If there was one thing that Bethlehem Catholic had going for them heading into game five of the District 11 2A volleyball championship against Notre Dame Green Pond last Thursday, it was experience.

The top-seeded Golden Hawks overcame a 0-2 hole in the district semifinals to storm back and beat Central Catholic in five and the Hawks used that experience to jump out to a large lead in the fifth game against the Crusaders to clinch their third straight district championship.

Becahi defeated Notre Dame GP 27-25, 18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-8 to give head coach Paul Abi-Daher the familiar taste of district gold the Hawks (19-2) have been accustomed to in recent memory.

"I think our character this year has been not to give up," Abi-Daher said. "I give Notre Dame all the credit in the world, but I think our girls wanted it a little more in the end. The experience we've had winning districts the past two years helped out a lot and so did the Central match."

The back and forth tussle between both teams saw them exchange wins in each of the first four games, starting with Becahi's 27-25 extended first game victory.

The Hawks found themselves behind for the most part of their two losses on the night, but worked their way towards a 9-1 lead in game five. It proved to be too much to overcome for the third-seeded Crusaders.

"One of my main concerns coming into the match was us being over confident," Abi-Daher said. "I think it showed that in the second set and we put it together a little bit in the fourth and I think we realized we only had one more set and we stepped it up."

Last week's win marked the first time since 1984 that Becahi's girls program has won three straight district championships.

The Hawks now wanted a taste of state tournament victories, as the Hawks have been bounced out of the first round in each of the past two years.

Becahi took on District 3 runner-up Delone Catholic Tuesday evening at Nazareth in the first round of the PIAA tournament, but the results of that contest were past press deadlines.

"Our goal going to states is winning the state championship," Abi-Daher said. "With the mentality that we have now, the maturity and experience, hopefully it can get us there. We didn't really have that the past two years, but we do now."