The Parkland High School girls volleyball team is back out on the court for its 2020 season, and the Trojans have started just as they normally do, with a win streak.

Parkland (5-0 overall) has won its first five matches of the year, and is enjoying being able to play competitively as a team.

“We are all glad we are in the gym,” said head coach Mike Krause. “The kids have had a pretty positive attitude. They appreciate the opportunity to schedule matches. They are doing what they can do to control the controllables. Their work ethic is very good and the chemistry is ahead of schedule in decision making and the timing with each other.”

Even with a strong start to the shortened season, Krause always sees ways his team can improve.

“I would like to see our consistency improve as we grow through the season,” Krause said. “It has been a very unique schedule. We had to reschedule a match with Whitehall. We were their first match of the year because the school had Covid adjustments with their scheduling. There is uncertainty on what we do, hopefully we can settle down and get into a groove with our schedule and see what we can do.”

Normally, the Trojans schedule nonconference opponents that are also ranked in the state, but this year they have had to stay within the district and schedule matches against Central Catholic, Whitehall, Allen, Dieruff and Emmaus.

“The schedule is tough in the sense you play teams back-to-back,” said Krause. “The positive of that is to see what you learned from the previous match. The challenges are we only see five opponents. We do not know what the other teams in our classification are like. That will be a challenge as we get closer to postseason opportunities. Fortunately, we have been able to make match adjustments to help us prepare if we need to do that to learn about future opponents. The girls have been very good at making the adjustments and being consistent with them.”

Parkland took both from the Vikettes, followed by a two-match sweep last week over the Zephyrs. In the latest match victory over the Canaries last Tuesday evening, the Trojans won 3-0 by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-8. Scarlett Jago tallied seven kills, Elena Pursell had four kills and three blocks, Sydnet Esquieres recorded four kills and Meredith Steirer contributed four aces.

“I am not happy with our serving,” Krause said. “This team has been a little inconsistent in accuracy and serve speed. We are targeting that area. Our overall passing is very consistent. Our offensive flow has been pretty good with our attack, it is getting stronger and more diverse. The defense is always exciting and actually a lot of fun to train and then watch. If we can get our serve squared away, I think we could be a pretty solid contender.”

Parkland faces Allen at home Thursday and then plays two matches with Dieruff next week before wrapping up the regular season with two matches against rival Emmaus.