It was meeting number three in 2021. But the third time was not the charm for the Emmaus High School girls volleyball team as Emmaus once again could not get the better of undefeated Parkland, falling in straight sets in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference final at Central Catholic’s Rockne Hall last Thursday evening. Scores of the match were 25-22, 25-15, 25-12.

Emmaus head coach Brianne Giangiobbe told her team to take pride in what they accomplished during the season and EPC Tournament to get to the final.

“I’m proud of them for not only tonight, but for getting to this game,” Giangiobbe said. “In my time here as head coach (three years), we have not made it to the conference final. I keep telling them to be proud of themselves and that we still have a lot more to play for in districts.”

Junior Ava Holden had back-to-back blocks to tie the score at 6-6 in the first game. Parkland built a 17-13 lead after a kill from Brynn Dreisbach and an ace by Scarlett Jago. Emmaus (17-3 overall) cut the deficit to 21-20 and momentarily appeared to tie the game thanks to a hit from senior Lily Hulbert. The ball, however, glanced off a basketball hoop on the way down, which prevented the Trojans from being able to play it.

The point was replayed and Dreisbach followed with a kill to sustain a two-point lead at 22-20. The set ended on a Dreisbach kill as Parkland was able to hold on in the end.

Emmaus took its only lead of the evening at 3-2 on an ace from Hulbert in the second set. Parkland (19-0) hit its stride, though, and went on a 13-2 run, capped by a block from Allison Reimer, to grab a 15-5 advantage, and never look back. In the third set, a couple of unforced errors by Emmaus allowed Parkland to go on a run and claim a 13-point win to finish off the match.

“We came out in the first set with nothing to lose,” said Giangiobbe. “I saw the confidence with our team and they played with it tonight. We had some great rallies and played with a lot of energy. But then after that first-set loss, you could see they got deflated and didn’t play with that same confidence and energy level.”

The Green Hornets defeated Freedom in straight sets in the semifinal, with each set decided by just two points to get to the final. They will now take on Northampton in the District 11 Class 4A quarterfinal round on Tuesday. It is a rematch from the EPC quarterfinal match, which Emmaus won 3-1.