The old sports adage “it’s hard to beat a team three times” did not apply to the rivalry between Emmaus and Parkland on the volleyball court this season.
For good measures, the Hornets made it a perfect 4-for-4 against their bitter rival.
And the fourth time, proved the most important meeting of them all — for many reasons.
With a berth in the District XI 3A championship on the line as well as an automatic bid to the PIAA State Tournament, top-seeded Emmaus once again got the better of Parkland as they defeated the Trojans 3-1 (28-26, 17-25, 25-18, 25-23) last night in the semifinals at Catasauqua High School.
“This was a great team win for the boys,” said Hornets head coach Jonathan Wilson. “A unified effort from the entire crew from start to finish.”
“Overall, I’m happy with the way we played throughout the evening. A few slumps here and there, but we were very mindful of them and recovered quickly.”
The victory advances Emmaus (19-1 overall) to next Tuesday’s 7 p.m. title game back at Catasauqua opposite third-seeded Freedom, which outlasted second seeded Whitehall in five sets in the other semifinal.
Emmaus will be looking for its first D11 championship since winning gold in 2018 and 2017 when they defeated Whitehall under former head coach and current assistant Ken Dunkle.
The Hornets, who have won 20 D11 titles, have already beaten Freedom once this season (3-2 back on April 28), but the Pates have gotten the better of Emmaus when the two teams have met in the championship round winning in 1985 and 2002.
“I’m ecstatic that this team will be playing for a district championship,” said Wilson. ” The boys have been working very hard all season and I’d love for them to walk away next Tuesday night as champs.”
In last night’s match, Emmaus trailed in the opening set before rallying for a 28-26 win. Parkland evened the score at 1-1 after winning Set 2, 25-17, but the Hornets were able to bounce back and take the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-23.
Leading Emmaus’ balanced scoring attack was senior Lucas Mondin who had a team-high 15 kills to go along with nine digs. Classmate Colin Holden also had an outstanding overall effort with 12 kills and six blocks, junior Bilaal Kerim had 12 kills, four blocks and three digs, and fellow junior Chris Mitchell had 11 kills and seven digs. Junior Ben Skekel dished out a whopping 56 assists to go along with five blocks and five digs.
For Parkland, senior Josh Nation had a game-high 20 kills, five digs, two blocks and two assists, while classmates Nick Bauer, had nine kills and 11 digs and Alex Schoch seven kills. Junior Gabe Chase had 46 assists to go along with seven digs for the Trojans who saw their two-year reign as District 11 champs come to an end.