After a rough start to the season, Bethlehem Catholic hopes that things are back on track for the volleyball team.

The Golden Hawks limped out to 0-2 out of the gate, suffering losses to Central Catholic (five sets) and Parkland (sweep) before getting into their groove with sweeps over Marian Catholic and Northampton last week.

It’s part of the process for head coach Paul Abi-Daher and his new group of players, as they look to settle into their roles this season following last season’s state championship run.

“We lost some good seniors from a year ago and it’s taken us some time to get used to each other,” Abi-Daher said. “Every game brings a new experience and growth for our players, but our goals still remain the same. We still have a good team. We’re just in the process of finding ourselves.”

Starting out with tough contests against Central and nationally ranked Parkland, the Hawks were able to be tested right out of the gate. They needed two points to close out Central in game two of their match to give them a 2-0 lead in that contest, but couldn’t. Then against Parkland, it was just a matter of losing to a better team.

“Parkland is a great team,” Abi-Daher said. “We also had a chance against Central to go up 2-0 and we didn’t finish it off. It’s all part of the process for this group. It’s OK to go through this as long as you grow from it and bounce back.”

With Pocono Mountain East (0-4) and East Stroudsburg North (1-2) this week, the Hawks should start to string wins together to build momentum moving forward.

“I think we picked up momentum after beating Marian,” Abi-Daher said. “We’re getting more focused now. It’s not how you start, but how you finish.”

Liberty (2-1) has registered wins over Northampton and Central Catholic so far, as their lone loss has been to Parkland. The ’Canes take on Notre Dame-Green Pond, Stroudsburg (3-0) and Pocono Mountain East this week.

Freedom is searching for their first win, as the Pates sit at 0-3 so far after getting swept in each of their contests against Nazareth, Whitehall and Emmaus. They take on Pleasant Valley (3-0) and East Stroudsburg South (1-3) this week.