TOWANDA — It was a heartbreaker for Towanda as they fell to Athens, 3-2, for their second straight loss in NTL volleyball action Thursday.

"It was a lot of back and forth," said Towanda coach Cassie Smith. "These are a lot of things we see against Athens - kudos to them, they're super well coached and they're super scrappy - we knew coming into this it was going to be one of those back and forth type games, they were just able to go on a few more runs and momentum, and that pushed them over to get the win. I'm proud of what my girls were able to do, I kind of wishes they could have gotten ahead and stayed ahead, and not played from behind all the time."

Towanda took the first set 25-19, with Athens winning the second set 25-22.

In the third set Towanda rallied late for a 26-24 win - the Wildcats led 24-22 but after a service error by Athens a Karis Flynn push kill was followed by back to back Addison Barrett kills to give it to the Knights.

Athens would pull out a 25-20 fourth set win, then took a 12-2 lead en route to a 15-7 fifth set victory.

Barrett had 12 kills, three blocks, six points, one ace, and three digs, as Flynn finished with 29 assists, seven kills, nine points, one ace, and six digs.

Brynsen Vargason had 35 digs with four points, as Lariah Long notched 11 kills, seven points, 13 digs, and three aces.

Kendall Kellogg had 13 digs, three kills, 14 points, and three aces, with Kylee Barnes getting seven kills, and two blocks.

Ali Hollett had nine points, two aces, four digs, and five assists, with Hannah Crawford getting one kill, two points, and an ace.

London Decker had one kill, one dig, and on assists, as Sam Hartigan noticed two digs.

Towanda won the JV match 26-24 and 25-14.

Emma Space had five kills, one block, seven points, five aces, and one dig, as Mercede Overpeck had four kills, two points, one ace, and seven digs.

Madelyn Nash notched eight digs, and two points, with Addison Aquilio getting seven assists, three digs, six points, and an ace.

Adaleigh Jankowsky finished with four digs, seven points, two aces, and on assist, with Hartigan adding four digs, two points, and an ace.

Ailyn Dulaney chipped in with four points, three aces, one dig, and one kill.

With Towanda's loss the league race becomes very interesting. 

Wellsboro leads Towanda with just two league losses to the Knights' three while Athens is still hanging in there with four league losses.

The Hornets have Athens and Troy left, Towanda has Troy and Sayre left, and Athens has Wyalusing and Wellsboro left.

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