When the Parkland and Whitehall High School boys volleyball teams met in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship match, the Trojans overwhelmed the Zephyrs and handled them in straight sets to win the conference title. In the latest matchup of the two teams, third-seeded Whitehall gave top-seeded Parkland all it could handle in the District 11 Class 3A championship as the match went to four sets with three of the four sets decided by four points or less. The Trojans once again prevailed and defeated the Zephyrs 3-1 last Tuesday, May 28, at Catasauqua High School. Scores of the match were 21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 27-25. It was the second straight district title for the Trojans. Parkland had to battle back after falling in the opening set and then two of its three set wins were taken into extra points. Whitehall was up for the challenge. “Credit to (Whitehall coach) George (Cowitch),” said Parkland head coach Scott Trumbauer. “They had them so prepared. They were touching everything. Their defense was so scrappy, but we just kept fighting. They beat a lot of teams because they wear them out. I was lucky to see that didn’t happen to us.” Parkland senior Owen Rodgers, who finished with eight kills and seven blocks, near the top of his team’s stats in both categories, ended the match with a block in the fourth set. “It meant more because I was getting challenged all day by Ethan (Ringenberger) and Jack (Kocher),” said Rodgers of the Whitehall duo. “A lot of credit to those guys; they were killing me. I was grateful to get away with those one or two on them.” The Trojans were actually trailing in the fourth set, 22-20, and was one point away from needing a fifth set at 24-21. Parkland rallied for three consecutive points to tie the score at 24-24. After a Whitehall kill to put it within one point from winning again, Rodgers took matters into his own hands and recorded a kill and then the block to win it. It was a well-earned victory, one of many that Parkland has had to work for this season in its 19-3 overall record, compared to last season’s state championship team that went undefeated at 23-0. “We’ve definitely faced some adversity this year,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, we dropped a game to Whitehall during the season. I think we’ve gotten a lot better this year. Last year, we didn’t face much adversity. But, we’ve gotten a lot better with facing adversity and working together to get past it.” Parkland opened the state tournament with a five-set win over District 3’s three seed, Red Lion Area, this past Monday night at Parkland High School.