Athens Holds Off Towanda In Epic Five-Set Win

By: Tim Birney / September 11, 2026

After building a 2-0 lead, Athens needed to re-group to pull out the decisive fifth game in an epic 3-2 win over Towanda here Thursday night in NTL Large School volleyball action.

The Wildcats pulled out wins of 25-21 and 25-23 in the first two sets, but the Black Knights bounced back with wins of 25-15 and 25-22 to even things up.

Athens won fifth set, 15-10.

"What a battle tonight," said Athens coach Heather Darrow. "(Towanda) coach Cassie (Smith) and I always know it's going to be one heck of a match and tonight did not disappoint. Cassie and Tori (Bristol) have done an incredible job with the Towanda team and it's awesome for Towanda, however, it sure makes for some crazy matches.

Continue reading on Valley Sports Report.

About the Author

Tim Birney

Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.

Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.

River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).