Friday’s volleyball match could have been billed as a heavyweight bout, as the undefeated Zephyrs squared off against the unbeaten Green Hornets in the Main Event on Mechanicsville.

In front of a raucous home crowd, they slugged it out for four sets, with Emmaus’ service game registering the knockout blow. The Zephs were continually scrambling to set up their offense as the Green Hornets were able to get them out of sync from the service line, especially libero Brendan Duncan and James Haag.

Haag, was able to reel off eight consecutive points in the third set, staking the Hornets to a 10-point lead, 19-9. The Zephs never recovered from that run and lost 14-25.

That win set up a fourth set, and while the Zephs took an early 4-1 lead, the Green Hornets chipped away and eventually got the lead at 10-9, and from that point never trailed, wining the deciding game 25-20.

The win places Emmaus alone atop the league, while Whitehall and Parkland are tied for second with identical 10-1 records.

Head coach George Cowitch knew it was going to be a challenge. Emmaus was one of the best teams in the state, and he feels that his team is also one of the best teams in the area. That feeling was reinforced after Friday’s match.

The Green Hornets ability to serve with pace and accuracy had the Zephyrs struggling at times to get into a rhythm. It threw off their timing, disrupting the offense.

“They’re a good serving team,” said Cowitch. “They put pressure on us in serve-receive, and we couldn’t return the way we wanted to. We were out of system and the sets weren’t there like they have been all season.”

Cowitch said it’s a strong team who played well throughout the match, constantly applying pressure.

After scouting the Hornets, Cowitch knew that they possessed a strong service game, and that ended up playing a big role in their win. He felt they were able to play well and hold their own in the other aspects of the match.

“I think with every other facet of the game, we were OK,” said Cowitch. “It was the serve-receive, and in one set they ran off 18 points, and that was a dagger. One rotation hurt us in that set. If we can limit that, we’ll be fine.”

After dropping the first set, 25-16, the Zephyrs found themselves down by eight points, 9-17 in the second set. From that point, they started to get some traction, getting a big kill from Nick Herman to get the crowd going. He also set up a wall, blocking a Green Hornet kill attempt that drew them within a point, 19-20. With Logan McGinley’s ace tying the score, the crowd could sense the momentum swing. Devin Martinez’s kill to put them up a point got the place rolling, and Joe Maamari’s dig that led to an Ethan Parvel kill turned the volume up a notch. Parvel ended the set with a play at the net, giving the Zephs the 25-22 win.

The Zephs demonstrated they could win, but Emmaus got big games from Haag, who finished with 20 kills and seven digs, while Dunkle had 17 digs to go along with his three aces.

Joe Herman was a force at the net for the Zephs, while McGinley had another good all-around game. Nick Herman also thundered home some kills throughout the match.

Cowitch said that his team will learn from this and move forward.

“We’re not angry, we’re not mad, that’s a heavyweight bout, and we can stand toe-to-toe, and we’ll get another shot,” said Cowitch. “It’s just what are we going to do when we get it. That’s what it comes down to.”