Last year’s Northampton district champion boys volleyball team was not only deep and talented, they had remarkable good fortune with their key players remaining healthy throughout the campaign until Landon Nickischer sprained his ankle before the state semifinals.

This year’s squad has not enjoyed the same injury luck.

Just as senior setter Nolan Yost was returning from a high ankle sprain suffered in the preseason, opposite hitter Nickischer suffered an injury that required a cast on his (dominant) left hand and wrist and will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

The two returning varsity players that had significant playing time during the Kids’ 2022 postseason run did not play a single official set together this year.

Nevertheless, the depleted Northampton squad took to the court last Friday and gave the 7-2 Liberty Hurricanes all they could handle. Every set was competitive, but the school from Bethlehem ultimately prevailed, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23.

In the first set, the teams were tied at 18-all when Liberty went on a 5-point run to surge ahead and claim the set.

When the Hurricanes came back from down 15-9 to go out in front 19-17, the Kids could have folded their tents and started a pity party. Instead, they surged back, winning 6 points in a row, propelling them to a set win that evened the match.

Neither team was able to secure a lead of more than 3 points in either of the final two sets. The third set was tied at 23 before Liberty went on to take it and the fourth was even at 21 when the Hurricanes were able to eke ahead and secure the match.

Head coach Sue Arndt assessed the performance, “Everybody knew what we had to do going into the match. They actually got it accomplished. We did what we thought we needed to do. You come up against Adam (Mittl), who’s being scouted by D-1 programs. We know Adam’s going to get his kills, but we just had to accept that and move on.”

Unfortunately, the loss to Liberty came during a 5-match losing streak that has the Kids at 4-10 on the season and 3-6 in the EPC. They can no longer get to a .500 record to automatically qualify for districts. With only 6 teams guaranteed berths for EPC and districts regardless of record, that path is also shut.

With the postseason now out of reach, the K-Kids will have to play the rest of the season for pride. Their final four matches of the season are: Friday at Freedom, Saturday home for Abington Heights, Monday home for Parkland and Senior Night, and wrapping up next Thursday at rival Whitehall.