This season, Northampton head boys' volleyball coach Doug Fehnel is ready for his team to begin an era in one phase and extend another one in a different phase.

When they began their play last Friday, the Kids marked their first-year without the services of Cody Chidsey, who had been a fixture in the program for the past four seasons. Chidsey, who annually was an LVC all-star, is currently playing in the Rutgers program.

The Kids also begin this season with high aspirations about returning to the PIAA District 11 playoffs, a visit they made last year for the first time since 2004.

"We expect to have a better season than last year," said Fehnel, whose club had 10 wins last year. "It will be different without having Cody, but we will be more or a team that being thought of as a one-man team.

"We have a number of people back and we should be able to get back to districts again this year."

Fehnel will look to the trio of senior Alfred Antonelli, Josh Wilson, and Dakotah Wilston to set the pace from the start this spring. Antonelli will play the middle, Wilson will be on the power side, and Wilston will be a setter and also on the weak side.

"Those guys have experience and they should step up their game," said Fehnel. "They all got significant time for us last season, and we expect them to lead some of the younger players on the team."

In addition, Fehnel also sees juniors Mike Holihan and Josh Palancher to be in the starting rotation. Holihan will be a setter and also on the weak side, while Palancher will be on the power side. Palancher is also back after suffering an injury at the start of last season.

Sophomore Josh Morgan, who will be on the power side, will also see time.

With a horde of returners back, Fehnel expects his team to grab a district berth and be in the hunt for the Lehigh Valley Conference (LVC) title.

"We do expect to be there," stated Fehnel, who will begin his third season at the helm. "We played pretty well in the (LVC) scrimmage tournament at Freedom. We faced some schools up north like Wyoming Valley West and North Pocono and we weren't that impressed with them. We did a nice job against every team there."

Northampton also will have an added boost due to the addition of longtime Lehigh Valley volleyball coaching fixture Craig Landis to the staff. Landis, who will coach the JV team, has already made some inroads.

"I have known him (Landis) a long time and I'm excited he is with us," said Fehnel. "He has already been pretty involved with the kids. He (Landis) really knows the game and will make it a challenge for the team."

The Kids will get right into the thick of things when they open with Allen Friday and then play in the annual Easton Tournament Saturday.

"It would be huge for us to get out to a big lead in our first matches," he said. "We're hoping to get out to a fast start with this team. It looks like everything is in place for us to have a good year."