The Parkland boys volleyball team moved swiftly through the first round of states and into the quarterfinals where it faced Upper Dublin for the opportunity to move to the doorstep of playing for gold medals if they can get through the semis. Parkland kept their string of victories intact with another sweep, downing the Cardinals 27-25, 25-20, and 25-14 at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School this past Saturday.

The Cardinals (18-5) battled back from a 12-7 deficit in the first set and moved to within a point at 13-12 as Domonic Plaku was on a roll serving. That roll stopped abruptly though when he committed a service error attempting to tie the game and moved Parkland’s lead to two points. Upper Dublin broke through to take a 16-15 edge, but the Trojans were not about to allow that, and they broke serve and retook that lead to go up 19-17. Looking to steal the opening set in the latter stages, Upper Dublin tied the set at 19 and then went up 20-19 on an attack error by Parkland.

At that point, it became a game of cat and mouse or, cat and bird. Every time the Cardinals went up, the Parkland defense would shut down the serve and tie the set. It happened six times and the set was tied at 25 with Parkland holding serve. Chase Robbins got the first serve over and the Trojans wound up winning the volley to hold a 26-25 lead. Looking to freeze Robbins and the Trojans, Upper Dublin coach Paul Choi used his final timeout of the set, but Robbins was nowhere near being iced and gave a strong serve and Josh Nation ended the set with a kill.

The second set was tightly contested until the Trojans went up 19-18 and pushed it to 20-18. As Upper Dublin pressured Parkland, Luke Smith provided an emphatic kill and Will Stiles served the final two points and Parkland had the luxury of a 2-0 lead after taking the set 25-20.

“We’re not a team that is built around one player. That’s been the strength of this team is that we can all be the guy that steps up at the right time to help us win,” said Smith. “It’s been that way all season.”

The Cardinals have the same attitude that the Trojans possess in that they are never out of a set or game. Upper Dublin just knew that they had to win three straight sets and it had to start with the third set. They opened with a 5-1 lead before Nation, who was up next to serve for the Trojans, broke the Cardinals serve with a kill to make it 5-2. Nation’s kill was the first of four straight and five in six volleys for Parkland. Chase Robbins had three and Owen Rodgers added the other. With Parkland leading 7-5, Upper Dublin would not be able to catch up again in the set.

With the set at 21-14. Smith delivered a kill to return serve to Parkland. With Smith then turning his attention to serving, he finished out the game as Parkland won 25-14.

Naming an MVP for Parkland is not an easy task. There are several players who have a legitimate argument for being that guy, and that is the key to how Parkland has dominated their way through a season that has them undefeated and heading to the state championship.

“I try to set the ball to whoever has the hot hand at that moment. It’s always a different guy. We also try to move the ball side to side and give different looks,” said junior Will Stiles about the success of the team.