Consistent energy on the court and a strong defense have made the Northampton girls varsity volleyball team a force to be reckoned with this season.

Through two tough conference games and one non-division game last week, the Northampton girls stood strong and though they did not come away with the win each time, they fought hard against their competition.

"They are really starting to realize the potential they have," commented Northampton's proud coach, Morgan Litak. "Our defense is really strong and overall, they are just doing a really good job."

The girls squad started the week with a game against the Liberty Hurricanes on Oct. 3. Liberty is currently battling to make the District 11 playoffs. This was the first time Northampton had faced Liberty this season, but Northampton knew the Canes would be a tough team. Liberty came out strong with a 25-14 victory in the first match but Northampton rebounded in the second and won by a score of Northampton 27-25. Despite a strong defense and hard hitting that keep the Northampton team close through the next two periods, Liberty would take both the third (25-23 Liberty) and the fourth matches (25-22 Liberty).

In their second contest of the week, Northampton faced off against Stroudsburg on Oct. 4 in what would become another hard-fought battle. Stroudsburg come out with a quick score and stunned Northampton with 21-18 win in the first match. Determined not to repeat the performance of the previous night, Northampton came back strong however and took the next three matches with confidence. With scores of 25-20, 25-28, and 25-23 Northampton claimed their eighth victory of the season with a 3-1 win over Stroudsburg.

The girls traveled to Whitehall for their first game this week ready to avenge a tough loss from earlier in the season. Litak was hopeful the team would use what they learned during a 3-1 loss to Whitehall on Sept. 6 to produce a different outcome this time. This seemed to be a solid strategy as the Northampton girls came out strong in the first match with a win over Whitehall 25-15. Northampton continued to put up a fight but with scores of 20-25, 20-25, 17-25, Whitehall would go on to defeat Northampton 3-1.

Northampton enters the final two games of their schedule with an 8-10 overall record. At press time, Northampton was preparing to host Parkland for a 7 p.m. game on Oct. 9. In their final match of the 2013 season, Northampton will travel to Nazareth on Oct. 11. The team needs to win both matches to qualify for the playoffs.