It seems that every year, the Emmaus and Parkland volleyball teams meet in the postseason with a lot on the line. The two teams met in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals back on October 20, and once again found themselves across the court from each other in the district playoffs.

Parkland had won two straight district titles, and even with the names changing, the Trojans have still been a consistent threat in the postseason. The Trojans took care of the Green Hornets in straight sets by scores of 29-27, 25-17, and 25-18 last Tuesday night in the District 11 Class 4A semifinals at Allen High School’s Sewards Gymnasium.

It was the fourth meeting between the two rivals in 2016, and the fourth time Parkland got the better of Emmaus.

“The girls are always up for this game and ready to go,” said Hornet head coach Gwen Millets. “They love playing against Parkland because of the rivalry and because they are all friends off the court, and they were really excited for this one. But unfortunately they made more plays than we did tonight. I’m proud of the way we played tonight and all season. It was a great year for Emmaus volleyball.”

The Trojans led from the opening point in game one and were up as much as 14-7. The Green Hornets battled back to tie the game at 18-18. They took their first lead at 19-18.

There were three lead changes from that point with each team holding a one-point advantage, and could have won the game after a 24-24 tie. Parkland scored twice after a 27-27 deadlock to take game one.

“Wow, it was just constantly back and forth,” said Millets. “Honestly, I don’t remember all of the details because of the sheer emotion of that set. I know our girls executed our game plan and gave everything they had during that set. We just came up a little short.”

From there the Trojans took control of the match. They led for every point of games two and three except for the first point of the final game. The Parkland front hitters were dominant at the net and were able to send home winners at a flurry.

“They’re a great team and it shows why they’ve won so many games and district championships,” Millets said. “We had a tough time controlling their hitting and their passing was consistent so that helped with scoring a lot of their points. It’s tough to lose and end the season, but, I thought we played well tonight and had a great season. I’m so happy for the girls and especially our seniors with the way they represented the program.”

The three Emmaus seniors that played their final match were Alyson Bohman, Tiffany Hoppes and Natalie Trexler.

Bohman finished the match with 5 kills, 4 digs, and 2 blocks, and Hoppes had 14 digs. Macy Van Den Elzen tallied 8 kills, and Georgia Traynor had 4 kills and 11 digs. Rebecca Dalstad finished with 6 digs, and setter Caroline Bond contributed 18 assists and 11 digs.