Much of Parkland's volleyball success this year was going to be dependent on the contributions of the incoming junior class.

With about a week left in the regular season, it looks like they've assimilated quite nicely.

With key contributions coming from juniors like Mary Zacher, Lyndsey Iocabelli, Veronica Koval, Allora Atiyeh and Morgan Rentzheimer, the Trojans thrashed perennial league and district contender Central Catholic in three easy games on Tuesday night, 25-15, 25-13, 25-15.

"It's been a challenge," Zacher said on adjusting to varsity time. "But with everyone helping us out its been easier.

"I've worked really hard and Coach Krause and Coach Tice give me a lot of feedback. They'll let me know what I'm doing wrong and what to do to fix it."

There won't be much to fix after Tuesday night's performance.

The Trojans stormed out to a 12-3 lead in the first and put it in cruise control. They were up 12-6 in the second game and were pushed a little harder in the third, but the outcome was never in doubt.

After facing tough matches the past two Tuesdays with Emmaus and Bethlehem Catholic in which they dropped the first set, Parkland left little doubt this week.

In arguably its hardest stretch of the season, Parkland is playing its best volleyball.

"We're controlling our tempo, that's been our goal," head coach Mike Krause said. "We're starting to do that really well right now."

The Trojans' go-to combination of Taylor Krause to Kelly Robertson was clicking on all cylinders as Robertson put away 17 balls and Krause had 35 assists. But Zacher stepped up especially well with Alicia Weigel seeing limited action.

The Trojan junior had 13 kills on 21 attempts, committing just two errors.

"We've been in the weight room a lot and that's really helped," Zacher said. "We've really been pushing hard."

The defending state champion Trojans have pushed their way up to number two in the state. They solidified that ranking last weekend at the Hempfield Invitational, reaching the final before falling to the state's top ranked team Bishop Shanahan 25-23, 25-18.

It was their first in-season look at a team they'll likely have to get past in order to defend their title in a month.

"They're a really good team and it was good to play against them," Zacher said. "We played our best [on Saturday], but hopefully we can play them again."

A Wedensday matchup with Southern Lehigh will determine how much competition the Trojans will have for a district title.

With that tournament two weeks away, the Trojans will look to sure up all facets of their game.

"We need to work on our floor game and our transition," Krause said. "We've been playing individual defense and we need to solidify that. That's an area that we're really going to emphasize.