Heading into the season, Emmaus girls volleyball coach Gwen Millets knew she had a young team that lacked varsity experience. But even after losing four players to graduation last year, the Green Hornets have started off the season with wins in four of their first five matches. The lone loss come to Nazareth.

“We have a very strong defensive team and we are continuing to build on that aspect of our game,” Millets said. “Since you see a younger team on the court this year (freshman setter, freshman defensive specialist, sophomore outside hitter), they have shown a lot of promise, growth and leadership.

“Our seniors and juniors continue to work hard and provide guidance and support to our younger players.”

That balance of upperclassmen leadership with the younger, more inexperienced players has kept Emmaus on the winning side of things like they’ve been in years passed.

But things didn’t go as well last Tuesday night at Parkland, as the defending state champs got the better of the Green Hornets 3-0 by scores of 25-11, 25-10, and 25-13. The top-ranked team in the state dominated play in front of the net.

It didn’t help Emmaus that they were down two starters in Georgia Traynor and Adelina Rivera-Woolard. There wasn’t much they could do in stopping Siena Salvaggio (11 kills) and Sam Webber (10 kills).

Games one and two Parkland took early leads, leading to Emmaus timeouts. The Trojans kept pushing forward and the Green Hornets were never able to inch closer. But Emmaus made it close in game three. A Megan Forstburg kill tied the score at 2-2, and the Hornets were as close as 8-7 before Parkland scored the next four points and finished it off.

The Hornets didn’t lower their heads after the loss. They pushed forward and won their next match two days later, 3-0 against PM West and Millets has been pleased with the team’s progress thus far.

“We do have a strong team and our outlook is very good,” said Millets. “No matter what life hands us in terms of injuries, we will still focus on our strengths such as defense and will work toward playing the best we can and continuing our play in the post season.

“We will also continue to work on communication and leadership. I’m confident our younger players will continue to improve their skills with the guidance of our upperclassmen.”