Heading into the 2013 season, Parkland volleyball head coach Mike Krause stressed teamwork as a key to success this year. Losing four starting players to graduation, including All-Americans Taylor Krause and Kelly Robertson, the Trojans have a more balanced team age wise.

"We have girls out there that are very solid passers," Krause said. "Lyndsey [Iacobelli], Avery [Perosa] and Morgan [Rentzheimer] give us a very good first contact. The way that the setters can distribute the ball, we can attack from anywhere. We can hit from left side, middle and right side, which is really exciting."

Krause has some experienced returnees who are contributors, but he also plays some younger girls that are breaking onto the varsity scene. Three sophomores (Kristin Krause, Perosa, and Siena Salvaggio) see a lot of time, along with junior Brooke Robertson.

"The youngsters are coming in hungry," said Krause. "And we still have some that are waiting their turn. But our seniors are team players. There are youngsters coming in hungry but our seniors have embraced that. It's so neat to see them lead but also respect and embrace them."

Coming off a loss in the PIAA state championship last season, the new Trojans helped start a charge toward more championships, defeating Bethlehem Catholic in three games 25-16, 25-17, and 25-18 in the LVC Play Day at Liberty Tuesday night.

The Golden Hawks, who were missing a key starter due to injury, are defending District 11 and PIAA Class AA champs, and Krause knows this was a big win to get so early in the year.

"They're a quality team but they were missing their setter who is a great player," said Krause. "There may have been a little chemistry let down but they're good. They hit the ball hard. They have good ball control. We pushed them a little bit, but they kept the ball in play. They're a very solid team."

Game one saw Parkland jump out to an 8-2 lead. After a Veronica Koval kill, Becahi called timeout to try and stop the momentum. That didn't work, however, and the Golden Hawks never got closer than six points.

In game two the teams traded points from when the game was tied at six until the Trojans took the lead for good at 10-9 and never looked back.

In the final game, two straight aces by Krause helped stake Parkland to an early 8-1 lead. Becahi battled back and twice forced Krause to take timeouts. After his second one, when the score was 18-15 in favor of the Trojans, Parkland put their foot on the gas and outscored the Golden Hawks 7-3 to take the opening match of 2013.

Koval tallied eight kills, Salvaggio and Mary Zacher contributed six kills apiece, and Krause recorded 15 assists.