It doesn’t happen very often, but the Parkland High School girls volleyball team was on the brink of defeat in its latest match. Out of its 11 other matches during the 2020 campaign, the Trojans had only lost a set once, when they dropped two sets in a 3-2 victory over Emmaus on October 21.

Visiting Freedom High School found itself in the same boat as the Green Hornets last Tuesday night, forcing a fifth and deciding match in a District 11 4A semifinal round matchup. But the six-time defending district champions, Parkland, found an extra gear late and held on for the match victory by scores of 25-10, 24-26, 25-20, 24-26 and 15-10.

The Trojans (12-0 overall) advance to their 10th district final in the last 11 years.

“Yeah it was a crazy match,” said senior libero Leah Brunnabend. “Freedom came with the energy and played their hearts out, but so did we. I think we were able to finish it there in the end because of how we practice. We’re used to that intensity. I really think their energy helped us and got us motivated. It was just a super fun match.”

With a condensed regular season schedule this year, the Trojans and Patriots (9-3) never met until the playoffs.

“We watched film on them during the week at practice,” Brunnabend said. “We knew they played good defense and were tough, and they showed that. They battled with us every point until the end.”

Parkland came out of the gates as it normally does, on fire. It scored the first five points and held a double-digit lead early on to take the opening set convincingly. It looked as if it would be a quick, three-set match as most of their other ones were this year.

“Everything we touched in the first set went our way,” said head coach Mike Krause. “I think once Freedom settled down, it really became a match. Freedom is a good team.”

It was a back-and-forth match as even after Parkland took leads of 1-0 and 2-1, Freedom continued to battle back and earn the match-tying mark.

Trailing 20-14 in the fourth set and on the brink of elimination, the Patriots went on a 10-4 run to tie the score at 24-24, and then tallied the next two points to decide it.

The Trojans then knew their backs were against the wall and could not lose the next set.

“Before that final set we said that we didn’t want our season to end tonight.” said Brunnabend. “We really focused and were determined to win every point.”

Brynn Dreisbach finished with 25 kills and 28 digs. Jackie Malitzki contributed 49 assists and Brunnabend added 33 digs to spark the defensive effort for her team.

Parkland will now take on Emmaus in the district final Thursday at 6 p.m. at Catasauqua High School. It is the third meeting between the teams in 2020, with the Trojans winning 3-0 in the first match and 3-2 in the latter.