FARMVILLE – With their playoff lives hanging in the balance, for the most part, the Prince Edward County High School volleyball team turned in its best effort of the year but came up short to Southside District leader Southampton Academy in five sets (25-22, 25-22, 15-25, 21-25,10-15).

The Eagles, who had lost the two previous matches with the Indians pretty decisively jumped out to an early lead due in large part to the play of Lucia Davis, who had ten blocks in the first two sets.

“She was a big difference for us tonight,” said PECHS head coach Bruce Bogese. “Even with the shots she didn't block, she altered what they wanted to do. They had to go over or around her.”

Davis tired over the five-set marathon, which allowed Southampton to again attack the middle. The Eagles took leads of 11-0 and 14-1 in the fourth set, before Southampton roared back to force the tiebreaker.

Though the Eagles held an 8-7 lead in the fifth set, Southampton gained the serve and ran off six straight points to take a 13-8 lead. PE pulled back to within four points at 14-10, but given the nature of the short tiebreaker set, the Eagles were left with no room for error.

“Southampton earned that win tonight,” said Bogese. “We weren't making mistakes early on, and capitalizing on theirs. I'm sure they feel very good about what they were able to do here tonight.

“It was hard to try to get the girls back up after that one. I thought we played team-oriented volleyball. We worked as a group and moved very well. Lucia played at a very high level. She's done that for the last three games, and it really showed tonight.”

Barring several upsets over the next week, the Eagles are pretty much eliminated from Region I Playoff contention, as the Southside does not conduct a district tournament, instead opting for a triple-round-robin schedule.

“That kind of hurts us, because we are playing a lot better right now,” said Bogese. “This is a team that could make a run in a tournament like that, but now we will hope we can get some help.

“Still, I can't recall a time after a loss where I feel as good about how we played as I do tonight. Sure, I would've wanted a win, but Southampton has the skills and experience to come back the way they did. They didn't panic when it would've been easy for them to do so.”