It was a shocking victory that left Whitehall rattled, but one that made everyone supporting Emmaus feel young again.

The Green Hornets made a miraculous comeback in the fifth game of the District 11 AAA volleyball finals last Thursday to shock everyone in Whitehall's gymnasium.

Emmaus stared down the barrel of a 13-6 deficit in the fifth and final game and didn't blink, as the Hornets finished the game on a 9-0 run to steal the fifth game by a 15-13 score.

It was a result that left Emmaus players in euphoria and one that left Whitehall in sheer disbelief. In the end, the final scoreline for the Hornets, who prevailed 23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 27-25, 15-13, was all that mattered.

"It's so surreal, especially to come back the way we did. It's just amazing," said Emmaus senior Jake Reynolds. "To come back from being down 13-6 in the district final is unbelievable. I think we just went out and played our game and executed in that final run. We felt Whitehall was slipping a little bit and we took advantage of that."

Both teams move on to state tournament play, which begins Wednesday, May 29.

Whitehall head coach George Cowitch couldn't believe what happened to his team last Thursday night in their remarkable run to the district finals.

"Any loss is tough, but we couldn't push it all the way [in the district final]," Cowitch said. "You have to give Emmaus a ton of credit for their fight and will to win. When you're two points away from having an opportunity to win a district final, it's tough. We just couldn't execute. But at the end of the day, our guys left everything on the court and that's all I can ask from them."

Emmaus head coach Deb Schlosser didn't say that Thursday's victory was one of the best she's ever been a part of, as the Hornets won their third straight district crown last week, but had to have known that it was a memorable comeback for the record books.

"I think every district final feels the same," Schlosser said. "What really impressed me about our guys was that Whitehall did not give us anything. They made some amazing defensive plays, but as we were down in that fifth game, I knew that we were down like this before in the season and we came back from it. I knew it wasn't out of the question for us to do that."

Gabe Shankweiler led Emmaus with 24 kills, while Whitehall's Nick Kuti had 22 kills for the Zephs.

However, the only stat that really mattered was the one that had Emmaus being district champions.

"This is the best feeling ever," said Reynolds. "I'm just in shock and I'm so happy we were able to win."

Emmaus was scheduled to face District 1 third-place team North Penn in Wednesday's first round of PIAA tournament play.