TOWANDA — Towanda volleyball couldn't find a way to finish off sets in their 3-0 loss to NP-Liberty during the District IV, Class AAA quarterfinals on Saturday.

All three sets were competitive - NPL won them 25-19, 26-24, and 26-24 - as the Knights couldn't get the points when they needed them most.

"That's the game of volleyball, honestly," said Towanda coach Cassie Smith. "They're always exciting, we can always count on good rallies. The girls went out there, they battled, it was just one of those things that last point could go either way, and today it went Liberty's way."

Karis Flynn had a triple double with 17 assists, 14 digs, and 13 points for Towanda to go with two kills, and ace, with Kylie Barnes adding 10 kills, three blocks, and a dig.

Brynsen Vargason had 15 digs with a point, while Kendall Kellogg notched 13 digs, seven kills, seven points, and an ace.

Hannah Crawford had five kills, one block, one point, and three digs, with Lariah Long getting five kills, 13 digs, one point, and one ace.

Addison Barrett had four kills, 10 points, two aces, and three digs, with Ali Hollett finishing with five digs, and five assists.

Sadie Overpeck had a dig, with Emma Space getting a point.

Towanda took a 3-0 lead to start the first set but saw the Mounties score six straight to go up 6-3.

Towanda regrouped with a timeout, then rallied for a 9-7 lead.

It was NPL's turn to rally after that, out scoring the Knights 8-2 during the next 10 points to take a 15-11 advantage.

Towanda never quite recovered as they watched NPL extend that lead to 21-14.

The Knights had one last rally in them, out scoring NPL 5-1 to make it 22-19, but NPL used three straight points after that to get the win.

The second set saw NPL jump out to a 9-2 lead, but Towanda chipped away - largely behind seven straight points from Flynn - to eventually tie it up at 15-all.

They didn't stop there, scoring three more points for an 18-15 lead.

Towanda was able to keep NPL at arm's length, going up 23-19 on a Barnes block.

However, the Mounties struck back, first with a Lillian McNamara kill, then a Victoria Mctish block. A Towanda attack that landed out of bounds made it a 1-point game.

Coming out of a Black Knight timeout Barnes got a kill to put the Knights on the edge, but back to back NPL kills tied things up at 24-all.

An ace by Mctish put them up 25-24, then Kendall Graham drove home the win with a kill.

The third set was tied 3-3 when NPL went on a 4-1 run to take a 7-4 lead.

The Knights cut it to 9-8 only to watch NPL score three straight for a 12-8 advantage.

Four straight points from Towanda would knot things up at 12-12, struck home with a Barrett kill.

That's when the teams traded points to 14-14 but a 3-0 run from Mounties, behind two kills from McNamara, put them up 17-14.

NPL would hold that lead until 22-22 as Kellogg served up three straight Towanda points.

After the teams traded errors a Crawford block put Towanda up 24-23, and NPL called a timeout.

McNamara got the tying kill coming out of the break, then Elaina Shaw got a kill to make it 25-24.

NPL ended the match with a block for the 26-24 win.

While the season didn't end with how they hoped this senior class did lead Towanda to their best season this decade.

"They have accomplished so much, they should be very proud of themselves," said Smith. "It's a tough way to end because I know what they're capable of, but they gave it their all today, and all season long, so I'm proud of them. It'll be a loss next year, though."

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