The Whitehall girls volleyball snapped a 3-match losing streak last Friday by picking up a 4-set win over Stroudsburg, 25-18, 19-25, 25-13, 25-21.

The match started off in shaky fashion as the Zephyrs lost the first five points, prompting head coach Victoria Bobyak to call an early timeout.

She noted, “I was just trying to hold them accountable. We practiced all of this during the week, but we needed to implement it at game time.”

Whitehall immediately got the side-out and then ran off 6 points in a row on Haley Bartosh’s serve to seize the lead. The senior captain’s serve was instrumental in closing out the first set as she sparked a 5-point run that turned a narrow 18-16 advantage into a comfortable margin.

Unfortunately, the momentum did not carry over into set number two as the Lady Mounties were able to grab another early lead and then hold on to it.

The Zephs dominated the third set as they jumped out 7-3 early on and cruised to take a one set lead in the match.

Bobyak commented, “I feel like we rose to the occasion once we dug ourselves a hole in the second set. We realized we just had to refocus, play our game and go from there.”

The final set provided some quality drama. Stroudsburg came back from an early 7-1 deficit to creep to within 19-18. A Whitehall timeout enable the team to get organized and they responded by going on a 4-point run. Keona Spooner’s eighth kill of the match was the exclamation point that punctuated the Zephs’ second win of the young season.

Bartosh and fellow outside hitter Bailey Seibert tied for the team lead in kills with 9 each.

Bartosh offered her thoughts on the match, “Besides the second set, which was a little rough, I had a lot of fun out on the court. The girls were playing well. I felt we were really connecting as team and not playing as six individuals on a court.”

Setter Grace Hana had 27 assists. Jess Spanitz led the way with 13 digs for the team. Seibert also reached double digits with 10 digs.

Tonight, Whitehall goes to Parkland to take on the defending district champions. The team’s only home match this week is a Saturday morning tilt against Nazareth.