tillotson on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The match is set for 6 p.m. in Austin, Texas.