NTL VOLLEYBALL: TROY DROPS TOUGH ONE TO WELLSBORO, 3-2, IN D4, CLASS AA FINAL (2024-10-31)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
ATHENS — There’s losing a heart breaker, and then there’s what happened to Troy on Thursday in the District IV, Class AA Volleyball Championship game. It doesn’t get much closer to the top and not quite reach it, as they fell 3-2 to Wellsboro, losing the fifth set 15-13.

“I’m so proud of them,” Troy coach Abby Herman said. “Those senior girls have had such a big impact on tonight, just as much as any, they’ve had just a big impact on our court in everything that they do - I couldn’t ask for better leaders out there. They are influenced by me, and they take everything I saw and they go with it. I am really proud of the way they played today.”

They got down early as they fell to Wellsboro in the first set, 25-22, thanks to a hot Hornet start. 

The Hornets got off to another fast start in the second set, but this time Troy completed the rally for a 25-19 win.

The Trojans hit on all cylinders in the third set, winning 25-9, and continued that run early into the second set. Wellsboro got their second wind, though, taking the second set 25-21, before holding on for the fifth set win.

“I think just being excited for all the little things, making sure that we were ready for anything that was coming at us, and not letting their energy impact us at all,” Herman said about their adjustment after the opening set.

Still, Troy spent much of the night coming from behind, getting down early in the first, second, and fifth sets.

“It’s kind of draining when you’re always behind,” Herman said. “I’m not sure if we thrive off that - it doesn’t seem we quite do - but it’s definitely hard to play when you’re down.”

Brenna Jackson had a big double-double, leading the team in assists (49) and digs (27), while adding two kills and an ace.

Aryana Andrus had 26 kills and five blocks, while Kali Ayres had a double-double of 21 digs, 15 kills, two assists, and an ace.

Marlee Stanton added 18 digs, eight kills, two assists, and four aces, as Alli Bailey had 18 digs, one kill, and one assist.

Haidyn Watson added 17 digs, and a kill, as Josie Kerrick finished with five kills, nine digs, one block, one assist, and one ace.

Camryn Barbour chipped in with three kills, and an assist.

Lexi Urena had 38 digs, and 12 kills for Wellsboro while Paige Logsdon added 11 kills, and eight blocks.

Blake Eckart had eight kills, 20 digs, and seven points, while Maddy Cruttenden had 26 digs, 18 points, and two aces.

Taylor Main notched 16 assists, seven points, and two aces, as Ellie Largey finished with 15 assists.

Through the match Wellsboro would get up, and then keep Troy from rallying all the way. The Trojans tied things up six times in the first set, but only took a lead just twice, and then it was one point each time. 

Wellsboro came out of the gates on fire, jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the first set. 

The Trojans chipped away, eventually tying it up at 10-all off an Ayres kill.

Urena came back with a kill of her own, only for Stanton to knot things up at 11 with a hit.

Another Urena hit saw Wellsboro take a 12-11 lead, but then Andrus got in on the act, getting a kill to make it 12-12.

Troy took their first lead when a Wellsboro attack was out, but the Hornets tied things off a Logsdon kill.

An Andrus hit gave Troy another 1-point lead but back to back errors by Troy put the Hornets up. 

An Eckart hit made it a 2-point set. The two teams would trade kills, then a Wellsboro failed attack made it a 1-point set again.

A Jackson ace tied the game up at 17-all, but that’s when Wellsboro went on a 4-0 run. Main had a kill, followed by back to back Trojan hits into the net, then Urena finished things off with a hit.

After a Troy time-out they scored four straight themselves - thanks to a Stanton kill and Ayres ace - to tie things up at 21-all.

The two teams traded points again for a 22-all score, but the Hornets finished on a 3-0 run to take the first set, getting kills from Eckart, Logsdon, and Urena.

The second set saw the Hornets go up 4-0, only for Troy to score four straight themselves to make it 4-4.

The two teams would get knotted up at 6-6, and 8-8, followed by the Hornets scoring three of the net four points.

Troy would chip away, tying things up at 12-12, and again at 13-13, but Wellsboro refused to give up the lead.

A 2-0 run put them back up 15-13, a lead they held until a Stanton ace tied things up at 16-all.

Andrus gave the Trojans the lead with a kill, followed by Eckart tying things back up with a hit of her own.

However, Jackson put Troy up 18-17 with a hit, and the Trojans out scored Wellsboro 7-2 the rest of the way to take the second set 25-19. 

Troy may have put up their best set of the season in the third set, opening with a 7-0 run that saw Andrus get three blocks and two kills.

Wellsboro came back with a four straight points, but Troy answered with another 7-0 run behind five kills from Andrus for a 14-4 lead.

After the two teams traded points, Troy scored five more to go up 20-5. Wellsboro would get two in a row for a 20-7 score, back to back kills from Aryes and Kerrick saw Troy take a 22-7 lead.

The two teams traded points to 23-9 when an Ayres kill, followed by a Hornet hit into the net, gave the Trojans the 25-9 win.

The fourth set started out much like the third, with Troy taking a 5-1 lead behind two kills from Andrus, and one out of Stanton.

However, Wellsboro out scored them 7-3 over the next 10 points tie things up at 8-8.

A Troy hitting error put the Hornets up 9-8, and they held that lead until 10-10.

A Barbour kill saw Troy take an 11-10 lead, but that was equally short-lived as Wellsboro tied things up at 12-12 on an Adelyn Frantz hit.

Urena gave the Hornets a 13-12 lead, and they went on a run, pushing their advantage to 17-13 off two kills from Urena, and one out of Logsdon.

Thanks to a pair of Andrus kills Troy would cut the deficit to 20-22, and 23-21.

However, back to back Trojan hits into the net gave the Hornets at 25-21 win.

Logsdon started the fifth seed, and gave Wellsboro a 2-0 lead with a kill and a block. That helped propel them to a 6-1 advantage early.

Troy would chip away, tying things up at 9-9 off a Kerrick kill. Ayres then gave them a 10-9 lead with a hit.

A Hornet hitting error saw Troy take an 11-9 lead, but a Urena kill, followed by a Trojan hitting error, tied the set up at 11-11.

Kerrick would get a push kill for a 12-11 lead, but Troy serve that was out tied things up at 12.

Urena would put Wellsboro ahead with a kill, but that was erased by a Hornet’s passing error.

Tied at 13-13 Logsdon put the Hornets one point away with a kill, then Eckart finished the job with a kill on the next point for the 2-point fifth set win.

Troy had swept Wellsboro during the regular season, and came in as the top seed of the tournament.

Still, despite the setback, they do end the year as the NTL Large School Champions.

“Since these seniors were freshmen they have totally flipped their record,” Herman said. “I think their first year they won maybe four games as a team, and now they’re completely flipping with 19-3. It’s come a long way, and the more buy in I can have from the younger girls at an earlier age, the better off.”

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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING

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