The Northampton boys volleyball team swept Pocono Mountain West 25-5, 25-18, 25-12 on Tuesday to improve their record on the season to 9-1 and clinch a district playoff berth.

The overmatched Panthers (1-7 on the season) actually led 2-0 in the first set before succumbing to the K-Kids.

A PM West 5-point run near the end of the second set made it seem more competitive than it really was.

Out of the 75 total points Northampton won, 20 were by service aces.

Jackson Fehnel led the way with 12 kills and 8 aces. Setter Keller Repasch recorded 24 assists. Libero Kody Whiteman led the team with 12 digs. Alex Schoenen had 8 kills and 6 digs.

The win capped off a 4-0 week for the Kids. They had straight-set wins over Easton and PM East and a 4-set win over Nazareth on Saturday.

As the season passes its halfway point, the top-4 EPC teams have separated themselves from the pack. Parkland sits atop the District XI power rankings with a perfect 10-0 record. Defending district champion Whitehall (8-1) and Emmaus (10-1) hold down the second and third spots. Northampton sits in fourth, far ahead of Nazareth.

On Friday, the K-Kids have the opportunity to move up a spot when they take on the Hornets in Pete Schneider Gymnasium. They play Whitehall on May 5.

Head coach Sue Arndt spoke about the value of getting a signature win over one of the other top teams.

“It’s really important,” she said. “We’ve been making steps to get better and better with every match. We had our first huge test against Parkland (the team’s only loss) and then others were saying our next test was Nazareth, but we were pretty confident going into that. Emmaus is gunning for us and we’re gunning for them, so that will be the next battle.”

She also described how the team has improved, “The confidence level has come up tremendously. The plays that we’re running that weren’t going off in the beginning of the season are starting to go off and they’re getting excited about that.”