Liberty held late leads in each of the first three games of Monday’s East Penn Conference volleyball semifinals, but Emmaus battled back and had the final say en route to a three-game sweep (26-24-25-22-25-20) at Easton Area Middle School.

The win pits the Green Hornets (14-1) against Parkland (15-1) in Wednesday’s EPC championship, after the Trojans had little trouble dispatching Whitehall in a sweep.

After sweeping Liberty earlier this year, Emmaus coach Ken Dunkle knew his team would get a tough fight from its Steel Division counterparts and the Hurricanes played into that idea from the get-go, holding a 23-20 lead in the first set, a 19-12 advantage in the second set and a 19-17 lead in the third.

All of that didn’t matter, as Emmaus was able to battle back each time to pull ahead for the win.

“We expected that they would push harder because the last time we played them I don’t think they played to their full potential,” said Dunkle of Liberty. “I think winning the first game picked up our confidence, coming from behind, and it also took the air out of their [Liberty] tires a little bit.”

The Hurricanes advantage in the second and third games dissipated, as Emmaus used a 6-1 run to close out the second and an 8-1 run in the third to spark their victory. Carson Landis led Emmaus with 11 kills, while Mitch Sterkenburg added nine kills. Cameron Parsons dished out 36 assists.

With the opportunities Liberty had at their disposal Monday night, head coach Neiad Ammary walked away disappointed at the lost chance.

“It’s definitely frustrating and disappointing to not finish hose sets,” Ammary said. “We had the lead all three sets, so there’s a part of me that feels like we could have won all three, but we lost 3-0, so we have to be good enough to execute in clutch situations.

“You have to give credit to Emmaus, because they’re a really good team.”

Now the Hornets will take on an exceptional team in tonight’s EPC championship back at Easton Area Middle School against the Trojans at 7pm.

Defending state champion Parkland swept Emmaus earlier this season and Dunkle knows it will take a valiant effort to come away with the upset victory.

“We’re excited to play them again and we need to make sure we’re hitting our spots defensively and when we’re hitting,” Dunkle said. “We have the ability to beat them.

“We just have to believe we can. We just can’t give them free points. That’s going to be the biggest thing.”