Senior Callie Krajcir came out of the girls volleyball preseason with a defined role.

After double sessions had ended and the roster was set, she was slotted as the team's libero.

But when the defending state champion Trojans took the court in their season-opener against Freedom on Tuesday night, Kracjir wasn't donning the red jersey reserved for the player at that spot.

Instead, Lyndsey Iacobelli was playing libero and Krajcir was on the front line.

"She is so athletic and she does some smart things at the net," head coach Mike Krause said. "She had a sprained ankle to start the season off and we couldn't really train her at the net. But she's done some really good things hitting the ball."

Kracjir, one of six senior co-captains, will be a major factor in the development of the team this season. A defensive specialist a year ago, she's helping to fill the void left at the hitter spot after the graduation of Erin Hillman and Nikki Bishwaty on the outsides.

Its a role that the versatile, three-sport player is relishing.

"We have very good defense and hitting is always fun," Krajcir said. "We're going to have a pretty strong offense and its nice to be in with them."

Krajcir chose volleyball over girls soccer this season, when the latter sport moved to the fall. She's also a member of the basketball team.

Unlike most of the other volleyball players on the Trojan team, she doesn't play during the club season, but relies on her natural insticts and abilities.

"She's very athletic and she's going to bring some athletic things to the table," Krause said. "She's already progressing, so we'll see where it goes."

From her outside spot, Kracjir had three kills in six attempts against Freedom. The Trojans won easily, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15, with plenty of players seeing time on the floor.

Kracjir's balanced game showed as she added two blocks, five digs and was a perfect 9-for-9 on serve receiving.

When she wasn't on the court, Kracjir was pointing out formations and strategy to younger players on the sideline.

"Its really fun to lead and the younger girls work very hard," Krajcir said. "Its going to be fun filling the roles of the seniors that left last year. We all waited four years for this and it feels really good to be a leader."

While the group of seniors this year all have experience, they will need to lead a relatively young group of players that includes four freshmen.

Her head coach likes Kracjir's winning attitude and hopes it rubs off on the younger players.

"She's comptetive and she wants to win in the worst way," Krause said. "But she's also a great teammate - it's not about her, it's about the game.

"She's a humble kid that just loves sports. And fortunately for us, she loves this game."

Parkland-Freedom

In the season-opening win, the team relied heavily on the experience of setter Taylor Krause, middle Kelly Robertson and Alicia Weigel to get past Freedom in three games at the LVC Play Day at Liberty High School.

Krause had all 33 assists for the team, with 26 of the kills from her fellow seniors.

Robertson led the way with 15 kills in 25 attempts and Weigel was effective from the outside, killing 11 of her 22 chances.

Newcomer Allora Atiyeh, a junior, added three kills to match Kracjir's effort in the front line.

Weigel led the way with three aces and Robertson's four digs were second to Kracjir.

The Trojans were never really challenged in any game, taking advantage of several Freedom errors and cutting down on their own mistakes throughout the contest.

All 16 players on the roster saw time on the court, including the freshmen quartet of Avery Perosa, Erika Foose, Siena Salvaggio and Kristin Krause.

With Lehigh Valley Conference contenders Emmaus, Nazareth and Central Catholic all posting three-game wins, the Trojans showed that they are still an upper echelon team in the league.

Parkland may not pack the name recognition that they had last season, but its still not a team to be taken lightly.

"We're kind of the underdog right now and I think that's better," Krajcir said. "Its kind of better to come up than to start at the top and come down."