EMMAUS - Heading into the 2015 season, head coach John Geseskie knew he had the tough assignment of guiding a young and inexperienced team, one which lost five starters to graduation the year prior.

But this Bears team finished the regular season at 21-9-1 overall and 12-4 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, qualifying for the No. 5 seed in the 3A District 11 tournament.That successful story in the regular season came to an end Thursday night at Emmaus High School as the No. 4 seeded Green Hornets took down Pleasant Valley 3-0 by scores of 25-13, 25-21, and 25-11."Last year we graduated five seniors, and all of them were starters and defensive-minded," Geseskie said. "We had to fill in those positions and it was tough doing that. Defense is a huge part of this game, and that's what we missed in this game with all of our new girls."With injuries and a lot of changes happening in the rotation for much of the year, and with starting some junior hitters and a sophomore setter experiencing their first real-game action in the district playoffs, it was a tough go to try and win in the small and sometimes intimidating auxiliary gym at Emmaus."If you look around here, it is a tough place to come to and win," noted Geseskie. "They do a good job of defending their home court. They came out fast and played an all-around good match against us. We weren't really prepared for what happened."Emmaus came out firing on all cylinders, and were able to take sizeable leads and hold on to each of them.Game two saw Pleasant Valley in a tight battle, point for point until the very end, but the experience and height of the Green Hornets' front hitters were too much on the evening."They're a good team," Geseskie added. "They played like a well-oiled machine tonight. They have some big hitters that dominated at the net and we didn't have an answer for them."LOOKING TOWARD NEXT YEAR ... Pleasant Valley will lose five seniors to graduation, but unlike last year, will bring back more starters in the rotation. "We started some underclassmen that we are very excited to have back next year," stated Geseskie. "They will mature and be ready to go again next fall."THIRD TIME NOT THE CHARM ... This was the third time Pleasant Valley has lost to Emmaus in the last two years. They were defeated 3-0 on Sept. 28, and 3-0 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference quarterfinals last year.LAST TIME ... The last District 11 tournament win for Pleasant Valley came in 2013 in the quarterfinals, defeating Stroudsburg.