If there is a volleyball season this spring, Bethlehem Catholic would certainly like to see what they can do this year. The Hawks have a new coach in Tim Sledz, but have familiar faces across the board, as they return all their starters from a team that made a run to the state quarterfinals last year.

“Ten seniors lead a very experienced team, which knows that in order to put together a successful season takes dedication to practice and commitment to a team,” said Sledz. “There are only so many touches to go around but the main focus has been on team success.”

Outside hitter Nick Greenawalt leads what could be a potent offense which includes fellow outside hitter Alex Santostefano, who is looking to move from middle to free up space for up and coming sophomore Owen McFadden. McFadden, along with Dylan Zambo, will be a force at the net both blocking and attacking the ball. The offense is run by senior setter Brent Brown, who has dual right side threats rounding out the offense with Pat Metzger and Aaron Sudigala. Defensively, the team is led by junior Jacob Sledz, who was an honorable mention all-area team last year as libero and senior Nathan Estock as defense specialist.

“We have a really deep team this year,” said Sledz. “A lot of the players on the bench would be starters for us others years. The great thing about them is they can fill in anywhere across the net. Yet, when we asked the players what they wanted to accomplish this year, they all mentioned team goals and how they want to help the team get to those goals. It is great to work with a team that has that type of focus on team vs individual goals.”

With the 2020 season in the balance along with all other spring sports, Sledz is among the many involved in local athletics that hopes a season can be salvaged if permissible.

“The seniors at Becahi and all across the league have put in so much hard work over these past four years,” he said. “I really hope that they get to enjoy some part of their senior year on the court and in the classroom. They deserve to be kids one more time. They deserve to have a senior night. It would be a shame for them to have to look back and wonder ‘what if’.”