The scores of Northampton fans in the Allen gym gave their boys volleyball team a standing ovation as they left court for the final time in the 2021 season. The K-Kids pushed EPC champion Emmaus to its limit, but the Hornets prevailed in four sets, 19-25, 25-21, 31-29, 25-22.

In the first set, Northampton built a 16-10 lead only to see Emmaus erase it with a 6-point run. The Kids reclaimed the lead with a 3-point run and held off the Hornets the rest of the way. Johnny Martinez put an exclamation point on the set with a kill for the 25th point.

With Northampton up 17-15 in the second set, it looked like the K-Kids were going to take a two sets to none lead on the path to the district final and state tournament qualification. However, Emmaus ran off four points in a row and Northampton failed to score on their serve for the remainder of the set.

The marathon third set cranked up the tension in an already steamy gymnasium. Alex Schoenen came through with a clutch kill to stave off a Hornets’ set point at 25-24. The next four opportunities to claim the set all belonged to the Kids. They did concede one service error, but Emmaus earned equality with two kills and a block on the other points.

The Hornets finally recorded a kill and an ace on consecutive service points to add the set to their column.

Northampton did not let the heartbreak of the third set carry over to the fourth. They jumped out to a 9-3 lead. But Emmaus won 13 of the next 17 points to surge to a 16-13 lead. A pair of Kody Whiteman aces put the K-Kids back on top 21-19. Northampton led 22-20 before the Hornets scored the last 5 points of the match to seal the win.

Jackson Fehnel led the K-Kids with 13 kills and chipped in 15 digs. Keller Repasch had 31 assists and led the team with 16 digs. Schoenen had 10 kills and 12 digs. Whiteman added 14 digs. Martinez accounted for 7 kills and 10 digs. Duane Milnes contributed 4 kills and 13 digs.

Head coach Sue Arndt described her team’s effort.

“They said they were coming to battle and they battled,” she said. “They never shut down at all. They kept their heads up and it could have gone either way. Those tight sets could have gone either way. When you look at it, we have five juniors and one senior on the court at any given time going a against a strong, senior-laden team. I’m proud of them. The emotions are coming in over pride.”

Seniors Kody Whiteman and Brad Chatenka were the recipients of the first Jess Finlayson Memorial Scholarships. The rest of the varsity team is expected back to make a run at Northampton’s first banner of any kind in the sport.

Whiteman gave his thoughts on the match.

“I was happy that we came out and played really hard,” he said. “We made it further than we ever had during my high school career. I think today was probably the best we’ve ever played. It hurts that we were so close, but at least they know they can come back next year and maybe win the whole thing.”