The Emmaus and Parkland girls volleyball teams have been in a lot of competitive matches throughout the years, and the rivals have always shared high and low times against each other.

Following a 3-1 match win early in the regular season for the Trojans at Parkland High School, the Green Hornets returned the favor on their home court, taking care of the rematch 3-1 by scores of 25-21, 17-25, 25-18, 25-22 last Thursday night at Emmaus High School in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Skyline Division action.

“Emmaus had some strong net play tonight,” said head coach Mike Krause. “They moved their outside hitters around to position themselves against different blocking schemes. That was new. They have a good home court advantage because of their ceiling position requires some adjustments for a few key points.”

The loss snapped a two-match EPC win streak for the Trojans (9-5 overall, 9-5), who had also won six of their last seven overall.

“I feel if we could have answered some of their offensive runs a little earlier, we would’ve had a better chance at winning,” Krause said. “We are still teaching the team how to recognize attacking adjustments to game situations. They are still learning and are trying to be more consistent when they make those adjustments.”

Every set was a battle for both teams, as is usual when the two teams meet. Neither team had a lead greater than four points in any of the four sets and all it took was a run to break free. The Green Hornets (13-4, 12-2) were up for revenge in front of their home crowd, and used that energy to take the match.

Parkland, however, bounced back to win its next match, a conference victory at Northampton. The Kids had beaten the Trojans in their first meeting of the season.

“It really felt good for the girls to measure where they were earlier in the season and to demonstrate growth against a team we competed against before,” said Krause. “We made some practice adjustments to Northampton’s style of play. They move the ball around a little differently than most teams. They have a very aggressive setter and we focused on trying to neutralize her attacks.

“The girls passed very well and defended well. From that first contact, we were able to attack with our offense in a varied level making it more challenging to defend us.”

Brynn Dreisbach led the Trojans offense with 15 kills and added 11 digs. Amber Resendez tallied six kills and Lauren Ceh added four kills and four blocks. Leah Brunnabend and Emily Mohr recorded 19 digs and eight digs respectively. Jackie Malitzki contributed 30 assists.

Parkland finishes the regular season at Whitehall tonight before beginning postseason play.

“I see a much more mature team,” Krause said. “They have demonstrated more confidence and have learned to communicate on the court during live play. They are recognizing situations sooner and a lot more consistently. We are excited for opportunities the postseason presents. The season was a learning experience and now we get to play where everyone starts with the same post-season record 0-0.”