The Northwestern Lehigh girls volleyball team won it’s opening match in this year’s District 11 Class 2A playoffs. After taking down Blue Mountain in the first round, the Tigers ran into East Penn Conference champ Central Catholic and lost to the Vikes to end their season.

Northwestern 3, Blue Mountain 0

Northwestern Lehigh rocked the house, pulled out all the stops and found a way to take out Blue Mountain Monday in a pigtail contest in the opening round of the District 11 Class 3A volleyball tournament.

Needing just three sets to settle the issue with the Eagles, 26-24, 25-13 and 25-14, the Tigers now advance to play the top seed, the always powerful - and undefeated - Allentown Central Catholic Wednesday at Central Catholic.

This band of Tigers (13-9) reversed an earlier loss at Blue Mountain on Sept 30 in four sets.

Things were different this time around.

Coach Mike Maston redistributed the offensive set, turned to a finely tuned trio of middle hitters, setters and their libero to turn aside any attack the host team was trying to conjure up.

“We made some adjustments with our offensive attack,” Maston allowed. “They’re a strong team in the (front) line, so we got some great matchups and some really outstanding play from a number of our girls.”

There was leaping senior middle hitter Norah Silfies, who kept guard at the net, and was set up by Daisy Stringer. And when it needed, libero Alexa George was defending, too. Then support came from rangy Bailey Murray as an outside hitter, And when Blue Mountain (10-9) failed to pick up senior middle hitter Siena Almonti, she added firepower to the attack.

“Our energy was a lot higher on the floor,” Silfies said when asked about the difference from the first meeting. “We just played better overall, that’s mainly it.”

The Tigers were stutter-stepping at the onset. Conversely, the Eagles looked every bit the better team in gushing out to a 12-5 lead, turning to freshman outside hitter Alexa Marshall. If she wasn’t picking up the tempo, there was sophomore Zoe Leibensperger at the net. In addition, the way junior Jaedyn Bartholomew was clogging things up, the Eagles were in a good grove.

“We started out strong, but to be honest, they played the better game,” explained Blue Mountain coach Gregg Gergely. “The first time we played, we made few mistakes, this time they made few mistakes.”

To be sure, Blue Mountain looked smug leading 20-15, but then things slowly went Northwestern Lehigh’s way. It used a speed game, got the momentum in its corner and ripped off an 11-4 run to yank down the first set win as Silfies levitated high and powered through Blue Mountain’s defense for the point.

“I was a bit nervous because they beat us the last time we played them,” Stringer said. However, she said once things got rolling, the entire team’s confidence took an upswing.

“The way we won that first set, it really was a big boost for all of us,” was the way the sophomore setter described the momentum builder.

That was evident in the next two sets. The Tigers wiggled away inch by inch at the start of the second set. Northwestern Lehigh was up 7-2, then all of a sudden, the Tigers let loose with a haymaker. If Selfies wasn’t hammering home kills, Elyse Browning came off the bench to find her attack. Murray was getting into the attack mode, too. Add in Shannon Green’s play, and the Tigers were skating out to a commanding lead.

“You know we started off a little slow, then we found our groove,” Maston said. “We made a few adjustments, so we knew what to expect coming into this match.”

Northwestern kept the pressure on in the third set, never letting off the throttle. It took a 10-3 lead, then made it 18-9 as the busses were starting to heat up. There were all kinds of attackers, from Silfies, to Browning, to Green. In other words, the Tigers were relentless.

“We found a lot of open spots, which mainly are in the middle (of the floor),” Stringer said describing the team’s ability to register kills.

And that surely was the tale of the tape in this one for the Tigers.

Silfies led the Tigers with 15 kills, George registered 17 digs and Green 28 assists. For the Eagles, Bartholomew had 11 kills and nine digs, Marshall six kills and five digs, and Staller four kills, four digs and two blocks.

“Shannon and I work on it in practice, so we know each other very well,” Silfies said, explaining how she and setter Green work together.

Silfies stands 5-8, but plays more like 6-4. She has the ability to soar and uses her power to slam kills. Tough to defend, for sure.

Blue Mountain freshman Marshall is a star in the making. She has a great feel for the game, and is talented and aggressive.

Central Catholic 3, Northwestern 0

Northwestern battled top-seed Allentown Central Catholic before falling 25-15, 25-21, 25-23.

“They haven’t lost a match yet,” Northwestern coach Mike Maston said. “But my girls played phenomenal tonight. I’m so proud of how the girls did tonight. That ACC team is loaded with some players. They’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

The ninth-seeded Tigers pushed the Vikettes to the limit, with Maston praising the play of his upperclassmen.

“Norah Silfies had a big night against them,” Maston added. “She had 14 kills and seven blocks against them, which is really good against the No. 1 team in our district. So, she really shined.”

The Tigers also qualified for the Colonial League tournament this season. While they fell a game shy of the final, the squad secured a first round win in districts Monday against Blue Mountain.

Maston believes the team is moving in the right direction.

“Moving forward with the program, I think the future is really good for us,” Maston said. “Every year I have been there now, we’ve constantly got one step further. One of these times, maybe it will be either league champion or even district champion.”