The Northampton boys volleyball team faced their toughest challenge of the young 2022 season last Friday night when they traveled to Freedom to take on the Patriots. The K-Kids prevailed in the tense five-setter that ensued, 25-14, 25-27, 25-19, 19-25, 15-9.

The first set offered little in terms of drama. Freedom was only able to win 2 points on their own serve and the Kids never trailed.

It looked like the trend would continue in the second set when Northampton took the first three points. The Patriots used a six-point run to take a 9-6 lead. Freedom looked to close out the set when they led 23-21, but the Kids rallied back to score the next three points to hold a set point of their own 24-23. They also had a chance to claim the set at 25-24, but the Patriots scored three in row to even the match.

An eight-point run on Johnny Martinez’s serve turned a 13-15 deficit into a 21-15 lead, allowing Northampton to put the third set on their side of the ledger.

Freedom scored the last four points in the fourth set to square the match at two sets each.

In the final set, the K-Kids were able to consistently add a points on their serve after sides out to steadily pull away and close out the match.

Jackson Fehnel led Northampton with 17 kills. The seventh of those kills was the most significant as it gave Fehnel a total of 500 in his Northampton career. The match was briefly stopped in the second set to acknowledge the achievement. While definitive records were not available, it is believed that Fehnel is only the second player in K-Kids’ boys history to reach the milestone besides boys assistant and current girls head coach Mike Holihan.

Head coach Sue Arndt praised her senior captain.

“He didn’t even realize he was close to 500,” she said. “He’s not that kind of player. He’s a team player who doesn’t like to focus on himself. Starting as a freshman and then missing his sophomore year because of COVID (season cancellation) and he was only 32 kills shy of 500 coming into this year. That’s huge.”

For his part, Fehnel was quick to share the credit.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “I didn’t even know I was close or anything. It’s a tribute to all my coaches, teammates and everyone who stuck with me since freshman year. It’s been a good run.”

Setter Keller Repasch dished out 41 assists and added 14 digs. Johnny Martinez led the team with 18 digs and chipped in 11 kills. Alex Schoenen had 11 kills and 13 digs. Duane Milnes notched 15 digs and contributed 4 kills.

On Wednesday, the K-Kids played perennial powerhouse Parkland. Coverage of that match will appear next week.

On Friday, Northampton hosts Easton. The Rovers have a solid squad with their only two losses having come at the hands of Emmaus and Whitehall.