Hornets rally for five-set thriller over rival Parkland; Van Den Elzen sets new mark
Down two sets to one to their arch-rival Parkland, the Emmaus girls’ volleyball team didn’t flinch.
Unfazed by the Trojans rallying to win back-to-back sets to take a 2-1 lead, the Hornets dug in and fought.
And fought, and fought some more until finally, they completed what they set out to do prior to taking the floor Thursday night for this big early-season match: Take down the Trojans.
And that’s exactly what Emmaus did — in dramatic fashion no-less.
Led by the outstanding all-around play from junior outside hitter Macy Van Den Elzen and teammates, the Hornets completed a comeback for the ages inside the hot and steamy auxiliary gym at Emmaus as they rallied for a wild 3-2 win (25-18, 19-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13) over Parkland, the four-time defending District XI champs.
“Our girls have a lot of heart and they know the importance of the Parkland matches during the year for our sport and all the sports here at Emmaus,” said 17th year head coach Gwen Millets following the marathon 2-hour, 10-minute match.
“They want to play well and they want to win and they did that today. They didn’t let being down two sets to one defeat them. They just kept fighting back, and fighting back every single point. It was such an exciting match to watch.”
Emmaus, which improved to 2-0 in the EPC and 3-0 overall, took the opening set 25-18 but saw the Trojans rally to win the next two sets 25-19 and 25-23 and gain the momentum. The Hornets would rally, however, with their backs against the wall as they won Set 4 25-22 and then the fifth-and-deciding set 15-13, setting off a wild celebration.
Besides the comeback, what’s more impressive is that Emmaus won its third match in as many days as they opened with 3-0 wins over Northampton (Tuesday) and Solehi (Wednesday) before finishing the week in dramatic fashion with a five-set thriller over Parkland.
“All three of those teams are top teams,” said Millets. “We knew coming into the season our schedule is tough with the way its laid out and we knew this first week was going to be one of our toughest weeks and the girls were prepared for that. When the games are here they just bring the energy and they know that they want to defend their home court.
Van Den Elzen, a Penn State commit, was the most dominant player on the court as she led the Emmaus attack with an incredible 35 kills, breaking Alexa Campbell’s record of 25 set back in 2008.
“It’s been amazing, she’s had a great week,” said Millets of Van Den Elzen. “If you look in the past of the record-holders at our school just in my head that has to be up there, it just has to be. One fantastic game by Macy. I think everyone pulled together out there to be a part of this victory.”
Sophomore outside hitter Jaya Bhagat was second on the team with 12 kills, while senior setter Caroline Bond had an outstanding all-around game with a career-high 47 assists to go along with 16 digs. Senior libero Rebecca Dalstad was solid defensively with 16 digs and sophomore middle hitter Makenzie Krasley had a team-high six blocks.
Emmaus will return to action at 630 p.m. next Tuesday at home when they host another big rival, Nazareth, in a big early-season match. A year ago, the Blue Eagles defeated the Hornets twice in post-season, defeating them in the EPC playoffs and then ending their season in the District XI playoffs with both matches going five sets.
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