The goals at the beginning of the season were to win a tournament and make the district playoffs.

Northwestern accomplished both in its first season as a high school volleyball team. It even went one step further, winning its first District 11 match before falling in Saturday's quarterfinal against top-seeded Bethlehem Catholic.

"I really, truly look back on it as a successful season," said head coach Dave Hufnagle. "We set goals and we attained them for the year. A successful season is a good launching point for our program. We have to take a few more steps up to compete for a district title, but the foundation is there for us to do that."

The Tigers made it apparent that they were a competitive team in a season-opening tournament at Pine Grove, where they upset Pottsville Nativity in the final to take the tournament title. They went 8-6 in the regular season to earn the No. 8 seed for the District 11 Class AA Tournament.

The defeated North Schuylkill in the first round, 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-17, 24-26, 15-10) last Friday evening. Trista Cunningham had 17 kills, two blocks and five aces in that match. Sara Hufnagle dishes out 29 assists. Jenny Von Holt had six kills and three aces, while Mariana Valencia had nine digs and five aces.

They moved on to face Bethlehem Catholic in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Bethlehem.

The Golden Hawks dispatched the Tigers in three games, 25-10, 25-13, 25-15 in a District 11 Class AA quarterfinal match.

"Obviously they have a lot more firepower and they've been doing it a lot longer than we have," said Northwestern head coach Dave Hufnagle. "I couldn't be prouder of the way we played the last two and a half games. We were very competitive."

The Tigers fell behind 7-1 quickly in the first game and was down 14-3 before settling in and doing their best to slow down Beca's big hitters.

In the second game, the Hawks took a little longer to open up a lead, as the Tigers were down just 5-4 before a five-point run by the Golden Hawks, who got back one of their top hitters, Lauren Hess, from an illness. She missed the Lehigh Valley Conference semifinals with pink eye but returned for districts, making six kills in the match.

"We got the chemistry back," said Hawks head coach Paul Abi-Daher. "We got momentum back and most of all we got our energy back just in time for the semifinals."

Northwestern kept the second game close and was down 15-10 before a six-point Hawks run sealed the 2-0 lead.

The Tigers managed an early lead in the third game, 2-0. But the Hawks got hot, opening a 10-4 lead and holding the Tigers at arm's length the rest of the way.

Hufnagle liked the way his team played after its early struggles, which he attributed to the level of its opponent. Northwestern had faced some very good teams this season, but the Hawks are likely as good as any of them.

"When you go to the ER," he said. "The first thing they do is try to stabilize you. It took us 10 or 15 points to stabilize and realize what we're up against. Once we did, we played as well as we could play."

Beca's Taylor Bennett had 15 kills in the match as the Hawks face Blue Mountain, a 3-1 winner over Lehighton, in the semifinals.

Getting to the district tournament and advancing to the second round bodes well for the future of Northwestern's young program. The team loses seniors Abby Sanders, Jordan Veppert, Shelby Clymer Mackenzie Hart and Kayla Olson. Several underclassmen are expected back next year, including setter Sara Hufnagle, libero Mariana Valencia and some of the team's top hitters in Von Holt and Cunningham.

"Expectations for next year certainly won't be any lower with the group we have coming back," Dave Hufnagle said. "Not that we're not going to miss our seniors, but we have players ready to step into their shoes. We played all 12 girls this year so everyone got lots of experience. Some of the underclassmen were stepping in. They've been in the fray. They meant a lot."

Hufnagle has coached many of the seniors for a long time in club volleyball. They were not only good players, but also were instrumental in getting the varsity program approved.

"I'll miss them a lot," he said. "I had them for a long, long time. Without them I don't know if we even have this program."