Just one obstacle remained in the Parkland boys volleyball team’s quest for a second straight state title. The Trojans had survived a slow start to the season and some close matches in the postseason to earn their way back to the Recreation Building on the Penn State University campus for Saturday’s state title match. The only thing standing between Parkland and a second state championship was Schaler, the District 7 champ who the Trojans beat in last year’s state finals. An improved Schaler team had revenge on its mind as it swept Parkland 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-20) Saturday to earn this year’s title. “They proved whey they were the No. 1 team all year,” said Parkland head coach Scott Trumbauer after the match “They put pressure on us from the first serve to the last point. “They had a year of experience and a year of the feeling that we have now. I know that motivated them immensely. They were a much better team tonight [than in last year’s final]. Their key players played on a different level.” The first set was tight the whole way, with no team leading by more than a point over the final 10 points until the end of the game, which saw six lead changes and 10 ties. Shaler jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second set and never allowed Parkland closer than five points after that. “They just came out with a lot more firepower,” said Parkland senior Owen Rodgers. “Last year we kind of shut them down with our blocking. This year they looked a lot more solid and were able to get in system more often.” “We were struggling to, once we got those points, go on the runs” said Luke Smith, another of Parkland’s 12 senior players. “A lot of things we did the whole year and really had a lot of success really weren’t working today. They put a lot of pressure on us.” Parkland kept the third set close most of the way, never trailing by more than five points after leading 5-4 early on a kill by Josh Nation, which turned out to the Trojans’ last lead of the season. Shaler’s lead was cut to one point twice late in the game, first at 19-18 on a kill from Rodgers and then 20-19 on a kill from Smith. But Shaler took five of the next six points to close out the match. The Trojans finish the season at 20-4 overall and as East Penn Conference and District 11 champions and PIAA runner up. After dropping early-season matches to Exeter and Whitehall, the team rallied to repeat as league and district champs and return to the state title match. “Early in the season when we lost to Whitehall everyone was asking is it going to happen again,” said Rodgers. “Everyone stepped up, played their role and played it well.” “I love looking back at our season and the careers that our 12 seniors had,” said Trumbauer. “They’re writing record books at the school and in the district and across the state. The success they had shows the hard work and everything they did during their high school years paid off. They have super-bright futures ahead of them and I’m so anxious to see what kind of adults these teenagers turn into.” Four of this year’s seniors played in most of the teams matches as sophomores when the Trojans reached the state quarterfinal round. Stiles, Smith, Rodgers and Brady Hayward all played in 17 or more matches that season, while Ahmad Jaffer and Kymayl Soonasra also saw some playing time as sophomores. The rest of this year’s Parkland boys volleyball senior class includes Frederic Patton, Colby Brisendine, Alex Wilby, Krishna Patel, Skllok Mehta and Logan Nassry. Smith and Stiles both played in 71 career matches. Smith recorded 483 kills with 201 coming this season. He also had 74 blocks as a senior and 217 for his career. Stiles posted 827 assists and 151 digs as a senior. He leaves the program with 2,103 career assists and 306 digs. Rodgers, who was also part of Parkland’s state runner-up basketball team, made 173 kills this season and 446 over a career that saw him play in 64 matches. Hayward posted 199 kills and 115 blocks. Jaffer had 137 digs this season and 345 over a 51-match high school career. Soonasra led the team with 296 digs in 2024 and made 436 over 55 matches the past three seasons. Over the past three seasons, this year’s seniors helped the program win 63 matches and lose just 10. The team went 23-0 in 2023 and 19-6 in 2022 when it won its first of three straight EPC championships. While this year’s senior class will be the hardest of any Trumbauer has had to replace during his 23 seasons as head coach, he’ll have one starter returning in Nation, who recorded 293 kills, 121 digs and 29 blocks during his junior season, will likely be a focal point of the Parkland offense again in 2025. While the state title match loss was tough to take, Stiles pointed out that reaching that point is something to be proud of. “Really three years we’ve been together,” Stiles said. “Making it this far is a success. Obviously this hurts so much, but I couldn’t be prouder of my team right now.”