The run for Emmaus' volleyball team finally came to a halt over the weekend, as the Green Hornets fell to Pennsbury in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals in three games, 26-24, 25-16, 25-16.

The Hornets (15-5) felt as if their campaign ended prematurely, but that is the nature of competition once a team advances that far into the state bracket.

"I think once you play as well as we have towards the end of the year, to see the season come to an end is disappointing for anyone," said head coach Deb Schlosser. "I think the kids were disappointed in how we lost. I think we felt we were better than that, but as we look back on the season, there's a lot to be proud of."

Pennsbury (19-0), which is ranked second in the state in Class AAA, provided a much tougher challenge for the Hornets than their opening round PIAA contest against North Penn, as they battled back from a 21-18 deficit in the first game, to come back and win 26-24.

That game seemed to dictate the rest of the match, as the Hornets struggled to gather momentum in the final two games to stay on par with the Falcons.

After beating Whitehall in the district championship in dramatic five-game fashion, and then knock off North Penn in five games last week as well, Schlosser knows her team left everything it had on the court en route to claiming its second straight district championship.

"I think when we look back on our season and see what we were able to accomplish anad how we improved, it's a great testament to the kids," Schlosser said.

"We just peaked at the right time of the year and the kids got better. That's something we can take from this heading into next season."

Emmaus loses five seniors from this year's team, four of which were starters.

Schlosser knows it's going to be a bit of a revamp next year to get Emmaus back to the level of play it sustained this spring, but is confident that this train can keep rolling.

"I think what's really going to be important is the work these guys put in the offseason," she said of the returning players. "I think everyone learned what it takes to get to the level we were playing at. Seeing how much our team learned and how they got better in the span of a season gives me a lot of hope going into next year."