If game one was a sign of what was to come, it was going to be a long night for the Hornets on their home court Monday night in an Eastern Conference volleyball game against Parkland. It went to the final point, and every ball hit over the net received loud cheers from the large crowd in a playoff-like atmosphere, where pink was the color of choice for breast cancer awareness.

After a strong first game for Emmaus, Parkland took the next two games in winning 3-0 by scores of 25-23, 25-13, 25-17.

“The atmosphere was great,” said head coach Gwen Millets. “Given the night with what we were playing for, it was electric. It’s just the way every Parkland-Emmaus game is. Everybody was all hyped up and ready to go.

“The girls really came to play tonight, especially in that first game. I’m happy with the way that they played. They had some great moments.

“Our defense was wonderful, our service was spread all over the court. Hitting and blocking were both on most of the night. I was really pleased with their effort and energy and the way they fought.”

It was clear the Green Hornets were fired up and ready for this one, after losing three games by a larger margin a few weeks back.

The Trojans, which are defending state champs and currently No. 1 in the state ranking were put on their heels in game one. They led early, but then Emmaus took over at the front of the net.

Megan Forstburg, Alyson Bohman and Adelina Rivera-Woolard were a force in notching kills offensively and blocks defensively.

Trailing 7-4, the Hornets scored six of the next seven points to go up 10-8. When Siena Salvaggio blocked a kill attempt from Rivera-Woolard, the score was tied at 19.

Emmaus was up by as much as three at 22-19, but Parkland came back to tie it at 22 and held on to take the first game and stave off any kind of momentum the Green Hornets might have had.

Taking the Trojans all the way to the wire seemed to have tired out the young Emmaus team, and Parkland took it to them, leading by as much as 23-10.

In game three the Hornets had the game tied at 16, but Parkland scored six straight and took the match.

“I think the girls were disappointed after not winning that first game,” said Millets. “Then it was the unforced errors we kept making and we couldn’t seem to pull ourselves out of that. It’s a young team and they are going to have some growing pains, but we will move on from this.”

The Hornets will have the chance to put the loss behind them with two remaining games against EPC opponents Whitehall and Central Catholic this week before the league playoffs begin next week.