The Emmaus High School boys volleyball is under the direction of a new head coach this season and it has been a successful run thus far. But there was still a rough patch in the beginning, as is expected when there’s new strategies.

The Green Hornets won their first three matches, but then lost two in a row, including an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference match against Whitehall, the team that sits just ahead of Emmaus in first place.

Since that match on April 4, Emmaus has won four in a row and head coach Jeff Elsea has seen improvements up and down the board from his team.

“I think the season so far has had a decent start,” said Elsea. “It has had its ups and downs as well as learning curves, but overall pleased so far this season. We have come a long way from the start and I hope to continue on a positive track.”

Elsea highlighted some of the areas that he feels that his team has been strong in.

“Our strengths are our players overall versatility,” Elsea said. “Our leadership from our seniors has also been instrumental in being successful. We need to improve with our on-court communication. We tend to get quiet and that leads to sloppy playing.”

The Green Hornets have several players that have been key cogs to this current four-game win streak, and Elsea does not usually single any of them out because of the team aspect and how well they play together. The group stepped up together, especially when it was down one of its key contributors for parts of the first month.

“We were without one of our key players due to illness and we had to step up our game as individuals to help fill that void,” said Elsea. “This in turn allowed our confidence level as a team grow and rise to the occasion.”

After a week off due to the Easter holiday, the Green Hornets have a busy week this week with three matches. Elsea said his team used the week off to get better at practice and prepare for a tough stretch coming up.

“We have a tough schedule this week, having to play conference opponents in Freedom, Liberty, and Northampton,” Elsea said. “We need to continue to focus on the areas of our game that are weak. If we can figure a few areas where we struggle and get them figured out I think as a team we will be very successful.”