It was a comeback that could spearhead the Emmaus High School girls volleyball team moving forward. The Hornets climbed back from dropping the first two sets to take the next three in defeating Northampton 3-2 Thursday evening in a District 11 4A quarterfinal round game at Emmaus High School.

Scores of the match were 21-25, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20 and 15-12.

“The match was high stakes and high energy the whole time,” said head coach Jessica Attieh. “The girls were determined to win and it showed. The end result speaks volumes to the hard work they have put in these past few weeks. I was extremely happy and proud with the end result and our performance.”

The Kids got off to a hot start in winning the opening two sets. The Green Hornets may have been a little rusty since their last match was 12 days before districts began last week.

“This was our first match in a week and a half,” Attieh said. “It was a little slow of a start, but we picked it up in the second set. We got comfortable with our lead, which we know is not something that we can do this late in the season, especially against a team like Northampton. Eventually they started playing Emmaus volleyball and took over the game.”

But just in time, Emmaus got things working for them. They led from start to finish in the third set and rolled. In the fourth and fifth sets the Green Hornets were challenged in back-and-forth sets, but were able to hold on in the end.

“It took a lot of grit and determination going into the third set,” said Attieh. “We played like a team, made necessary adjustments, had fun, and left everything we had out on the court. There was no doubt that we would regroup to come back and win the match.”

Emmaus did not want to go home without winning a postseason match and they made sure to make that happen.

“It takes a lot mentally and physically to come back from an 0-2 start,” Attieh said. “They never let the losses shake their mental game and their hard work brought them back. I had a coach always tell us that hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard. That quote resonated with me in all my years of playing. Now as a coach, I try to implement the same idea. These girls have spent countless hours working hard on and off the court and it showed in that match.”

Emmaus now meets the top seed Parkland in the semifinals Tuesday.