It was another test for the Whitehall girls volleyball team when they traveled to Bethlehem Catholic High School to play one of the league’s top teams.

They lost in five sets to the Golden Hawks, a game that was definitely within their reach, especially when they took an early lead to begin the first game. Establishing early momentum is something they’ve been striving to accomplish this season said head coach George Cowitch.

“We’ve talked about getting out to fast starts,” said Cowitch.

They adhered to that message, jumping out to a 16-6 lead. However, the Hawks rallied and came back to win the set 25-21, putting a damper on that strong start.

“It was a difficult situation, but still in that situation, we have to be able to push through in that first set,” said Cowitch.

Cowitch said that they had trouble returning serves which allowed Bethlehem Catholic to climb back into the game. He said that it disrupted their offense. Consequently they weren’t able to get good passes to their setters which in turn would have set up their hitters.

Cowitch believed there was a bit of a carry-over after that opening loss. He said that the losing after getting out to a 10-point lead was “kind of demoralizing.” That led to them being taken out of their sets a little bit in the second game. They dropped that set 19-25.

It was at this point Cowitch said that the team huddled up and they talked about the match up to that point. The message was direct and simple.

“You can either go away or you can stay and come back and get back in this thing,” said Cowitch.

The Zephs responded by winning the next two sets. They won the third set 25-18, and then kept their foot on the gas and won the fourth set 25-23.

That set up the fifth and deciding set. They played well, but lost by three points, 15-12.

The loss drops them to 5-3 on the season.

After getting swept by Liberty last week, the area’s top team according to the latest rankings from a local publication, the Zephs were facing the Hawks who were ranked fifth in that poll. Cowitch said he doesn’t put much credence into those numbers since they clearly demonstrated that they could have won that match if they would have converted some of their opportunities.

“We gave ourselves a lot of chances,” said Cowitch.

He said that they were searching for something to click throughout the match, and that would have spurred them to victory.

Cowitch said that he’s pleased with the progress of their offense. He said that they’re getting everyone involved and that’s been a good sign.

In Monday’s sweep over Northampton, Kristin Spengler led the way with 11 kills. She also had 11 digs and nine assists. Alix Buskirk chipped in with nine kills, while Alyson Peters had four blocks and two kills. Additionally, Olivia Ballard had 14 digs, while Caitlin Kier had four aces.