Whitehall’s boys volleyball team went 1-1 in nonconference play with a 3-0 victory over Quakertown on April 14 and a 3-2 loss to Neshaminy on April 17.

The Zephyrs finished off Quakertown in the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-12, before encountering more resistance from the Panthers in the third set when they won the first three points.

“When you play a team, and you beat them pretty good the first two sets, sometimes we get a little lax,” said Whitehall coach George Cowitch. “They were making plays. I’ve got to give them credit, but when they called their time out, I told our guys, ‘Let’s do what we do,’ and we ran off all those points, and that was that. It was good to see that.”

The Zephyrs have been on guard against being forced to a fifth set, as was the case against Neshaminy.

“We had two five-setters (this year) that we probably should’ve won in three,” said Whitehall outside hitter Jack Kocher after the Quakertown match.

But as fate would have it, the Zephyrs came out on the wrong side of a five-setter against Neshaminy, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 12-25, 13-15.

“We’re a 4-4 team, and we should probably be 6-2,” said Cowitch after the Quakertown match. “This is the last time we’re gonna be under .500. I’m not used to that. We’re not used to that. In 10, 12 seasons, we haven’t done that in a long time, so our guys are getting it. They understand and have that idea that enough is enough. We’ve got to go on a run here, and that’s our plan.”

In the third set against Quakertown, the two teams played within one point of each other until the Zephyrs pulled away at 19-16.

“In that third set, they put up a bigger block, they passed the ball a little bit better, and they had better serves,” said Kocher. “It was us slacking off a little bit and not being really in the match in that third set, thinking we were just gonna go through it.”

Kocher tallied 12 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces, Ethan Guzenski had 9 kills, Ethan Ringenberger had 8 kills, 20 digs, and Bryce Shache had 37 assists, 3 aces, 6 digs, all for Whitehall.

The Zephyrs fought back against Neshaminy, winning two straight sets after dropping the first, but the Redskins jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the fourth set before Whitehall outside hitter Aiden Parvel attempted to put the Zephs back in the match with two kills.

The Skins jumped out to another early lead in the fifth set, but the Zephyrs chipped away at a six-point deficit to tie, 12-12, on a block by Guzenski, only for Neshaminy to put the match away.