Whitehall’s boys volleyball team has seen three different levels of competition in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference so far this season and entered Easter break with a 3-0 victory over Bethlehem Catholic on March 26 at Whitehall.

“I like where we’re going,” said Whitehall coach George Cowitch. “Liberty, we should have won. We let that slip away. Tonight, there’s no energy. I told the guys, we have to bring that. We’ve got to play mental games with ourselves on that part.”

The Zephyrs breezed through the first set against the Golden Hawks, 25-8.

Becahi came back in the second set rejuvenated, as both teams stayed within two or three points of each other, but an out-of-bounds ball by the Hawks was the last point in Whitehall’s 25-23 win.

The Zephyrs never trailed in the third set and won easily, 25-9.

Although Whitehall has had its second slow start in two years, most of its players are returners who are expecting an upswing as the season proceeds.

“The first two games were tough,” said senior Ethan Ringenberger. “I had a long basketball season, and so I didn’t really have time to come back, but overall, even though we lost, it was better than I expected. For us to come together and play that good, even though we lost, we played better than I expected. [Our chemistry] is still getting there. It’s still early in the season. I think when we need to win, it’ll matter.”

Ringenberger earned his 1,000th assist on March 23 at the Hempfield Joust Volleyball Tournament in Lancaster, Pa.

“I actually didn’t know that I had 999 going into [that weekend], and after the tournament, I still had no clue until my coach texted me,” Ringenberger said. “Two thousand was really my goal, but when he asked me, I had to swing and set last year, and I was bummed, but I was like, I’m just gonna do it for the team, and it ended up working out last year. We had a pretty good season.”

So good that the Zephyrs have been qualifying for leagues since 2015.

“And we haven’t missed,” said Coach Cowitch. “We’re gonna be there when it counts. We always are. It’s just these little stumbles here and there that we’ve got to fix.”