First-year Lehighton head coach Jason Green set a goal for the Indians’ volleyball team this season - to qualify for the postseason.

Despite the Indians having to learn a new offensive and defensive system, they’ve been able to pick up the changes quickly. On Thursday, they moved one step closer to the District 11 3A tournament with a 25-12, 25-17, 25-12 Schuylkill League victory over Tamaqua.

With the win, Lehighton improves to 8-6 on the season, and needs to win one out of its next three matches to guarantee itself a spot in the playoffs.

“The main goal is definitely to get in the playoffs, gain some more experience and keep getting better,” said Green. “The girls have done a good job. A new coaching staff coming in with a new system. That is a lot of changes, and we’re sitting here at 8-6, controlling our own destiny.

“We’re looking forward to the final stretch of the season, and then we will know where we stand.”

Consistency was the key throughout the match for the Indians, especially in the serving department. Lehighton had double digit aces, as Mia Snyder led the way with four aces, and also did a nice job in her role as setter with 19 assists.

Lehighton’s ability to put its serve in play and with authority was a challenge for the Raiders, while the Indians strong play from the service line enabled them to get out to significant leads early in each game.

“The team’s effort was great tonight, and we just have to keep on fighting and working hard to get better with serve/receive. That’s our biggest struggle right now,” said Tamaqua head coach Jen Kromer. “Not being able to do much in the preseason this year with the COVID-19 restrictions, that certainly hurt us.

“We’re going to try and finish strong, continue to work hard and make the best of what has been a tough season.”

Lehighton controlled the match, but in the second game Tamaqua did put up a solid fight, trailing by just three points midway through the game (16-13).

But any time the Raiders gained any sort of momentum, the Indians would go to their go-to hitter in senior Alexis Solomon, who proved to be the equalizer collecting seven kills from them middle and providing huge problems for Tamaqua in the process.

Solomon helped the Tribe pull away in the second game, and in the third she collected four kills early to set the tone for a runaway 25-12 win to complete the sweep.

“Alexis played really well up front for us, and on the defensive side we switched some things, moving some girls around in the back row,” said Green. “We switched my one outside hitter to libero, because of her passing ability, and we got some consistent passing out of it, and our hitters were able to finish.”

LEADERS … For Lehighton, Megan Aaron had five kills and Sophia Salerno added four kills and two aces. For the Raiders, Madison Baddick came through with three kills.

HOME STRETCH ... The Indians will host Northwestern on Monday, before traveling to Schuylkill League powers Blue Mountain (Tuesday) and Jim Thorpe (Thursday) to close out the regular season. They need to beat one of those three teams to qualify for districts.