The Whitehall and Northampton girls volleyball teams met for the first time this season on Tuesday with the Konkrete Kids coming out top 25-20, 25-11, 25-12.

The Zephyrs came out playing as well as they had all season, breaking on top in the first set 8-6. Neither team was able to string many points together in a row, but Northampton was able to claim an extra service point here and there to draw even at 13.

The score was tied at 17 when the Kids went on a 5-point run to open up some breathing room. Whitehall fought back, winning three in a row until a savvy Molly Hughes dump from the setter position broke the string. Morgan Hughes served out the set from there.

The second set was relatively competitive early with Northampton holding a 14-9 lead before winning 10 straight points, 9 of them on Claire Erdman’s serve.

The Zephyrs held a 4-1 lead in the third set, but once again Erdman’s service sparked a run, this time 6 in a row, to stake the Kids to a 10-6 lead. Whitehall narrowed the margin to 10-9 but were never able to get back into set after Northampton won the next 4 points.

Whitehall head coach Victoria Bobyak reflected on the match, “Sometimes after losing the first set, they just don’t feel like they can win the match. It’s not like we lost badly in the first set. We could have got right back in it.”

Northampton head coach Mike Holihan offered his thoughts, “The last two sets were exactly what I was hoping for. Overall, I’m excited. We’re gunning for Thursday. The girls are pumped up for Emmaus and this was a good start to the week.”

The statistical leaders for Northampton were: Molly Hughes – 18 assists, Morgan Hughes – 11 digs, Naomi Nebiyou 10 digs, 5 kills, Payton Reuber – 10 kills, Claire Erdman – 6 aces.

Whitehall’s leaders were: Grace Hana – 15 assists, 8 digs, Bailey Seibert - 7 kills, 9 digs, Maggie Marinkovitz – 6 kills, Charlotte Bynoe – 3 blocks, Jess Spanitz - 7 digs.

For the Kids, the win put them at 9-3 overall and clinched a district playoff berth. They are 9-2 in the EPC. The goal going forward is to try to get a 2 or 3 seed in the EPC and district tournaments to avoid being seeded in Parkland’s half of the bracket.

The Zephyrs fell to 3-8 overall and in the EPC. Their aim is for captain Haley Bartosh to recover from her concussion to be able to make a run at their cross river rivals in the regular season’s final match on October 13.