The Parkland High School girls volleyball team had a near perfect season in 2021. The Trojans were one win shy of winning a state championship last year, finishing with a 25-1 overall record. They won the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 titles.

Head coach Mike Krause had a talented group graduate last year, including Brynn Dreisbach, Sydney Esquieres, Sydney Johnston, Meredith Steirer and Emma Stalsitz. But there is also an experienced and winning group returning, including seniors Scarlett Jago, Elena Pursell, Lucy Shellock, Jackie Fekula, Alexa Bartman, Hannah Vrablik, Harshini Mallipedhi and Kamira Hoover, along with juniors Maggie Smith, Alli Reimer and Madi Siggins.

“We have a large group of returning players,” said Krause. “Offensively, we can attack from all areas of the court, our serve receive is going to be key to our offense. Maggie Smith is improving her tempo of the offense to speed up the delivery of the ball to all four hitting zones.

“We have been blocking well in the preseason. Hopefully we can continue to serve aggressively, our control and location of the offense both in system and out of system has been positive in our workouts. We hope to transfer the consistency from the workouts to the live competition. The younger group is showing an increase in their physical strength keeping the workouts challenging and competitive. Our coaching staff has been teaching and challenging the girls in every facet of the game, and the girls are facing those challenges head on. They make it fun and competitive during practices.”

Some newcomers include senior Ava Adamson, juniors Ava Best and Sam Miller, and sophomores Sarah Furey, Ava Brunnabend, Izzi Fekula, Meghan Haines and Hailey Schimmer. Krause knows he lost a lot of talented leaders from last year’s team, but believes the upperclassmen he has this year can step up.

“I would not say it is a weakness more than an unknown,” Krause said. “We hope to see leadership evolve both in training and in competition. I look forward to seeing if it develops. If it does, we should have an exciting season.”

Parkland begins its 2022 season at home against Central Catholic on Tuesday, August 30th. Krause is looking forward to another team.

“We have a lot of skilled players in the gym,” said Krause. “We have been showing some high-level play. If we can develop consistency during play, we can be optimistic in competing for league and district opportunities.

“Should we be successful in district opportunities, we hope to pursue every match at the state level. That remains to be seen. I see potential, but we need to work hard and compete every day for the opportunity to come about. This is a very tough league. We need the leadership to assure the girls are ready to compete at home and when we travel.”