The teams were motivated. The crowd was raucous. It was just another battle of cross-town rivals on the volleyball court. In a matchup of unbeatens, Parkland (9-0) was able to withstand some Emmaus (8-1) flurries and win in three sets 25-19, 25-20, and 25-13.

"The kids get so excited to play Parkland," said Emmaus head coach Gwen Millets. "In every sport it's such a big rivalry. But my girls get so excited to where they're minds are going a mile a minute, and it's hard for them to focus. I tell the girls to get up for the game, but to just be you."

The Hornets rode their emotions early in game one as they score the first point of the match and held a 9-6 lead. But the Trojans stormed back to score five straight, and never trailed again.

In game two it was more of the same as Emmaus scored first, but Parkland took the lead back and held on for a tight 25-20 win. The Trojans were helped by some lack of communication by the Green Hornets. A couple of points were lost when the ball was in the air and either two girls went for it, or they both thought the other was going for it and let it fall to the ground.

"Communication comes up a lot in our discussions at practice," said Millets. "I think one of our struggles is that we think someone else is going to get the ball, instead of just going for it. We try to tell the girls to just react and go after it. It's a learning curve. As they grow, these things will get better."

Parkland showed why they're the defending state runner-up with a dominant performance in game three, winning 25-13.

It was a matchup of the No. 4 team in the state (Parkland) against the No. 5 team in the state (Emmaus).

Corinne Justus tallied eight kills and five blocks for Emmaus. Mackenzie O'Brien added five kills and eight digs. Alexandra Traynor contributed four kills, three blocks and 11 digs, Erin Stanton notched four kills, and Sydney Pickering had six digs.