The Northampton and Whitehall girls volleyball teams renewed their Cement Belt rivalry last Thursday night at Whitehall High School.

The two teams had split their contests last year, but this match was dominated by the Kids in straight sets, 25-6, 25-14 and 25-15.

The Zephyrs had entered the match with reason to be confident after taking a set off perennial power Nazareth in their opening match. However, the match proved costly as Whitehall lost their setter, Lexi Crum to injury.

While Crum should return to the lineup in a couple of weeks, the difference between teams centered around both teams’ front lines. The Kids racked up 33 kills compared to Whitehall’s 13.

Lindsey Nemeth led the way with 9 kills, followed by Alexa Borowski with 8, Brooke Rockovits with 7, and Sidney Heffner with 6.

Heffner assisted on 24 of the kills for Northampton. Alli Gerancher filled in for Crum and assisted on 10 Zephyr kills.

Defensively, Mya Cascario led the Kids with 19 digs. Rockovits and Heffner each had 11. Whitehall’s defense was anchored by Taylor Levan’s 10 digs. Olivia Ballard had 8 and Gerancher chipped in with 6.

Whitehall head coach Victoria Bobyak appraised her team’s play.

“I emphasize that third set against Nazareth,” she said. “We are capable of that, but unfortunately tonight we didn’t show that.

“Amanda Mortimer is such a versatile player and she’s very flexible, very coachable. She rolls with the change and she’s a natural leader. Unfortunately, she’s just one person and we need the buy-in from the rest of the team.”

Northampton head coach Jess Finlayson expressed her pleasure with her team’s performance.

“They were being smart about what they were doing and how they were playing,” she said. “I was proud that I didn’t have to tell them where to hit the ball, they did it themselves.

“I think that’s the team we are. If that’s the way they consistently play all season, there’s no reason we can’t be a contender in this conference.”

Kids’ captain Heffner was happy to put the first notch in Northampton’s win column.

“We came out with a lot of energy knowing that we can compete with teams after we were so close with Emmaus,” she said. “We were just pumped to play as a team. We try hard to represent our school and to try to hold on the Cement Belt Award.”

Whitehall will have an opportunity to even the season series when they travel to Northampton on Oct. 3. Until then, both teams will be battling through a tough EPC schedule to keep alive their hopes of earning a district playoff berth.