WYALUSING — The only thing hotter than the gym in Wyalusing was the play on the volleyball court as Towanda held off a tough Rams squad, 3-1, to take the NTL match Tuesday.

"It feels great," Towanda's Karis Flynn said about the win. "This was a great win against our rival school."

The Knights took the first two sets 25-22 and 25-23, but Wyalusing rallied for a 25-23 third set win. The fourth set was a thriller with Towanda hanging on for a 26-24 win to take the match.

"I loved every second of it," Towanda coach Cassie Smith said about the back and forth bout. "Those types of games are the games that you remember. I wanted to see what they were going to do when they battled adversity. This is a team - I've had them since their freshman year - so they've seen their bumps along the way, but this was the day they showed that maturity, and they were able to overcome a tough Wyalusing team."

For the Rams, it was a tough first match of the season, taking on a strong divisional opponent, and their rival at that.

"My girls knew it was going to be tough coming in, and they played together," said Wyalusing coach Elizabeth VanDerpool. "This is the first time that they've played all season all together, so we can only go up from here. We got lots of work, but their volleys were impressive, and I think we entertained the crowd."

It was a balanced effort from Towanda as they had six different girls register kills, led by Addison Barrett's seven kills, three blocks, 10 points, and an ace.

Flynn had six kills, 18 points, an ace, 11 assists, two digs, and two blocks, while Kendall Kellogg had five kills, eight digs, and 21 points.

Lariah Long notched four kills, 15 points, an ace, and four digs, with Kylee Barnes getting four kills, and three blocks.

Hannah Crawford had two kills, and two assists, with Brynsen Vargason adding 14 digs, 18 points, an ace, and an assist.

Ali Hollett had 14 points, an ace, and seven assists.

Towanda, coming off a 3-game sweep of NP-Liberty on Saturday, came out strong as they took a 14-7 lead off the bat.

Wyalusing would make it a 2-point match late, but it was the Knights holding on for the win.

"We usually kind of slack in that area," Flynn said about the fast start. "But today we did really good - we've been doing good. We've just got to carry it through the season."

In the second set Wyalusig shook off a slow start to take a 7-5 lead. Towanda rallied for a 13-9 advantage only to watch the Rams cut the deficit to one point twice at 15-14 and 16-15.

The Knights would score four of the next five points to go up 20-16, which is when Wyalusing called a timeout.

The Rams rallied after that, making it a 23-22 match when it was Towanda's turn to call a timeout.

Barrett came out of the break with a kill to make it a 2-point game again. Her next attempt was called out for a 24-23 score, but on the following volley a cupping call went against the Rams, giving Towanda the 25-23 win.

"That's what we've been working on," Smith said about her team's late game composure. "I'd love to say this season but we've been working on that for years. This team has really come around."

Early in the third the Rams could do no wrong, building a 13-4 lead early.

Towanda cut it to 16-13 thanks in part to a few Wyalusing hitting errors. The Knights would make it a 1-point game but the Rams held them off, keeping a 19-18 lead.

Towanda would tie it up at 20-20 off a Barnes block, but an Emily Johns kill saw the Rams retake the lead.

A big Black Knight defensive save would lead to a Flynn cross-court kill to make it 21-all again, but a sneaky Ferris kill put Wyalusing back up.

A Towanda ball into the rafters made it a 2-point game, but back to back Wyalusing errors tied things up at 23-all.

A Jalynn Herda block put Wyalusing on top, then a Ram block propelled them to the 25-23 win.

That set up an even crazier fourth set.

It was tied 9-9 when Towanda went on a 6-1 run to go up 15-10, forcing a Wyalusing timeout. The Rams came out of that scoring five straight to make it a 15-all game.

Four straight Wyalusing errors put Towanda up 19-15, but the Rams would chip away, cutting it to 21-20.

That set up a big run from Johns, who used three straight kills to put her team on the cusp as they went up 24-22.

However, a serve into the net made it a 1-point game. Towanda tied it up when Wyalusing hit it into the net. 

Back to back Ram attacks that landed long gave the Knights the win.

The heat and humidity was starting to get to Towanda in the gym, and they knew they'd have to win it in the fourth game since they may not have had enough left for a fifth.

"It's so hot in here, under the circumstances, everybody just wants to get up and go," said Flynn. "We were doing good hitting, everybody was moving, so I think we're doing great overall."

To go from being on the edge of a fifth set to scoring four straight to seal the win was big for Smith.

"Wyalusing is a tough team, you can't give them anything," she said. "The fact that they were able to get out of that fourth set that speaks volumes to me as a coach."

For VanDerpool, seeing her team improve as the match went on shows what they're capable of.

"They got used to our new offensive plays that we're trying to throw in," she said. "We used this one in the first game to kind of experiment with a little bit different things - Emily moving to the middle, and our hitters kind of rotating in different spots that they're not used to, but they stepped up, and they played hard."

Wyalusing (0-1) travels to Troy on Thursday while Towanda (2-0) welcomes Wellsboro.

The Knights can't remember the last time they were 2-0 in divisional play, but they're going to look to keep the momentum going on their new gym floor.

"We really just want to keep the energy up," said Flynn. "Start off strong the first set, keep it carrying, and hopefully and done in three."

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