The Northampton boys volleyball team opened their 2023 season on Monday, playing for the first time under the banner hanging in Pete Schneider Gymnasium proclaiming them as the 2022 district champions.

They began the defense of their title with a tense 5-set match against Easton and came out on top 27-25, 16-25, 27-25, 26-28, 15-10.

The K-Kids start their campaign minus one of their most experienced players, senior setter Nolan Yost. The setter in volleyball is the like the quarterback in football. The position requires both physical talent and quick decision-making capabilities because the offense runs through the setter. Yost suffered a high-ankle sprain and is out for a few weeks. Fortunately, the Kids have their toughest matches in late April and early May.

Given that three of the first four sets against the Rovers went beyond the 25-point threshold, there was plenty of drama to keep the fans engaged in the match. In fact in all three of those sets, the team that won them had to fend off a set point before claiming it as their own.

The first set was a seesaw affair. The Kids trailed 11-14, led 18-16, trailed 19-21, led 23-21, and trailed 24-25 before converting for the win.

The third set was only nerve-wracking at the end. Northampton went up 13-7 early and led until Easton eventually tied and went ahead 25-24 before the K-Kids clawed back to take the set.

The Kids held a match point in the fourth set at 26-25, but a service error evened things up and the Rovers capitalized by taking the next two points to even the match at two sets apiece.

Although the match was on the line in the decisive fifth set, it proved to be the easiest of the Kids’ three set wins. They went up 5-1 early and eventually got the margin to 13-7 before Easton made a brief rally to get to within three points. A Rovers’ miscue sent the ball harmlessly out of bounds on match point and there was much rejoicing on the Northampton side.

With Yost on IR for a while, junior opposite hitter Landon Nickischer became the focal point of the Kids’ offense. Nickischer has all-conference level talent and the hodgepodge of setters knew where to find him. He had 15 kills, 3 blocks, 12 digs, and 2 aces for the match.

Libero Matt Everhart led the team with 20 digs. Logan Berger had 6 kills and 6 blocks. Peter Sankari settled into the setter role and dished out 9 assists.

Head coach Sue Arndt described the impact of losing so many seniors from last year’s championship squad, “We’ve got a lot of young kids on the court. We’ve got a couple of sophomores. We’ve got a freshman. Among our seniors are Logan Crossett, whose brother Jake played JV last year and it’s only his second year playing. If we can get our sets to where we need to get them, we’ll be OK. Our defense looks good.”