Wellsboro Hands NEB First League Volleyball Loss

By: Ed Weaver  /  October 9, 2024

The Wellsboro Varsity Volleyball team handed NTL Small School Division leader Northeast Bradford their first loss on the season on Tuesday, October 8.

Wellsboro edged out the Lady Panthers, 3-2.

Northeast Bradford won the first set 25-21, however the Lady Hornets took the next two sets, both 25-20, to take a 2-1 lead. NEB won a "what seemed like forever" 4th set 34-32, but the Lady Hornets regrouped to win the 5th set, 15-5.

Senior Lexi Urena led the Lady Hornets with 18 points (6 aces) and 12 kills, sophomore Madison Cruttenden scored 16 points and made 33 digs, and senior Paige Logsdon had 8 points, 5 kills, and 7 solo blocks.

Junior Taylor Main had 16 digs and 18 assists, sophomore Blake Eckart had 13 digs and 8 kills, and sophomore Ellie Largey added 12 assists. Main and junior Brooke Wheeler also had a solo and assisted block each.

"We went into this game knowing it was going to be tough," head coach Darci Pollock said. "Our first set we started strong but couldn't finish. Our defense played great all night, being led my Maddy. She was allowing our setters to have many options in the front row. We spread the ball using Paige, Lexi, and Blake, as each hitter has their own tempo. The fourth set felt never ending as it went 34-32. Both teams were playing with everything they had. Although we did not win the fourth set, I was confident my girls would push through the last set. We have had a few 5 set matches recently, which has been beneficial in helping us close out that last game. I am extremely proud of this team and the hard work they are putting in. We hope to continue the rest of our season with the same energy we had last night."

Wellsboro swept the evening's matches, winning the JV game 2-0 (25-19, 25-15) to improve to 11-4.

The Varsity win improves the Lady Hornets to 12-3 overall and 9-1 in the NTL Large School Division. The team is back in action on Thursday against Cowanesque Valley.