A year ago, the Emmaus girls volleyball team had their season ended by rival Parkland in the District XI Class 4A semifinals.
One year later, the Hornets now have an opportunity for revenge, but more importantly, a chance to bring home only the program’s second district title in school history.
Emmaus, which was coming off of winning its first league championship in program history in stunning fashion with a 3-2 reverse sweep over previously unbeaten Bethlehem Catholic, had no trouble in its semifinal matchup against fifth-seeded Nazareth last night at Catasauqua High School as they swept the Blue Eagles in straight sets 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-3).
The win advances head coach Jess Olang’s team (20-3 overall) to Thursday’s title match back at Catasauqua at 7 p.m. where they will meet Parkland, the No. 3 seed, which outlasted second-seeded Freedom in five sets. The Hornets have also earned a berth in the PIAA State Tournament.
This will be the third meeting this season between the two rivals with each winning on its home court. It will also mark the first time since 2020 that Emmaus has reached the finals. That year, the Hornets fell to Parkland in straight sets 3-0. Liberty is the defending district champ after defeating the Trojans in last year’s final 3-2.
Senior Amanda Rivera led the offensive attack in last night’s win with seven kills, nine digs and three assists. Classmate Alyssa Heffner had six kills, seven digs and handed out 21 assists, while junior Rosalia Landino and sophomore Fiona Answini each had six kills. Defensively, senior Sophia Freemont had a team-high 14 digs to go along with four aces, while senior Corrine Slivka had eight digs and a team-best five aces.
Nazareth, which had defeated Pleasant Valley 3-2 in its quarterfinal round matchup, ended its season at 11-9.
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Emmaus 3, Nazareth 0
Em – 25-25-25
Naz -11-23-3
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Tom Ashelman)
#17 Rosalia Landino and #8 Fiona Answini go up for a block
#4 Alyssa Heffner sets for #10 Emma Nesfeder
#22 Amanda Rivera goes up for a kill
#5 Haley Seidel goes up for a serve
Head Coach Jess Olang