NTL VOLLEYBALL: TROY OUTLASTS WELLSBORO FOR FIVE SET WIN (2025-10-17)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportTROY — Leading 13-12 in the fifth set Troy coach Abby Herman-Deitrick couldn’t have asked for a better player at the service line in Brenna Jackson. The senior served up the next two points for the Trojans, who gutted out a 3-2 win over Wellsboro during NTL volleyball action Thursday.
“Brenna Jackson is probably the most knowledgeable player I have ever met,” said Herman-Deitrick. “I know I haven’t coached here very long, but I have all the faith in her always.”
The win puts Troy into the driver’s seat to claim their second straight NTL Large School title. They have just one loss to Wellsboro’s two with two matches remaining - NEB and CV.
“I’m super proud of my team for having two in a row, and defending it after losing to Wellsboro,” remarked Jackson, who finished with 39 assists, four kills, and 13 digs.
Wellsboro came out strong with a 25-22 first set win, then Troy struck back as they took the second set 25-23.
The Trojans kept that momentum into the third set where they won 25-16, but the Hornets put together a strong fourth set for a 25-18 win.
In a back-and-forth fifth set Troy won 15-12 to take the match.
“I can’t take hardly any of the credit for it, those girls went in to fight and they pulled themselves out of quite a few holes that they dug for themselves,” Herman-Deitrick said. “They did a really good job. It feels really nice to get this one, and we just need one more.”
Aryana Andrus had 18 kills for Troy with one ace, six blocks, and three digs after having a slow start as three of those kills came in the fifth set.
“Sometimes she doesn’t get quite the confidence she needs, and she got blocked a few times,” Herman-Deitrick said. “So it’s nice to see her come out of that, and she’s been working on developing her game, and she did a really good job of it tonight.”
Defensively they finished with 81 digs, led by Alexa Lawrence’s 22 to go with one block, seven kills, and one assist.
“Alexa Lawrence had some big defensive plays,” remarked Herman-Deitrick. “Alli Bailey, my libero, she did an awesome job. It seemed like once we figured out where Wellsboro was hitting we kind of put a stop to their hits, and then they had to figure something else out.”
Bailey finished with 16 digs, one kill, three assists, and one ace, as Haidyn Watson had 13 kills, two assists, four aces, 13 digs, and one block.
Bella Wood finished with eight kills, four digs, and one block, with Liana Lyon getting 10 digs, and four aces.
In the opening set Wellsboro had leads of 6-3 and 10-7 before pulling out to a 14-9 advantage.
They would keep that lead to 23-18 before the Trojans rallied, scoring four of the next five points.
However, after a Trojan attack was out Wellsboro took the first set 25-22.
Troy essentially started two freshmen and a sophomore and the environment may have had them a little worked up.
“I got a lot of young kids out there, it’s hard to accommodate to that pressure,” Herman Deitrick said. “They did a really good job of it tonight, especially the young girls.”
The seniors stepped in to settle things down.
“We really had to refocus and prioritize where we had to put the ball down, and see the spots were open,” remarked Jackson.
The second set Troy had short leads most of the way, going up 17-13 at one point. This time the Hornets rallied to tie it up at 22-all.
Wood broke the tie with a kill, then Troy took a 24-22 lead off a Wellsboro passing error.
The Trojans would give the point back, but an Andrus kill sealed the win for Troy, 25-23.
The third set saw Wellsboro jump out to a 6-0 lead only to have Troy rally to knot things up at 7-all.
The two teams went back and forth until Troy took an 11-10 lead. From there they out scored the Hornets 14-6, as they rattled off eight straight points at one point to take a 21-12 lead.
“It’s really nice that when we came back, we came back hard,” said Herman-Deitrick. “Sometimes all it takes is one nice kill and it sets you in very nicely for the rest of the set. It seemed like there was a turning point where we just couldn’t stop when we got going.”
The fourth set had a similar start with Wellsboro going up 5-0, but this time the Hornets kept the pressure on, building a 14-5 lead.
The Trojans would cut it to 20-15, but the Hornet scored five of the next eight points to take the set, and setting up a winner-take-all in the final set.
“I told them everybody’s here for them,” Herman-Deitrick remarked. “The whole gym was here to watch them. I don’t know as if there’s been a match this big yet going on, and our fans really showed up tonight, and showed up for the girls; and I told them not to let them down.”
Wellsboro would take a 3-1 early lead only to watch Troy score seven of the next nine points to go up 8-3.
The Hornets then rallied tying it up at 8-8, then taking an 11-10 lead off an ace. Jackson followed with a push kill to knot things up again, but a Hornet kill saw them take a 12-11 advantage.
Watson would get a crucial point on the next play to tie things back up, followed by a Wood kill to make it 13-12 and give Troy the serve back.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Jackson said about being handed the serve. “But last year I did the same thing.”
The rest was history.
The win likely assures Troy the top seed going into the District IV playoffs a week from Saturday as long as they win out against NEB and CV next week.
“We’re going to keep working on everything we can, hitting spots in our hitting, and making sure our defense is where it needs to be based on their hitters,” Herman-Deitrick said. “The girls have been working hard for all of this, and I hope to see it continue into the postseason.”
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING— —
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