At the start of season, the Pleasant Valley volleyball team faced some of the best teams not only in the Lehigh Valley, but in the state of Pennsylvania.

As part of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference schedule, Allentown Central Catholic, Bethlehem Catholic, Freedom and Parkland were just a few of the upper-caliber teams the Bears had to face.Five games into the season, head coach John Gesiskie's squad had taken its lumps and was struggling with a 1-4 record."Against some of those tougher teams, we really had our work cut out for us," the veteran coach said. "Some of those early season losses were against state-ranked teams, so I think our girls really learned a lot from those matches."Since that time, the Bears have managed to rattle off nine straight victories. The latest came against East Stroudsburg South on Monday as Pleasant Valley rolled to a 25-5, 25-6, and 25-7 sweep."We've really been on a roll," Gesiskie added. "This is nine straight now, so we're just staying focused on improving each and every day."We're going for balls more than we did before, and against some of these tougher teams, we're hoping to be ready."Against the Cavaliers, Pleasant Valley was dominant in every aspect of play."The girls got the job done tonight and I'm proud of the way they've been playing," Gesiskie said. "We also got everybody in tonight, and that was nice."With the regular season winding down, some of the best play has been occurring at the right time. The Bears have just two regular season matches remaining - against Pocono Mountain East and Stroudsburg."We have the player ability," Gesiskie said. "We just need to keep working on improving our mental toughness. We've been working on different game situations in practice sessions and challenging the girls to keep getting better because we're aware that other teams are doing the same thing."In support of that, the Bears have been all about business and focused intently on getting the work done out on the court.Against the Cavaliers, there were two sets where the Bears didn't rotate, due to their dominance.Veronica Roberts had a great offensive outing, as she led the way with nine kills and two digs, while Katie Frankunas had six kills, four digs and an ace. Andrea Janak totaled 11 assists, Sara Kron had four kills and two digs, while Noel Kelly had an all-around strong effort with three kills, four aces and four digs. Cameron Caffrey also added eight assists.With the win, the Bears are now at 10-4 on the season.Gesiskie hopes that high level of play stays where it's at through tonight's matchup with Pocono Mountain East, a team that will pose a challenge to the current win streak."East is a great team and their coach has done such a good job with improving his squad," Gesiskie said. "We're familiar with them and we've even had some open gym sessions with them, so we're hoping to have a good match against them."KEEP IT GOING! ... The Bears last loss was back on Sept. 15 against Allentown Central Catholic.OVERCOMING OBSTACLES ... Would-be junior setter, Alexis Richey, a standout for the Bears squad last season, transferred out of the district at the end of last year. That forced Gesiskie to rearrange the lineup for this year, but the Bears haven't missed a beatSENOR SEND OFF ... The Bears will play host to Pocono Mountain East this evening as part of Senior Night festivities. Seven PV players will take part in their final home game.