Whitehall and Liberty’s boys volleyball teams have an unusual rivalry in that it’s not borne of location or division, just a kind of competition that’s always a dogfight between the Zephyrs and the Hurricanes.

On March 22, the teams faced off at Liberty, and while Whitehall won the first set, 25-22, the Hurricanes took the next three, 25-22, 26-24, 26-24, to top the Zephyrs, 3-1.

Whitehall survived a long rally in the first set on a kill by Jack Kocher after Brandon Bird made two nice digs. Ethan Ringenberger had an earlier kill and later spiked the ball down the line to keep the Zephyrs ahead.

Omarion Tembo was also instrumental at the net in the Zephyrs’ first-set win.

Another long rally in the third set ended in Whitehall’s favor on a point by Michael Rabih after a tremendous dig by Erick Zuniga.

The Zephyrs were two points away from winning the third set, but the Hurricanes caught up on points by Adam Mittl before taking a 2-1 lead.

Early in the fourth set, Cole Richards and Peter Tabarani combined for a huge block for Whitehall, but a string of faults put the Zephyrs behind by five points.

Whitehall came back to take a three-point lead on a Ringenberger serve that died at the feet of a Liberty player. Mittl then brought the set to an 18-18 tie, but Kocher did the same at 20-20.

With Kocher serving, the Zephyrs were primed to win the fourth set, up 24-21, but a Whitehall block went out of bounds, and Liberty won the next four points.

Mittl reached 1,000 kills during the match, and Ringenberger had tallied 999 assists by the end of the match, reaching 1,000 assists this past weekend at the Hempfield Tournament in Lancaster, Pa.