The Emmaus High School boys volleyball team had one of its most successful seasons in recent memory last year. The Hornets finished 21-2 overall and 12-0 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, winning both the EPC and District 11 3A titles.

After losing its former head coach and adding first-year head coach Chris Miller, Emmaus is expecting to have another very good season with the pieces back and new ones added.

“My outlook on this team is that it is going to be a very special year,” Miller said. “I knew most of the kids from coaching at Velocity for club volleyball. So, they and I already had a good connection and we are only building that connection even stronger now.

“As long as they stay working hard and keep creating the family mentality I am building here at Emmaus, they will only get better as the year goes on. I am going in with the expectations to make a big run this year. The sky’s the limit with this team.”

The top returning players back in 2026 include senior setters Ben Skekel (All-EPC First Team) and Jayden Perez, senior outside hitter Grayson Answini, senior middle hitter Chris Mitchell, senior right side hitter Bilaal Kerim, seniors Sander Houtz and Cameron Furniss, senior defensive specialist Josiah Brown, senior libero Jesse Owusu and junior outside hitter Miles Boulrice.

A couple key newcomers entering the fold include junior middle hitter Alex Dise, sophomore middle hitter Kai Lipski and sophomore Chris Romig.

Hornets start

season 2-0

The Emmaus High School boys volleyball team started the 2026 regular season with wins in its first two matches on opening week, both in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

The Hornets earned a -five-set victory -at Whitehall last Tuesday, March 17, winning by scores of 23-25, 25-12, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10. They defeated Easton in straight sets in the home opener last Thursday night.

In the victory over the Zephyrs, Emmaus fell behind a set twice, having to rally from down 2-1 to take the final two sets to claim the opening win.

Kerim finished with a team-high 21 kills. Boulrice tallied 20 kills and Answini recorded 14 kills and four digs. Brown notched six aces and two digs. Owusu paced the defense with 29 digs and classmate Skekel contributed 59 assists.

Stats from the match with the Red Rovers were not available at the time of print.