The Parkland High School boys volleyball team has had to face adversity early in the season, but head coach Scott Trumbauer is proud of how his team has faced it. That includes a five-set win over Freedom just before Easter break after falling to Easton.

“This year has been going well so far,” said Trumbauer. “The team is working hard and enjoying the challenges so far. We’ve been hit with injuries and illnesses but the guys are stepping up and fighting through it. Despite playing without a few guys, and some injuries occurring during the week, we were happy to enter spring break at 6-2 overall. Freedom really pushed us, especially after the loss to Easton, but our guys stepped up when it mattered.”

One of the highlight events for the Trojans early in their season every year is the Koller Classic, a large tournament hosted at Central York High School. The Trojans finished in fifth place overall out of a competitive field.

“This year’s Koller Classic featured six state-ranked teams, including the No. 1 team in the state (Central Dauphin) who happened to be in our pool,” said Trumbauer. “We finished second in our pool to them, but grabbed wins over Penn Manor and Montour and a split with State College. In the first round of the playoffs, we defeated Abington in a single game 28-26. That put us into the quarterfinals against Central York. They were playing really well and knocked us out.

“We were missing three guys and had another player leave midday because he was sick, so everyone on the bench got a lot of playing time and it was great to see them all play on that type of stage against those teams. That experience will benefit us in the remainder of our schedule.”

Trumbauer has seen a couple of upperclassmen step up and perform well all season and then a few others in the underclass realm.

“Seniors Lukas Dashukewich and Matt Bauer have been playing really well for us this year,” Trumbauer said. “Their calm demeanor on the court has helped the younger players (six sophomores on varsity) ease into their roles. Matt and Lukas have carried the load of the offense for us so far while enabling the others to contribute as well. Will Stiles has really improved as one of our setters despite not having much experience prior to this season. Adam Pursell has also stepped in both as a team leader and another steady performer on the court.”

Parkland has three Eastern Pennsylvania Conference matches this week, including Pocono Mountain East, Pocono Mountain West and Nazareth. The Trojans sit at 6-2 in the EPC.

“I’m excited to see how the team handles the rest of our schedule,” said Trumbauer. “We have a few key matches remaining, including Nazareth, Whitehall for a second time, Emmaus, and a nonleague match with Pennridge. We play a lot of matches in a short period of time so we will really need to focus on the match immediately in front of us, not in the past or in the future.”