It was a different feeling for the Parkland High School girls volleyball team entering the District 11 4A tournament last week.

Over the last five years, the Trojans began district play as the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champions. But this year, they were defeated by eventual champion Central Catholic in the semifinal round.

But the second seed, Parkland has been the class of districts over the last decade, winning 10 straight titles and it began the tournament successfully by defeating the seventh seed, Easton in straight sets 3-0 by scores of 25-9, 25-16 and 25-17 last Thursday night at Parkland High School.

Sarah Furey led the lineup with 13 kills, seven digs and two aces. Genda Avdijaj also finished in double figures in kills with 10 and Kasia Burda added five kills. Dani Gordon led the defense with 10 digs and Josee Kim contributed 22 assists and four aces.

The Trojans followed that up with a thrilling, five-set victory over rival Emmaus in the semifinal round on Tuesday evening at Catasauqua High School. Scores of the match were 25-19, 25-18, 16-25, 23-25, 15-12.

Parkland won the opening two sets and it looked like it was going to be another straight set victory, but the third-seeded Green Hornets responded and took the next two sets to force the deciding fifth set. With all of the momentum in favor of Emmaus heading into the fifth and final set, the Trojans did not want to give up their district title streak that easily in the semis and fought back to win the fifth set and advance to another final. They jumped out ahead early and never relinquished the lead.

“We’ve played in so many five-set matches, I can’t even keep count anymore,” said Izzy Fekula. “We talked about it in-between the fourth and fifth set. We are the most-prepared team in this league to take a five-set match because we’ve been through so many this year. I’m really proud of this team, because we couldn’t close the five-set matches in the beginning of the season. Tonight, we knew we had to win in this one.”

Furey finished with a double-double with 19 kills and 19 digs. Avdijaj and Burda both recorded 11 kills, while Sarah Paugh and Lily Andersen each tallied eight kills. Ava Brunnabend notched three aces and 14 digs. Gordon contributed 15 digs and two aces, while Izzy Fekula added 21 digs. Kim ended with 48 assists and 16 digs.

Parkland will now take on the top seed, Liberty, in the championship match on Thursday night back at Catasauqua High School, looking for its 11th consecutive title. The Hurricanes swept Nazareth in straight sets in the other semifinal round matchup. Both teams will advance to the state tournament.