When the 3A brackets for the District 11 boys volleyball were announced, it was obvious Parkland and Emmaus were on another collision course. Both teams had made quick work of their opponents in the East Penn Conference playoffs and there was no reason to believe they would not do the same in districts.

Top-seeded Parkland (19-0) swept Whitehall in the district semifinals, while No. 2 seed Emmaus (18-3) beat Nazareth 3-1 to reach the title game.

As rivals, the two schools are used to seeing each other across a court, field, mat, or diamond and they would be facing each other for the third time in a little over four weeks. While the first two meetings – one during the regular season and another for the EPC championship – went to Parkland, it was worth noting that Emmaus had done something that only one other team had done all season when they won the opening set against the Trojans in the EPC finals.

Parkland did not allow that to happen in districts and went on to sweep the Hornets by scores of 25-21, 25-18, and 25-23.

While Emmaus challenged in the opening set, the Trojans stayed on top and won the set on a kill by Owen Roberts to give Parkland an early advantage. The second set saw a kill by Brady Hayward extend a service streak by Chase Robbins that would put Parkland up 11-9. Emmaus got the serve back but were unable to take advantage and Parkland continued to pile on points and lead by a 19-14 margin. From there, it was defense for the Trojans, including a kill by Josh Nation that made it 23-18 before Luke Smith would provide the winning kill in set number two.

As if to prove that it was not done, Emmaus battled ferociously in the third set. While the Trojans held an early 4-0 edge and expanded that to 11-4, the Hornets caught a second wind. Jametric Harris strung together two kills and a block to make it 11-8.

Parkland coach Scott Trumbauer felt his team needed a simple reminder of what they needed to do to win and called a timeout.

“We had a big lead and they chipped away, but we were still up at the time,” said Trumbauer. “I told them many times in the past ‘we’re down two, up two, it doesn’t matter; we’re in a good place. Just keep fighting.’ We had gotten a little tentative. Chase (Robbins) was not swinging like his aggressive normal self and we weren’t doing aggressive things.”

Service went from one side of the court to the other and the set was tied 11-11. A kill by Smith helped put Parkland up 14-11, but EPC Most Valuable Player Cooper Henseler, used his serves and a block by Colin Holden to again tie the set at 14. Emmaus took its first lead of the set at 16-15 and the two teams began a fierce defensive battle that reversed serve and Emmaus opened a 20-18 lead.

Nation, one of the top servers for Parkland, took over serve and got a kill from Robbins and after an Emmaus timeout, put the set and the game away on his next serve to give Parkland district gold medals.

“Last year we didn’t get the gold medals, and this is the best feeling ever,” said Will Stiles. “Our middles were firing on all cylinders, and we were getting them involved a lot. Luke Smith and Brady Hayward are two talented middles and we used them as much as we could. They were being smart, finding the court and hitting with authority and power. We really executed well in middles today.”

Parkland had been dominating all season but will now face some new teams in the PIAA tournament. The Trojans are four wins away from a state championship and with an undefeated record as well.

“This team is playing our best right now, better than we have at any time this season,” said Robbins. “We are all coming together. Coach said before that we all need to play at the top of our game, and I think we are doing that.”

PIAA Playoffs

It was a big week for the Parkland Trojans, especially the seniors. Graduation fell on Tuesday night, which was also the scheduled date for the opening round of the PIAA volleyball tournament. It was also the date for the Cedar Crest High School graduation, which matters to Parkland only in that it was the opponents in the opening round of states. Because of the scheduling snafu, the PIAA moved the game up to Monday to accommodate both schools.

Parkland won the PIAA opener by scores of 25-18, 25-20, and 25-13. The win moved Parkland to a perfect 20-0 on the season and into the quarterfinals, which will be played Saturday when the Trojans face Upper Dublin at a site and time to be determined.

The win came down to serves. The Falcons (17-5) got just 15 of their 53 points on serves, while Parkland picked up 37 of 75 points off serves.

Parkland held a 16-9 lead with Luke Smith collecting three kills and a block in the early going. The Falcons got serve back trailing 18-11 and cut the lead to 18-14.

Eventually, the lead shrank to three before Ahmad Jaffer took over on serves with an ace and Parkland rolled to a 23-17 lead. The winning point came on a block by Brady Hayward after Chase Robbins got the serve back for Parkland with a kill to make it 24-18.

“Serving has been our strength all season and we were serving well tonight,” said coach Trumbauer. “We also worked hard to not let them get on a roll and stopped them from getting a lot of points off serves.”

While the second set was the closest of the three, Cedar Crest never got traction to make a run at the Trojans. Parkland went up 3-2 on a serve by Nation and did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the way. An ace by Smith put Parkland up 9-3 and a kill by Hayward gave Parkland the serve with a 12-5 lead. The Falcons cut the lead to three at 18-15 but Jaffer took over on serves and thanks in part to a kill by Alex Wilby, the Trojans were up 21-15. The rest of the set was defense for Parkland as they took a 25-20 win.

The Falcons broke Parkland’s opening serve for their only lead of the final set and Parkland had their best set on serves, scoring 15 points on serves, with Nation and Chase Robbins both getting six service points in the set. Robbins was a one-man wrecking crew with three kills and a block in addition to his strong serves.

“We are playing so well right now that we come out not expecting to even lose a set because we are playing so well,” said Hayward. “I know for me; I feel like my game is really clicking right now and that’s how I have felt coming out. We all feel that way.”

The confidence is not to be confused with arrogance. The Trojans know they are good, but also know that they must fight for every point, especially since they are now in states and will be facing teams capable of knocking them off and out of the tournament.

“I am so proud of them for that,” said Trumbauer. “I have had several spectators not related to Parkland mention that and students as well have mentioned that we are not arrogant. That’s the greatest thing a coach can hear is that these guys are representing the program well and go out and put a good product on the floor.”