Emmaus vs. Parkland.
It’s one of the Lehigh Valley’s best high school sports rivalries. The schools share a boundary line and are connected by a six-mile stretch of Cedar Crest Boulevard. In fact, the rivalry games are often called “The Battle of Cedar Crest Boulevard.”
But when it comes to the sport of girls volleyball, it’s not so much a rivalry as it is one school dominating the other.
Parkland has won 11 conference championships, 13 district titles and three state crowns. Against Emmaus, Parkland has gone 43-5 since 2010 and had won 17 in a row before Emmaus stopped the streak with a five-set win on Oct. 8.
Emmaus won its first-ever conference gold when it beat Bethlehem Catholic in five sets two weeks ago and now has a shot at its first district championship since 1995.
Who’s standing in the way?
Parkland, of course.
They will meet for the District 11 4A title at Catasauqua High School on Thursday night after Southern Lehigh and Bethlehem Catholic battle for the 3A championship starting at 5 p.m.
It figures to be the most exciting night of the girls volleyball season and a memorable one for the teams that come away with the gold medals.
Top-seeded Emmaus (20-3) and third-seeded Parkland (17-5) took different paths to the finals in the semifinals.
The Green Hornets rolled to a 3-0 win over Nazareth (25-11, 25-23, and 25-3) Tuesday night at Catty, while the Trojans went up two sets, lost the next two, and then regrouped for a strong fifth set to eliminate second-seeded Freedom 25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 21-25, 15-7.
With the wins, Emmaus and Parkland secured berths in the state tournament in addition to spots in the championship game, but make no mistake, they want to enter PIAA play as a champion.
When the Green Hornets won their only other district title in 1995, current assistant coach Sue Arndt was the head coach. Arndt is the mother of current head coach Jessica Orlang.
“I was a little girl sitting in the bleachers and watching that happen 30 years ago,” Orlang said. “To bring that home again would be special. I mean that’s the goal, that’s the mission.”
Orlang admitted it has taken time for her to get back in sync after an emotional, five-set win over Bethlehem Catholic for the league gold on Oct. 16.
The Green Hornets needed four sets to dispatch Nazareth in the quarterfinals.
“Coming off that big win over Becahi, we definitely needed to recalibrate and settle ourselves back in,” Orlang said. “We needed to find our groove again, and it was nice to come back strong and play super steady and super consistent against Nazareth. Last week, we got shaken up a little bit by Liberty coming in stronger than we expected them to, and Liberty deserved credit because they played fantastic defense against us. I think we came in tonight with the mindset that we’re not messing around.”
Emmaus had 30 kills, including six each by Alyssa Heffner, Amanda Rivera, Fiona Answini, and Rosie Landino. Heffner had 22 assists. Rivera had nine digs, while Corrine Slivka and Haley Seidel had eight and seven, respectively.
Nazareth’s Keeley Kershner strikes the ball against Emmaus on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in the District 11 4A volleyball semifinals at Catasauqua High School. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
“Winning another championship would definitely mean a lot,” said Seidel, who is one of the team’s eight seniors. “With this group of girls, we’re all so talented, and it all comes from hard work. I want to be able to prove we did this for ourselves from our love for each other. We lost two of our most crucial players [Maleya Hinds and Andraya Flowers], and we fought through the adversity. They’ve still supported us, and we’ve had JV players help us push through. We’ve had the ability to change, the ability to bring each other up, and to coach each other out there on the court without an issue.”
Landino, a junior, said she would love to send the seniors out with another title, which, of course, would be the first time Emmaus has won both a league and district championship in the same season.
“I’ve been with these girls since freshman year, and it’s going to be extremely sad to watch them go, but we want to send them out with two championships,” Landino said.
Parkland split two regular-season matches with Emmaus, and both went five sets.
Trojans coach Mike Krause is proud of how his Trojans, who have just two seniors on the roster and just one playing after an early injury to Sarah Paugh, have matured and come together.
“Anything can happen at this time of year,” Krause said. “Things can go really well, and then, all of a sudden, it turns around. Our kids are learning that, and we have a lot of younger people on the floor. But right now at this time of year, they play a bit more responsibly, and that’s where learning from experience in front of a big crowd and in this atmosphere is awesome. Freedom is a tough team. They play hard, and they have really good athletes, and they control the ball. They gave us a great challenge.”
The Patriots, who finished 17-5, persevered despite losing senior outside hitter Landry Guman to an injury.
Parkland volleyball players Chloe Coonradt, left, and Zoey Leach played key roles in the Trojans’ District 11 4A semifinal win over Freedom Tuesday night at Catasauqua High School. (Keith Groller/The Morning Call)
Parkland pulled through with Kasia Burda, the only active senior, delivering a team-best 15 kills. Sophomore Chloe Coonradt had 35 digs and freshman Alex Serina had 36 assists and four service aces.
“A big part of our success has been our communication on and off the court,” said junior Zoey Leach. “There are times when we don’t have a senior on the court, and we’re out there with mostly underclassmen. But everyone has done a good job of stepping into their roles and being more vocal.”
“We’re so excited,” said Coonradt. “Us and Emmaus have been back and forth, with us winning the first match in five sets and them winning the last one in five sets. We have to come with a lot of energy and focus. It’s going to be really important that we just keep the ball in play and communicate as a team. I know our energy and just having fun will be important for us. We really want this for our seniors.”
In Southern Lehigh’s 3-0 semifinal win over Allentown Central Catholic (25-21, 25-12, 25-14) on Monday night, the Spartans got 29 assists, three kills, two aces, and 17 digs from Eliana Marques. Natalie Pristas had nine kills, eight digs, and three aces, and Amelia McCoy chipped in 12 kills, two blocks, two assists, and three digs.
The Spartans are 20-0, defending 3A champs and this year’s Colonial League champs. Bethlehem Catholic is 22-1 with its lone loss to Emmaus in the EPC final. The Golden Hawks have bounced back with 3-0 wins over Pottsville and Northwestern Lehigh.
