Pleasant Valley's first season in the new Eastern Pennsylvania Conference came to an end Saturday with a 3-0 loss to Emmaus in the league quarterfinals.

The No. 3 seed Hornets beat a Bears (No. 6 seed) that hung around in each game before falling 25-17, 25-19 and 25-21.Emmaus (15-3) consistently went to its top hitters Mackenzie O'Brien (15 kills), Megan Forstburg (nine kills) and Erin Stanton (nine kills)."They can put the ball just about anywhere they want," said Pleasant Valley head coach John Gesiskie. "She looks like she's going to hit cross and at the last second she can turn it down the line. They know what they're going to do, but the defense doesn't know what they're going to do. They're great players. They have the ability to hit the ball just about anywhere they want."The Bears (11-5) stayed in every game, but the strong Hornet hitters closed it out every time.In the first game, Pleasant Valley nearly closed an early 8-point definite, getting it down to 23-17 before falling.The second game saw the Bears stay within three points until the Hornets ran off six straight to take an 18-10 lead.They had it down to 22-18 late in the game, but Hornet freshman Adelina Rivera-Woodward pounded home the final kill to put her team ahead by two games.The third game saw the Bears come even closer to taking a late lead. A Bridget Lozier kill got Pleasant Valley within two points (21-19). Another Lozier kill made it 24-19 before Emmaus finished the match on the next point."They did a good job," said Gesiskie. "We're working on some things in defense and blocking. We're starting to get it under control. We've got a couple weeks before districts we'll work on closing our blocks a little better and work to 100 percent on our serving. I'm very happy how they're coming along."The Bears had won four straight Mountain Valley Conference titles before this season.While they didn't earn league hardware, Gesiskie is happy to be part of the new EPC."There needs to be a higher goal to shoot for," said Gesiskie. "Not that the MVC wasn't a high-enough goal, but this is a whole different ball game down in the East Penn Conference. When you look at these teams, you have ACC, Emmaus, Parkland, the competition in voleyball down here is so good. The only way to get better is to play people that are better and see better-played ball."