The Emmaus High School boys volleyball team came up shot in its bid to defend its Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title, but the Hornets are still in the process of defending their District 11 3A championship from last season after winning a pair of district matches last week.

Third-seeded Emmaus opened the district tournament with a straight-set victory over the sixth seed Northampton in the quarterfinals last Tuesday, May 19, by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-21.

The Hornets followed that with a four-set win over second-seeded Freedom last Thursday in the semifinals by scores of 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 29-27.

In the win over the Kids, Miles Boulrice led the attack with 15 kills, while Bilal Kerim finished with 13 kills. Grayson Answini recorded seven kills and both Kai Lipski and Chris Romig contributed four kills. Kerim and Ben Skekel each tallied two service aces and Josiah Brown and Boulrice had one each.

Emmaus won the match mainly on the defensive side of the net, which led to some dominant offensive numbers from some players. Boulrice and Kerim each lead the way offensively, finishing with 16 kills, while Answini contributed 11. Skekel had seven kills, seven digs and 51 assists. Jesse Owusu led the defense with 24 digs.

Emmaus improved to 15-3 overall and advanced to the championship match to take on the fourth seed, Whitehall, this past Tuesday.

The Zephyrs, who were the EPC runners-up, got revenge on top-seeded Parkland in the semifinal round to get to the final, winning in straight sets. Both the Hornets and Zephyrs have qualified for a spot in the state playoffs.