Bethlehem Catholic’s girls volleyball team took three straight sets out of the hands of Pottsville, 25-20, 25-13, 25-13, to be crowned District XI Class 3A champions last Wednesday at Lehighton High School.

“They did what they had to do. We served aggressive and Pottsville had amazing defense. They were getting a lot of our balls up, but we were able to find the floor and get some points,” said Becahi head coach Kelly Brown. “We decided to come together as a whole, whether we were up or down, and push to the finish line.”

That push to the district finish was all Golden Hawks from the start when Jodi Hewitt served for six straight points before a ball was hit out of bounds.

“I think it was very important for us because we’re a team that dies down when we’re down, so if we have a good lead, it makes us more comfortable and we can push farther,” Hewitt said. “We had very long rallies that would make us tired, but we kept with it.”

Becahi middle blocker Kyla Rodriguez registered a kill after a long volley in the first set to make the score 24-18 for the Hawks who never trailed in the match.

The Hawks opened the second set with six straight points again, and ran away with the lead. At the end of the set, Dhanica Babelonia served five straight points, including match point that skirted the net and tripped up Pottsville.

The Tide attempted a comeback early in the third set, winning a long volley and trailing by two points, but Rodriguez made two consecutive blocks, and 15 kills on the night by right side opposite hitter Mackenzy Ruggiero were more than Pottsville could handle.

“I just try my best. We tried to run faster plays in order to put the ball down right away, so doing that was very effective. We had to make sure our serve-receive was perfected in order to get a good first ball,” Ruggiero said. “This feels amazing, especially to do it in a sweep.”

Gold medals and the championship trophy were presented to the Hawks who will have taken on District 2’s Berwick in the first round of the PIAA State Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday at Becahi.

“We’re gonna go game by game like we did last year,” Coach Brown said, “but after the way we’ve been competing in district playoffs, it’s showing that we can compete with all the teams so I’m super excited for the rest of the season.”