After a rocky start to the season due to injuries to captains Logan Berger and Cam Coccetti, the Konkrete Kids boys volleyball team has begun a turnaround that has them over .500 at 5-4 at the season’s midpoint.

Coccetti and Berger returned to the lineup last week in a tough 5 set loss to Nazareth, but Northampton has won two straight matches including Tuesday night’s crucial win against Dieruff. The Huskies, a district qualifier a year ago, entered the contest at 5-3, but the K-Kids swept the visitors 25-20, 25-17, 25-20.

The first two sets played out in a similar fashion. Northampton had nice runs of points on their serve in the middle of both sets which allowed them to build 8-points leads. It was 15-7 in the first and 16-8 in the second.

The first set score was not as close as the final score looked. The Huskies gamely ran off five straight points after being down 24-15.

The last set was another matter entirely. Dieruff rolled out to a 12-6 lead and still led 18-16 late in the set before the K-Kids responded by winning 9 of the final 11 points.

Berger, recovering from a shoulder injury, had a monster night leading Northampton in both kills with 12 and digs with 13.

The senior described the impact of his return to the lineup, “The physical part, without me in the front row, it took away a big block. Mentally, I try to get everyone fired up. There were too many sets when I was out that we were too quiet. The energy wasn’t there. I feel like I bring the energy and get the team going.”

Kieran Lieb filled up the stat sheet by notching 8 kills, 10 digs, and leading the team with 5 blocks.

Coccetti and Caden Dempsey shared setting duties with Coccetti collecting 16 assists and Dempsey tallying 14.

Blake Youwakim had 7 kills and 6 digs.

Head coach Sue Arndt summed up the win, “Today we went in with a game plan to execute all of the scouting that we had done on Dieruff and they went in with that mindset of that game plan and got it taken care of. I’m really proud of them.”

She added, “It makes a difference when everyone’s healthy you know. Cam is a ball of energy. He brings a level of energy whether we’re up or we’re down. He does a really good job of mixing the ball around. What Logan brings is that leadership in the front row. He takes the net and knows where he’s going with the ball. He’s also able to be on the court all the time and that’s important.”