BY RICH HILLIARD

SPECIAL TO THE HERALD DEMOCRAT

BONHAM -- Leigh Vest handed out 33 assists and Rachel Fritz had 23 digs in Pilot Point's 25-20, 25-21, 27-25 loss to Prairiland in a Class 2A Region II area match on Thursday.

"I think our defense was not as solid tonight as it has been," first-year Pilot Point head coach Becky Phillips said. "Our outside hitters hit well, but we didn't block well and missed some crucial serves."

Prairiland (32-10) advances to the regional quarterfinals next week to face the winner of Saturday's Bells-Aubrey match. Last year, Prairiland lost to Aubrey in the area round.

Cameryn Weitzel had 15 digs, four aces and joined Fritz with six kills for Pilot Point (18-22), which made its 11th postseason appearance in the last 13 years and second straight area advance. Pilot Point lost to Melissa in the second round last year.

Abby Watson finished with 13 kills and three aces while Kacey Kinney had nine digs and four kills for Point.

Prairiland closed Game 3 on an 8-3 run, after four straight points by Fritz had given Pilot Point a 22-19 lead. Consecutive kills by Weitzel scored two points for Fritz in between errors by Prairiland.

Despite Prairiland's late surge, Pilot Point had a chance to force a fourth game, when Emily Ray's ace garnered a 24-23 lead. However, a teammate's following failed kill tied the Game 3 instead.

A Fritz kill thwarted Prairiland's first attempt at match point and forged a 25-25 tie, before consecutive kills by Sara Beth Upchurch -- the last off a failed Pilot Point block attempt -- closed out the sweep and continued the program's 19th-straight postseason.

Down a game, Pilot Point looked poised to even the match early in Game 2, taking a 9-3 lead. Weitzel had three aces during a five-point service, before Kinney added two including another ace.

Prairland used a 16-7 effort to get back into the Game 2 and take a 19-16 lead.

Fritz then powered a quick three points for Pilot Point, hitting a kill before benefiting from two unforced Prairiland errors on her serves to tie the contest at 19.

But Pilot Point added only two more points the rest of the way, scoring via a Weitzel kill and another on Ray's immediately following service point.

Pilot Point led 17-15 late in the opener where neither produced long service runs, until Prairiland closed it on a 10-3 run.

Watson had three straight as Pilot Point took a 16-14 lead, clinching points on kills by Meredith Larson and Fritz and an ace.

"In the first game, we didn't do well on serve-receive so that hurt our momentum. We usually do better on serve-receive to start a match," Phillips said.