The Whitehall boys volleyball digs record of 921 stood for eight years until March 27 when Zephyr senior libero Brandon Bird reached 922 digs to set a new, record during Whitehall’s 3-1 home victory over Southern Lehigh.

“I definitely let it get in my head a little bit, so I started off really slow,” said Bird. “Then, once I realized, I just played for wins and losses like my coach had been preaching this whole time. I’ve got to think about my team because that’s when I perform my best. I’m here to play with my guys. I’m here to play for the community.”

Bird reached 922 digs in the third set of a four-set match, tallying 934 by game’s end.

Bird’s parents Antoinette and James, and brothers Jacob and Connor were at the match in full support as Bird celebrated with family and friends on the court afterward.

The Zephyrs won the first two sets (25-19, 25-16) with relative ease and led, 17-10, in the third when Southern Lehigh started to find its footing.

“We weren’t putting the ball down, and they got some momentum on their side,” said Whitehall coach George Cowitch. “It’s just part of the game. That’s just the way that it works. Our guys are resilient. They came back in Set 4. That’s nice to see us do that. We’re young. That’s how we’re gonna learn how to win, and that was important for us. We needed to struggle here. It’s not a bad thing.”

The Spartans kept the third set within two or three points until tying at 20-20 and winning (25-21).

“We let a team step in, and when you let a good team start to catch momentum, it’s a lot harder to beat them,” said Bird. “What we need to realize is that we’re one of the best, so we need to believe in that, and once we start believing that, it’s really hard to stop us.”

Whitehall jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set and stayed four points ahead until a Spartan kill ended a long rally, eventually pulling within one point.

The Zephyrs pulled away again and won the set (25-20) on a kill by Jayden Haik.

“They put up a good fight,” said Whitehall middle hitter Omari Ratliff. “I feel like they’re gonna be a great team. When they got one of our sets, I felt a little down, but I knew our team would get the win.”

Cole Richards led in kills with 13 and had 6 digs; Kole Moyer had 40 assists, 15 digs and 4 aces.

Bird added 27 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace, and Drew Sodl had 15 digs, 1 ace.

“Having Drew Sodl and Brandon in the back row next to each other makes it pretty difficult for other teams to serve,” said Coach Cowitch. “We can pass on pretty much anything, and that’s always a good thing.”