Just like each season over the last decade, the Parkland High School girls volleyball team finished the 2022 season with championships and playing in the state tournament. The Trojans won their ninth consecutive District 11 title last season and advanced to the PIAA 4A semifinal round before falling to Garnet Valley, on their way to a 24-1 overall record.

Like with every season, Parkland graduated a talented senior group from last year, but has a core back.

“We have three players with a lot of varsity experience,” said Krause. “Senior Maggie Smith returns for her third year as the setter in our 5-1 offense. Senior Alli Reimer is our No. 1 outside hitter entering her third year in that position. Senior Madi Siggins returns as our opposite hitter, also her third year at the position.”

Then there are a few newcomers that Krause and his staff are excited about for the varsity team.

“Seniors Ava Best and Cat Neagle are training as middle hitters,” Krause said. “Neagle could also be an outside or opposite. Junior Sarah Furey is working as an outside hitter and setter. Senior Meaghan Haines, juniors Ava Brunnabend, Izzy Fekula, Dani Gordon and Hailey Schimmer are competing for back row positions. Juniors Genda Avdijaj and Lily Anderson are training as six-rotation players. Sophomore Kasia Burda has training as both a middle and an outside hitter.”

There are some different strengths and a couple areas to improve upon for this year’s squad.

“We are going to be pretty strong with our serve and our defense,” said Krause. “With Maggie’s experience as a setter, if we can pass well, she could move hitters around and run a quick tempo offense. If we have the ability to pass, we potentially could hit the ball with some force behind it. The critical area for us will be the range of our defense and the consistency to pass the ball. We show goods signs of passing during the preseason, then we have some inconsistencies. Our block shows potential to impact hitters. We need to go against some other programs to see where we are with the block.

“We will need to develop consistency over the course of the season. We have had some ‘wow’ plays in practice, which is a good sign of what we can do. We have very good leadership; the work ethic is extremely high and the attitude from top to bottom is very positive with high levels of energy. We hope to get in a position to participate in the postseason. Should we get there, it could be a lot of fun.”