Lady Hornets Upset Loyalsock In District Quarterfinals

By: Ed Weaver | PIAA District IV | October 29, 2023 | Photo courtesy Chris Manning

The 6-seed Wellsboro Volleyball team pulled off a 3-0 upset victory over 3-seed Loyalsock in the opening round of the District IV Class 2A volleyball playoffs at Athens on Saturday, October 28.

Loyalsock had previously defeated the Lady Hornets 3-0 nine days prior to Saturday's match.

"We definitely bounced back from playing Loyalsock last week and losing in three," 1st year head coach Darci Warriner said. "The girls worked really hard this week to prepare for this game. We weren't very offensive in the first game, we focused more on defense and didn't produce anything in the front row, so today we came out swinging."

In the first set Wellsboro jumped out to a 6-3 lead over the Lady Lancers, only to have Loyalsock an 8-2 run to lead 11-8. Wellsboro then rattled off eight straight points to retake the lead at 16-11. Loyalsock fought back to cut the lead to 19-17 and eventually tied the game at 23-all, however the Lady Hornets placed a shot just inside the end line to lead 24-23. They closed out the set with a combined block by junior Paige Logsdon and freshman Blake Eckart.

Both teams traded points to start the second set. After Wellsboro took a 9-8 lead Loyalsock dug in and scored four straight points to go up 12-9 over the Lady Hornets. Loyalsock continued to build their lead to 19-14 but Wellsboro fought back and cut the lead to 20-17, forcing Loyalsock to take a timeout. Wellsboro then rattled off five more consecutive points to retake the lead at 22-20. Wellsboro closed out the set, 25-22, to take a 2-0 lead.

Loyalsock built a 5-2 lead to start the 3rd set and increased their lead to 10-5 before Wellsboro kicked back into gear. Wellsboro cut the lead to 10-8 on three straight points, then scored three more after the Lady Lancers scored a point, tying the game up at 11-all. Both teams went back and forth with Loyalsock getting to within a point of Wellsboro at 18-17, but Wellsboro outscored Loyalsock 7-1 down the stretch to close out the win.

Senior Meredith Brownlee led Wellsboro with 7 kills, 8 points and 2 aces while senior Natalie Cleveland had 13 digs. Sophomore Taylor Main recorded 10 assists and and 9 points, junior Arianah Lawton had 7 points, 2 aces and 7 assists, and freshman Blake Eckart had 5 kills. Eckart and Logsdon also made 2 blocks each.

Wellsboro (12-9) takes on rival North Penn-Liberty back at Athens on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. in the Class 2A semi-finals. North Penn-Liberty won both regular season games against Wellsboro, 3-0.

"The first time we played them (North Penn-Liberty) we played our hearts out and we're ready to do it again," concluded Warriner.

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