No Northampton team has started out hotter this spring than the boys volleyball team. The K-Kids are 4-0, almost halfway to district qualification.

Friday night, they took care of business against Notre Dame Green Pond in a nonleague affair. After trouncing the Crusaders 25-10 in the first set, head coach Sue Arndt was able to deploy more of her bench over the final two sets.

The change made for some compelling viewing with Northampton taking the second set 25-21 and coming from behind to complete the sweep in the third set 26-24.

The Kids trailed 20-16 in the final set but scored four points in a row to even things up. Notre Dame held two set points at 24-22 but again a run of four points sealed the victory.

It would be fair to point out that the four wins have come against some of the lesser opposition on the Kids’ schedule, but the talent on the roster is apparent.

Arndt described her squad, “They’re very athletic, but they need to develop the volleyball IQ. They need to learn how to cover based on the block. Sometimes they like to just kill the ball when all they have to do is offspeed it to the floor. We’re working on those things.”

The team is led by two seniors. Caden Dempsey was pressed into service as a setter during his freshman year due to an injury and brings that experience to help run the offense. Kieren Lieb has taken a noticeable step forward and has become a threat attacking out of the back row.

“Caden and Kieran are coming off of a club season where they played at a national level where they traveled everywhere. That beefed them up to see competition that’s really tough. They’ve learned to become mentally tough. It’s just a matter of whether we can get everybody at that level with them. It’s going to take a little time,” Arndt opined.

NHS 3, Notre Dame 0

Northampton 25-25-26

Notre Dame GP 10-21-24

Northampton stats (kills, digs): Matt Gehringer (10, 8), Kieran Lieb (8, 8), Jeremy Nunez (6, 3, 3 blocks), Josiah Angstadt (6, 1), Yariel Lugo (3, 1), MJ Aguanno (2, 4), Caden Dempsey (0, 8, 29 assists), Matt Cramer (0, 17, 3 aces)