PARKERSBURG -With sectional time just two weeks away, the Parkersburg South Patriots still have business to take care of in the regular season. They split in a tri featuring both South Charleston and University Thursday at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center. The Patriots' first match of the evening saw them drop a tight contest to the University Hawks in three sets: 16-25, 25-22, 25-22. That first set saw the Patriots jump out to an early 8-0 advantage. Catreena Shears had three of her five aces in that sequence, as she left University returners swinging at the ground. Even when the Hawks had an opportunity to come back down 12-9, PSHS slammed the door shut behind a 13-7 that iced the set. The duo of Lauren Somerville feeding the ball to Cassie Fink led to positive results in the second set, but University finally had an answer down 11-10. Scoring plays from Mallory Napolillo, Olivia Kadder and Lindsey Wilburn gave the Birds the lead, and South had to continue responding. After both teams went on mini-runs, the second set was tied at 22. Kills from Rachel Shockley and Napolillo gave SCHS a two-point edge, and after a Shears shot out of bounds, the Hawks knotted the score at 1. The deciding set was just as close, but the Pats could not close the gap. Try as the assertive front line of South might, they came up a tad short in being able to sustain a run long enough to claim the match. However, the battle-tested bunch made up for the loss in style. The South Charleston Black Eagles were dispatched in straight sets: 25-12, 25-19. The split came thanks to the continued efforts of the South team which came up short in the previous contest. Somerville continued her assist-spree with 13 more to go with her 24 in the first match. Shears played a solid role with two more points, kills and digs in the abbreviated affair. Kylee McCorkle was everywhere on the ROAC court, as she totaled 15 additional digs in the win over SC. For the now 8-9-2 Patriots, head coach Becky Bennett wants her team to hit its stride with sectional action barreling straight ahead in the following weeks. "Well, we had a little conversation," she said of what happened between the two matches. "We had a chance to win that University match, and we got down on ourselves. That doesn't really work in volleyball. Any kind of win you can get is a good thing." Parkersburg South has another 5:30 p.m. multi-team meeting at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center, as it does battle with Riverside and Frankfort.