During the 2018 season, the Emmaus boys volleyball team rarely was tested. The talent and experience possessed by that group led to back-to-back Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 championships.

Entering the 2019 campaign, head coach Ken Dunkle and his team knew that they would have to work hard for every set, and that showed right off the bat in the season-opener. The Green Hornets were taken to the final game in a five-set match win at Liberty last Friday afternoon in the EPC opener for both teams.

Emmaus went undefeated in the conference last year and did not lose a set along the way during the regular season. This year is different, not only with a new group of Hornet players, but also among the talent across the league.

“Liberty played well,” said Dunkle. “It was good to get pushed. I made some lineup changes late in the second set and then changed the lineup in the third trying a couple different things.

“It took us a bit to get our momentum back, but they did a great job closing it out. It’s always good to get the win, and I’m hoping the experience of going five will pay off later in the season.”

As may have been expected, there was a bit of rust from both teams, which made each set tightly contested.

Emmaus held on for a 25-21 victory in the opening set, and then gained some momentum as it took care of business in winning set two 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead.

But just as it looked as if the Hornets would complete the sweep with one more win, the Hurricanes found a groove and won the next two sets by a combined five points to even up the match at 2-2.

In a do-or-die fifth set, it was the defending EPC and District 11 champions that came out on top and started the season off on the right foot.

“We were fairly balanced all match,” said Dunkle. “I would have to say that Gannon [Defrain] stood out at setter. It was his first varsity match and Cam Parsons left big shoes to fill. It was a good opponent for a first match and I thought he handled the pressure well.”

Stephen Reynolds tallied a team-high 17 kills and added four digs. Ethan Parvel recorded 15 kills and 12 digs. Harrison Dottery finished with a team-high 22 digs and five service aces, and Gannon Defrain contributed 52 assists in his first real action as the team’s main setter.

Emmaus has EPC matches with Nazareth (Tuesday) on the road and has its home-opener tomorrow against Pocono Mountain West, before competing in the Bobcat Invitational Saturday.