It's tough to lose any competitive game, but it's even more difficult when you could have beaten your opponent if it wasn't for your mistakes.

That was essentially the case for Whitehall Tuesday night as they traveled to Bethlehem Catholic in a Lehigh Valley Conference volleyball matchup.

A night that saw Becahi unveil their state championship banner from a year ago, the Hawks took care of business on the court as well, racking up a hard fought three game sweep over the Zephyrs27-25, 25-23, 25-23.

The loss puts Whitehall (5-5, 5-3) into a must-have contest at home Friday against Freedom if they want to keep pace for an opportunity to qualify for districts.

"It's tough when you outplay the team you lose to," said head coach George Cowitch. "We just made mistakes at critical points in the game that cost us."

Whitehall led 22-20 in the first two games, only to see Becahi (6-2, 6-2) rally from behind to pull out the wins.

"Beca just took North Allegheny (top ranked 3A team in the state) to the wire in the Koller Classic over the weekend," Cowitch said. "We played right with Beca, but there's really not much more I can do with these guys at the moment. "There's moments in the game where you need to want it as a team. We're still trying to figure that out. I'm not disappointed in our effort, but we need to finish games like this and get mentally tougher."

Whitehall displayed that mental toughness and the ability to close out last week when they knocked off a previously undefeated Emmaus team in five games.

However, Cowitch doesn't feel his team took a step back in Tuesday's defeat to Becahi.

It was more of a wake-up call for a team that needs to close out the season like they did against Emmaus.

After Friday's tilt with Freedom, the Zephyrs have four matches remaining, two of which are against an improved Northampton (8-3) side and the top team in the district, rival Parkland (7-1).

"This was a wake-up call for them," said Cowitch. "We're right there and we can't panic. We just have to execute. That's why Friday is such a big game for us. Freedom is going to play good defense and will play every point hard. We just need to win and keep our minds focused."