Towanda, Wellsboro, Canton advance in district volleyball

LAWRENCEVILLE- The Towanda Black Knights took care of business early, dropping Shamokin 3-0 in district four volleyball play at Williamson Saturday. Towanda won the games 25-10, 25-16, and 25-17.

For the Black Knights, Kalie Ritts had 16 points, five kills and three digs; Tori Welliver had eight points, three kills, two blocks and nine digs; Ali Wickwire had five points, 14 kills, seven blocks and three digs; and Kylie Sutton had two points, 15 kills and seven blocks.

Also for Towanda, Jerdan Werner had six points and three digs; Cornell Dougal had two points, 10 kills, three blocks and 14 digs; Marissa Mowry had 10 digs and Cassie Benjamin had eight points, two kills, one block, 10 digs and 29 assists.

"It feels really good," Dougal said after the match. "It's my first district win so far. Hopefully there will be another one. I'm confident in my team."

"It feels amazing," Wickwire said about being in the district final. "I'm just glad we made it again."

Towanda will face Wellsboro on Thursday for the district final at the Williamson gymnasium.

"We match up good together," Sutton said about facing Wellsboro in the final. "They're a good team, so we have to play like we did tonight."

"We've met them in the past couple years in district," Mowry added. "I think we have a lot to improve on to get the victory, but hopefully we get it all together."

Wellsboro 3, Athens 1

14-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22

After the first game, it looked like the Wildcats would run away with the match, but the Green Hornets responded by sweeping the next three games.

For Wellsboro, Karli Spencer had 34 assists, three kills, one point, eight digs and two blocks; Alex Marple had 14 kills, three digs and four blocks; Rachel Patt had 21 kills, 13 points, 14 digs and three blocks; Kelly Herbert had seven kills; two points and five blocks and Hannah Zuchowski had three kills and five blocks.

Also for the Hornets, Taylor Copp had three points and two digs; Kasia Lupkowski had two points, three digs and one block; Kierra LaForge had eight points and 32 digs; Sarah Page had seven points and Angie Miller had nine points and six digs.

"It feels amazing," Patt said. "We came into this as the underdog and to come out on top is great."

"We are usually a second-game team," she said about being down. "It just makes you want to play harder to come out on top."

"I was kind of scared at first," Spencer said, "but I knew we could pull through and win it if we really pushed for it."

"I thought we could do it," Lupkowski added. "We have a positive attitude."

As for the matchup with Towanda, the Green Hornets aren't backing down.

"We played them last week and we lost," she said, "but it was really close."

Lourdes 3, Wyalusing 1

25-14, 25-18, 21-25, 25-22

In single A volleyball action, Lourdes Regional came out early and got up on the Rams. In the third game, Wyalusing fought back to take it but couldn't quite complete the comeback.

For Lourdes Miranda Moyer had 21 assists, Amie Snyder had 15 points and Veronica Yoder had nine kills while Molly Loftus had 14 kills.

Lourdes will face Mansfield at Williamson on Tuesday.

Canton 3, Williamson 0

25-15, 25-17, 25-19

Canton came out strong and never looked back in their win over Williamson in A district volleyball action Saturday.

For Canton, Morgan Palmer had 16 points, five aces, and 12 digs; Katie Ward had seven points, one ace and seven digs; Brianna Watkins had six points, two aces and five digs, and Lindsey Moyer had two blocks and 10 kills.

Also for Canton, Tom Price had 17 kills, Rachel Holmes had two blocks, Kristin Route had 18 assists and Becca McMurray had nine assists.

"The big thing is to remember to play as a team," Canton coach Sheila Wesneski said. "They did that today. They came up, made plays at the net when they needed to."

Canton will face Elkland, who beat North Penn 3-0, on Tuesday in Williamson.

IAC title

Tioga 3, Lansing 2

19-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-18

Despite being down 2-0, the Tigers didn't give up and ended up winning the IAC large school division for volleyball Saturday.

"It was a very exciting match from the start," Tioga coach Desi Ford said. "The players on both teams played their hearts out."

For Tioga, Jess Ramsey had 35 assists and 10 digs; Kay Pfleghardt had 13 kills and 13 digs; Jess Legursky had 10 kills, two blocks and nine points and Chelsea Roberson had 32 digs and a kill.