One thing seems certain when Bethlehem Catholic and Emmaus meet for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at 7 p.m. Thursday at Liberty High School.
The Golden Hawks and Green Hornets should know what to expect from each other.
That’s because there are some bonds between the teams.
Most notable is that Becahi coach Jessica Attieh used to be the head coach at Emmaus before returning to her alma mater last year.
“It’s kind of a bittersweet moment for us because we know them so well,” Attieh said. “Me and my assistant coach actually coached them in club season, and we’ve coached them since their freshman year. They have every piece of the puzzle. When it works for them, they are very hard to stop. They’ve been playing together for four seasons now, including club and high school season. So, they’re with each other year ’round and it’s hard to dominate a team that plays so well together.”
No. 2 seed Emmaus (17-3) was dominant in a 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22 win over Freedom in the first EPC semifinal Tuesday night at Northampton High’s Pete Schneider Gym, but Attieh’s top-seeded and unbeaten Golden Hawks (20-0) were just as impressive in a 25-20, 14-25, 25-16, 25-13 win over Parkland in the second semifinal.
Both teams regrouped from lackluster second sets to finish their matches strong and create a rematch of their Sept. 8 regular-season match won by Becahi in three sets.
Neither school has won a league title in the current configuration of the EPC, and neither won in the Lehigh Valley Conference either, so it has been a long time since either program hoisted a league championship trophy.
Becahi came close last year before losing a five-set heartbreaker to Allentown Central Catholic, 20-25, 25-17, 29-27, 22-25, 15-13.
“It’s definitely a redemption year for us,” Attieh said. “We want it now more than ever, I think. It’s within our grasp. We just have to continue to work hard, execute and persist through any obstacle that faces us.”
Becahi lost just four sets through the regular season, but had to rebound after dropping the second set to Parkland in the semis.
“The exact same thing happened in the semifinals last year against Liberty,” Attieh said. “We got blown out in the second set, and this brought back memories of that. We came back and blew them out and had a really tight fifth set. We just kind of got locked in and focused and executed the game plan going in the third and fourth sets.”
Jocelyn Bell led the way for the Hawks with 19 kills.
A first-team all-EPC all-star selection along with teammate Piper Ruggiero, Bell said the EPC title would be a big moment for the entire program.
“We want it so bad,” Bell said. “We really put in the work this season, physically and mentally. I know the girls around me are giving it their all, just as I am. This is more than just getting a win. We all have something we want to prove, and Thursday’s the day to do it.”
Bell said the second-set sag was about a lot of self-inflicted wounds.
“We were making a lot of self errors,” she said. “Parkland’s a great team and has a great coaching staff. They really know how to work their girls and adjust to the team on the other side of the net. They played well and we were letting some things slip. We had to reset our own game plan and kind of get back to our own pace.”
Ruggiero, who had 40 assists, said it’s all about her team’s energy level.
“Parkland’s a big momentum team, so we had to bring back the energy after each point,” she said. “Tonight, we lost our momentum in the second set, but volleyball is a game of mistakes, and we had to keep talking to each other after each point and keep lifting each other up. The key to our success had been everybody. Everybody does everything, even if you’re on the bench. Everybody is cheering, everybody is helping everybody. It’s going to be a good match against Emmaus. We’re expecting them to be ready and excited for this match. We will be as well.”
Emmaus has faced challenges all season long and figures to be ready for any adversity they encounter against Becahi.
The team lost two of its best players to injury during the season. Maleya Hinds, an EPC second-team all-star in 2024 and a Division I recruit primed for a big senior year, was lost for the season in September. More recently, junior middle hitter Andraya Flowers went down and is not likely to return.
“This team has worked so hard all season to be cohesive,” said second-year Green Hornets coach Jessica Olang. “It’s sad to see a starter go down. It hurts your heart for the player, but this team has not missed a beat. They’re like, ‘Who’s up? Who’s the next one in? So, they have worked hard athletically, but also mentally. They have worked hard to be a unit and stay together.”
Olang credited sophomore Emma Nesfeder for stepping into the lineup and replacing Flowers and senior setter Alyssa Heffner for running the show and keeping everyone where they are supposed to be.
“Emma is actually a setter but has stepped into the middle and is doing a nice job blocking for us and being a strong part of our offense,” Olang said. “And it takes strong leadership from your setter to run the offense, no matter who you’re hitters are, and Alyssa has done a great job of doing that.”
Heffner and Amanda Rivera were both first-team all-EPC selections. Heffner had 31 assists and a team-high 13 kills.
Rivera said losing Hinds and Flowers were tough blows, but the team has been able to stay together.
“We all come to practice every day, and practice hard, play hard, and stay together,” Rivera said. “We keep bouncing ideas off each other and learn from each other. When we played Becahi early in the season. When we played Becahi early on in the season, I think we still had a lot to learn and a lot of adjusting to do to each other after Maleya went down. We’ve just progressed so much as a team and as individual players. We’ve improved so much in practice and it games. We grew so much. We’re going to be coming into the final with a strong mindset.”
Originally Published: October 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM EDT