Whitehall High School girls volleyball team shocks Nazareth, seizes wild-card berth

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

At several points Tuesday night, the Nazareth Area High School girls volleyball team seemed poised to take a major step toward a Lehigh Valley Conference playoff berth.

But Whitehall just kept coming back.

The Zephyrs stunned Nazareth in a dramatic 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 18-16 comeback at Nunamaker Gym to clinch the LVC wild-card spot.

Nazareth comfortably controlled the first two sets, but Whitehall coach Rob Gardner adjusted the roles of Lindsey Hutterer and Lydia Mayernik to improve the team's passing.

Gardner's tweaks worked as Mayernik provided a solid performance and Hutterer finished with 74 assists.


"We talked about defining the moment," Gardner said. "These kids wanted to win and if they were going to win, they had to define the moment. The girls fought back, they fought through it all."


With the score tied 23-23 in the third set, outside hitter Kayla Kohler smashed a kill across the Nazareth defense and Rachel Biro placed an attempt too long to give Whitehall a 25-23 win.


"She's our go-to girl, our go-to hitter," said Gardner of Kohler, who tallied a team-high 24 kills.



"They beat us last time, so we knew we needed to come out strong and that didn't happen, but we kept pushing to get the win," said Kohler, a senior heading to the LVC playoffs for the first time. "We're so happy to finally get the opportunity to compete (the playoffs). It meant everything to us to get this win."


The Blue Eagles (12-7, 7-6) appeared to regain the momentum in the fourth set when Jane Lukas, who had 29 kills, whipped a ball down the line to give Nazareth a 21-18 lead.

However, Victoria Bobyak came to the Zephyrs' rescue down the stretch with three consecutive aces, and Nazareth placed a serve past the back line to seal another 25-23 win for Whitehall (13-4, 9-4).


"(Bobyak) had some really key hits out of the middle when we needed the points," Gardner said.


Fittingly, the final set pressed on into extra points. Kohler smashed a kill off an unsuccessful block attempt and on the next point Lukas had a try halted by the net as the Zephyrs earned an 18-16 victory and a place in the conference tournament.


"It's a tough loss there is no doubt, but I'm proud of my kids," Nazareth coach Jill Lichty said. "They fought for every point of every game and as a coach I can't ask for more."



"We left it all on the court; that's really all we can do," said Biro, who finished with 16 kills.


Nazareth's success in the opening parts of the game came from a fast start by Lukas, who notched seven of her kills in the first set, and solid defense play.

Afterward, Lukas indicated she was happy to be a part of such a competitive contest despite the negative result.


"It's a lot of fun to play at such a high level because you don't always get that with some of the teams around here," Lukas said.

"We just need to move on now," Lichty said. "We need to put it behind us and focus on districts."

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/10/whitehall_high_school_girls_vo.html