Scott Trumbauer understood the task at hand as he prepared his Parkland volleyball team for its PIAA playoff game over the weekend.

The hitters of Central Bucks West, in particular Brigham Young University-bound Christian Rupert, were a focal point for the Trojans after a win over District 1's Pennridge in the first round on Wednesday.

But while Rupert and the rest of the Bucks' front line held an advantage height-wise and produced a number of points, the Trojans had an opportunity to win each set.

Unfortunately for District 11's No. 1 team, which trailed by no more than two points in any game with match point on the line, they were never able to break the District 1 champs.

The Bucks downed the Trojans, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 27-25), during Saturday's PIAA quarterfinals at Souderton High School to advance to the semifinals where they will face District 3's Central York.

"Overall, I thought our defense played pretty well," Trumbauer said. "It's a tough task when you play against a team that has that many hitters that can do that much damage."

Unlike the first two sets in which the Trojans trailed by as many as seven and four points early, respectively, Parkland opened up the third set unlike the previous two. They took an early 7-4 lead, and after falling behind at 10-9, regained the lead at 23-22.

But the combination of Rupert and Jackson Cox rose to the occasion in crunch time. Fran Paeske set up Cox for one of his seven kills to tie the set at 23. The Trojans then retook the lead on two instances, including at 25-24 on a kill from Kyle Stout. But Ruppert's 14th and final kill knotted it at 25, and two points later, his seventh block at the net ended the third and final game.

"Going against a kid of that size and of that talent, it's tough no matter how you look at it," Trumbauer said of Rupert. "We have been to a bunch of tournaments and we see really good teams, but it's not very often you get to see a player at that level."

The Trojans took their first lead of the match at 19-18 in the second set after Andrew Hillman's ace. It was the fourth straight point of the set for the Trojans, erasing an 18-15 lead for the Bucks just moments earlier.

Momentum seemed to shift to the Trojans' side as they led 21-20 with serve on their side. However, the Bucks scored five of the final seven points, three of which were set up by Matt Hennigan assists, to secure the 25-23 win. Hennigan tallied 30 assists on the day.

"All year, we let one error snowball into three or four," Trumbauer said. "And I think today, we didn't let it happen too much past early on in the first two sets.

"They played really well. A couple of points and that's the difference between a game where you only have to win by two."

The Trojans recovered from a 14-7 deficit in the first set to tie it on four separate occasions, including a 22-22 game late. But whenever they needed a big spurt to gain control for good, the Bucks had an answer waiting.

"It was unfortunate for us that we didn't have the opportunity to grab that lead, and hopefully see what we can do with it," Trumbauer said about the first set. "We would push ourselves so hard to tie it, and then we kind of let it get away a little bit at the end. I think that was actually a theme across all three games."

Joel Klapper tallied nine kills and seven digs for the Bucks. For Parkland, Stout recorded 11 kills and two blocks. Tyler Phifer added six kills and two blocks, and Andrew Hillman and Mitchell Fox each had five kills.

An impressive season that included both league and district championships is officially in the books for the Trojans. It marks the second time in three seasons that the Trojans competed in the PIAA tournament.

"I told the kids at the end of the day, when you reflect back on this season, you have a lot of memories and medals to look at and enjoy the accomplishments," Trumbauer said.

"We faced a good team today and came up on the losing end, but that doesn't take anything away from the rest of the success we had throughout the year, both at the tournaments, league play and districts."