The Emmaus High School girls volleyball team finished with a 22-8 overall record in 2019, one of the team’s best seasons in the past decade.

The Green Hornets also reached the semifinals of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament, and the championship match of the District 11 Class 4A Tournament, falling 3-1 to rival Parkland in a spirited match that had the opening set end 35-33.

The Hornets also earned a spot in the PIAA tournament in 2019, dropping a match to District One’s Unionville in four sets.

Emmaus graduated three seniors from last year’s team, including the Gatorade Player of the Year as the top player in Pennsylvania Macy Van Den Elzen. She is continuing her playing career at Penn State University. Current Shippensburg University student-athlete Kelsie Baus and Maiah Sabol also departed.

Second-year head coach Brianne Giangiobbe will surely miss the talent and leadership this group brought in her first season.

“This class brought a lot of experience and leadership to the court so we are looking to fill that gap with our upcoming sophomores, juniors and seniors,” said Giangiobbe.

The upperclassmen returnees will provide experience and work ethic needed for the Green Hornets to continue their momentum from the postseason run of last season. Giangiobbe is excited about the depth and number of upperclassmen on the team this year, including six seniors.

“One of our strengths this year is that we have many experienced players with six returning seniors,” Giangiobbe said. “A lot of our upperclassmen bring a strong offensive presence to the court that we will need this year. We just need them, along with our underclassmen, to stay consistent mentally and take each match one set at a time.”

One of the returning players that will be counted on heavily includes senior outside hitter Jaya Bhagat. According to her coach, Bhagat “brings experience and a large skill set to the court.”

Senior libero Mia Pickering also brings leadership and the coaching staff has high expectations for her this season.

Lily Hulbert was a name mentioned as a key newcomer that will contend for a starting position on the outside.

Emmaus opens up its 2020 campaign on Friday, September 25th against Dieruff at Emmaus High School.

“This year is very different from previous seasons with COVID-19,” said Giangiobbe. “Our goal is to get these girls playing as much as possible and help them develop individually within the time that we have. We want them to leave this season feeling confident they grew and got the most out of it. With the limited number of games, practices are more important than ever for development.”

Parkland and Central Catholic will be other top contenders in the EPC and District 11, along with Emmaus.