NTL VOLLEYBALL: TROY PULLS AWAY FROM WELLSBORO (2024-10-18)

Northern Tier Sports Report
TROY — Troy took control of the NTL Large School Division as they beat Wellsboro, 3-1, during in a match-up of the top two teams in the division during volleyball action Thursday.

After splitting the first two sets, with Troy winning the first 25-15, and the Hornets taking the second 25-15, the Trojans dominated the final two sets to the tune of 25-18, and 25-13, to get the win.

“I like that they were able to bring their momentum back from their first set and finish it out in the fourth set,” said Troy coach Abby Herman. “They did everything I’ve asked of them, the’ve changed things up that we haven’t really been doing the season, and they were placing the ball well.”

Troy finished with 54 kills on the net, led by Aryana Andrus, who had 22 kills and four blocks, while Kali Ayres had a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs to go with one assist, and two aces.

Marlee Stanton had 10 kills, five digs, and two aces, while Brenna Jackson handed out 45 assists and 16 digs to get the double-double, plus two kills.

Alli Bailey added 11 digs, two kills, one assist, and two aces, as Josie Kerrick had three kills, one ace, one assist, five digs, and one block.

Camryn Barbour had a kill, three digs, and three blocks, as Lexi Kjellander added two digs.

The pivotal moment came in the third set when Troy saw their lead evaporate to a 13-12 Wellsboro advantage and Herman called a timeout to stop the Wellsboro momentum.

“I’m just telling them to try to be as positive as they can towards each other,” she said. “Telling each other where the open spots are on the other side, what to do to help each other. Not really anything critical, they really vibe off of positive energy.”

The Trojans out scored the Hornets 13-5 the rest of the way to get the win. Andrus got things started with back to back kills to put Troy up 15-14.

Wellsboro would rally to take a 17-16 lead, but an Andrus kill brought them back to even. That sparked six straight points for the Trojans as they went up 22-17.

After the Hornets got a kill Andrus got it back with a kill, then Ayres hit a push to make it 24-18. Troy then finished off the set on the next point.

In the fourth set Troy jumped out 7-0 en route to the big win.

The win pulls Troy one game ahead of Wellsboro in the Large School standings with two games left each.

“It is,” Herman said if they had that in the back of their minds. “But it’s just another game, that’s how you have to treat it in order to make sure things flow the same way as any other game. It’s senior night, too, that could have impacted them.”

Troy has the tie-breaker with the head to head sweep and can clinch the division title when they host NEB on Tuesday. NEB just clinched their Small School title on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Williamson.

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PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM

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