BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The nationally ranked Northampton men's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (18-25, 11-25, 23-25) setback in their opener against 10th ranked Ocean County College in an early season Top 10 clash on Wednesday evening at the Arthur L. Scott Center.

The Spartans, ranked 5th in the NJCAA national poll, played from behind in each set against the visiting Vikings and could not seem to get any rhythm going from the start. Luke Smith (Breiningsville, PA/Parkland) led the Spartans on the stat sheet with 5 kills, 5 digs, 1 service ace and 25 blocks. Sophomore Fred Patton (Trexlertown, PA/Parkland) had 5 kills, 5 digs and 2 blocks while Calvin Long (Allentown, PA/William Allen) recorded 15 assists, 3 digs, 1 kill and 1 block in the loss. Lucas Johnson (Glendale, AZ/Independence (AZ)) recorded 8 digs.

"Tough loss tonight," explained Spartans Head Coach Rachael Aquila, "Give Ocean credit. They have a good team and this was a good early test for us. Not the way we wanted to open the season but we will be fine. We just need to continue to be on the floor together and we will find our rhythm. We just need to keep working hard. I know we will."

Northampton slips to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in Region 19.

Ocean County College improves to 1-0 over in 1-0 in the Region.

The Spartans have plenty of time to regroup as they do not hit the floor again until Saturday, February 28th when they travel to Lincroft, NJ to take on the Brookdale Jersey Blues at 12pm in Region 19 action at the Collins Arena.