Parkland High School was presented with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy during a school assembly last month. The honor is part of the fifth annual MaxPreps Girls Volleyball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard and Parkland is one of just 10 schools being honored.

The Trojan girls volleyball team ranked No. 9 in the country by MaxPreps, the online high school sports leader and a CBSSports.com site. MaxPreps ranks more than 17,000 high school girls volleyball teams.

"For the past decade, MaxPreps, in partnership with the Army National Guard, has honored the top high school sports teams in the nation," said Andy Beal, President and Founder of MaxPreps. "Parkland High School is one of a very select and elite group of volleyball teams to be honored this year.

"We congratulate the coach, players and the Parkland High School community for earning the Army National Guard national ranking trophy."

The Trojans beat Hempfield 19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-10 in the 2014 PIAA Class AAA state championship to win their second state title. They finished the season with a record of 45-0-1.

"National rankings are something you talk about, but it's hard to grasp," said Parkland head coach Mike Krause. "Now to be ranked ninth in the country is an incredible feeling," said Parkland head coach Mike Krause

Throughout this season, the Trojans were focused on one goal to make it to the finals. They beat Hempfield in the 2011 state title game for their first state championship. Parkland lost to the Black Knights in the 2012 state finals.

After Parkland missed the 2013 state tournament, Hempfield claimed its second straight title last year and was to claim its third straight.

The Trojans knew they would have a battle for the championship. During the Garden Spot Invitational, the Trojans played against the Black Knights in the finals and came back to win the match after being down 12-9 in the third game. Krause said that match was pivotal in showing the true character of the team so early in the season. The players believed in one another and this faith in each other helped them tackle any challenges on the road to the championship.

To top off the state title, the Trojans also received Class AAA All-State recognition for five players. Senior outside hitter Brooke Robertson, who will play for the University of Delaware in the fall, raised her hitting percentage by 70 points after moving from middle hitter to outside hitter this season. Junior setter Kristin Krause set a school record with 105 aces this year. Junior libero Avery Perosa led the team with 388 digs and junior opposite hitter Siena Salvaggio had the most kills on the team with 421.

Junior middle hitter Erika Foose led the state in hitting percentage with .594. The Trojans, who went 115-7 in sets this season, also set a school record for their overall hitting percentage (.428) while averaging 3.1 aces per game.

Staff Sergeant Erin Roe of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard presented Coach Krause and the Trojans with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy during an assembly on Friday.

"Much like the hard work, determination and teamwork of an elite athlete, so are the men and women of the Army National Guard," said Major Mark Burns. "On behalf of the National Guard, I am honored to recognize this nationally ranked team for the commitment to something bigger than oneself the commitment to a team."

MaxPreps uses an intricate computer program to determine team rank. Prior season history, school size, and comments on message boards are not considered in the MaxPreps rankings.

The computer-based system utilizes the huge number of game results stored in the MaxPreps database.

Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system also takes into account quality wins (against other highly ranked opponents) and strength of schedule.