There’s no question that this year’s Emmaus boys volleyball team is a young bunch. When a team graduates eight seniors, including league MVP Pat Bryan, parts of the new lineup are bound to have some inexperience.

But judging by the Hornets’ start to the season, its hard to notice.

Coming off Emmaus’ showing in the well-known Bobcat Invitational, where it finished in the top eight and went undefeated in pool play, the young Hornets continued to roll early in the season. Last week’s sweep over Souderton (25-18, 25-13, 25-22) kept the Hornets’ momentum rolling with an unbeaten record through five matches.

“We played in the Bobcat Invitational over the weekend, so I thought that was actually a good test for us,” head coach Ken Dunkle said. “A lot of good teams [play] in that. It’s one set for pool play, so you really have to be focused and can’t let one slip away and figure you’ll get the next one.”

The Hornets certainly didn’t take their opponents lightly. And despite falling in two sets to rival Parkland in the knockout stage, there was plenty of fight from a team that has just five seniors. One of those seniors was on JV last year, leaving four returning upperclassmen with varsity experience from 2015.

But there is other returning experience that is welcomed back. And junior middle hitter Carson Landis leads that list and has become one of the Hornets’ top weapons. He was at his best once again last Tuesday against Souderton with a team-high 12 kills.

“I’m a lot closer with the team now, [and] closer with the coach,” Landis said after spending a year playing in the offseason for Club Lehigh. “I’m more comfortable playing with the team. He [Dunkle] taught me a lot.”

A Landis block, set up by one of Cameron Parsons’ 31 assists, and two aces from serve specialist Chris Ghobrial, helped Emmaus close the first set on a 6-2 run. The Hornets, after trailing 5-4 early in the second set, went on a key 12-2 spurt that put Souderton away early.

Souderton actually led midway through the third set at 17-15. But a combination of Landis, Trevor McLean (11 kills) and Mitch Sterkenburg helped Emmaus turn the tides in the second half of the set.

“The nice thing this year, even though I lost a couple big hitters, I actually have more hitters this year than I did last year,” Dunkle said. “It’s been working out pretty well. He [Landis] has really stepped up this year.

“We have a lot of young talent. James Haag is a sophomore; he is doing really well. Matt Swanson, our other middle, is a sophomore.”

So far, Emmaus has taken care of business and defeated the teams it was supposed to early on in 2016.

The more important question is how the Hornets fair against the upper echelon teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

“The big thing for us is making sure we stay focused,” Dunkle said. “We do a good job of stepping up when we’re playing tougher competition, although it takes us a little bit to get going.”