The two schools showed great heart and situational awareness in the opening game, with each team exchanging long rallies to begin, that would quickly come to a halt in the middle of the game. Loyalsock gained the advantage early but South would respond back shortly thereafter with a huge tying score by Abigail Lorson to knot it up at 6-6.

Both respective schools have had great sports teams in years past. Very close are the two schools only separated by just 3.5 miles apart from each other with the Mounties and Lancers having been battling it out on the volleyball court ever since Mountie senior Monica Boone captured the first-ever point in school history back in 2019 when South first established prior to the start of the 2019 season.

Towards the midway point of the first game, Loyalsock started to pull away, sparked by an improbable over the shoulder save from way beyond the back line by Katie Hughes that dunked right in front of the net and a South defender. Lancer Jade Toth then followed up an outstanding hit in front of the net that froze the South defenders. The Mounties showed great fight as they began to mount a comeback on the heels of the South front line. It looked like the momentum was being shifted over towards South after a missed hit by Toth off the forearm that went out of bounds.

“Our game plan coming in was to communicate and to watch out for the deep balls, because we played them last week and that was one thing that really got us. The lack of communication last week and the lack of watching for the back line were the two keys going into the game that they have to do a better job at and I did think that they did better but there is still so much more room for improvement,” Loyalsock coach Kathleen Popowycz said.

Jadea Toth (15) of Loyalsock hits a ball over South Williamsport at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Toth would shake it off and come back stronger and mightier on the next set and make a very difficult one armed backhand type of save that looked nearly impossible to get to from her possession. A ball that was hit hard by a Lancer and was headed backwards towards the gymnasium doorway and looked to be well away from all Loyalsock teammates until Toth came flying seemingly out of nowhere. Toth was able to run it down in the back court, stop, plant and get off a perfectly-placed hit ball that found a weak spot in the South defense.

A great instinctual play by Toth coming from a distance to track the ball down had some shades of Derek Jeter in the 2001 ALDS against Oakland running foul line to foul line to chase down a missed cutoff throw and flip it to home plate to nab Jeremy Giambi. Loyalsock went on to close out the first game with a devastating moving serve ball by Toth to capture the 25-14 win.

The start of the second game opened up with a back and forth volley battle until Italia Taylor hit a hard downward angled ball that dove down and faded away from the defender like a split-finger type of pitch locking up the Mountie defenders. The play of both Gabby Beaubrun and Molly Garrison took over the second game and were the standouts of the game. Garrison used her height and high jumping to either block or score on both defense and offense.

Beaubrun, who is only a freshman, is one of the tallest and strongest girls on the court. She did a nice job at blocks, kills and serving. At the serving line, she went on a tear and ripped right through the defense of South. Beaubrun will likely be a huge weapon for Loyalsock for the rest of this season as an X-factor.

“Gabby has really been huge thus far and she’s only a freshman so we expect some big things from her. Timing-wise, she has it all down and she’s really just a great kid and a great person to talk to, wise beyond her years like an adult and just very mature and thoughtful in holding conversation, and we are very lucky to have her for sure,” said Popowycz.

Molly Garrison (22) of Loyalsock hits the ball over a trio of South Williamsport defenders at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Thanks to Garrison and Beaubrun, Loyalsock took the second game, 25-22, and would take the third game in a sweep, 25-10, with huge contributions from Toth and Molly Clune to put a bow on this one for the Lancers.

Although the scoreboard wasn’t reflective, the contest was a great sign from a young South team that is only in their fourth year of existence. Still with the program being in its infantry stage, the future looks brighter each game for the Mounties who only have three seniors on the whole roster this season. South has a combined 26 players at both the JV and varsity levels mostly in the sophomore class of 2025, which is key for the building up of the program, and having a successful season.

Toth finished with one dig and three aces, Katie Hughes tallied three assists, three digs and four aces, Beaubrun added three kills, a solo block and four aces, Emma Belcher collected one kill and one ace, Garrison broke out with four kills, while teammate Taylor contributed greatly with two kills, two digs and thre aces, and Molly Clune ends it with a dig and three aces.

Loyalsock (3-6) will take on Wyalusing on Saturday at 2 p.m. and South Williamsport (2-4) will face Northern Dauphin Christian School on Friday at home for a 5:30 p.m. start.

Abby Lorson (22) and Halie Ort (7) of South Williamsport by try to return a ball hit to their team by Loyalsock at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Gabby Beaubrun (11) of Loyalsock tips the ball over the block of Alizabeth Schuler (12) of South Williamsport at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Loyalsock celebrate winning a point over South Williamsport at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Abby Lorson of South Williamsport returns the ball over the net to Loyalsock’s Molly Garrison (22) at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Molly Garrison (22) of Loyalsock hits the ball over South Williamsport defenders at Loyalsock High School Tuesday evening. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette