You could tell by his voice how much head coach Scott Trumbauer wanted it.

In his 14th season as head coach, the Parkland boys volleyball had reached the state semifinals round four times, including this year. But neither of the previous three teams were able to advance to the championship game.

That all changed for Trumbauer and the Trojans on Tuesday night.

They defeated District 3's third-place team Hempfield 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 15-25, 25-22) to advance to Saturday's PIAA Class AAA championship game at Penn State University's Recreation Building. There they will meet District 7 No. 1 seed Fox Chapel at 1 p.m.

"Before the season started, everybody asked me if we were going to be here," Trumbauer said. "I said, 'Well, we've got a lot of kids that have experience. We'll see how it goes.' I wasn't expecting this, but you hope for this every year when it comes down to it. But finally getting over the hump from the semifinals game is huge in general, and it is a mental step for us."

Neither team led by more than six points in the first game, and the biggest advantage for either side in the second set was just four points. And it was the Trojans who were able to string together a few points late in each set to go ahead 2-0 relatively quickly.

But the third set proved to be a different story. The momentum suddenly swung over to Hempfield's side after the Black Knights used a 9-0 run to turn a competitive two-point game into a 20-9 lead in the blink of an eye. That resulted in the Trojans' worst set loss of the season at 25-15, putting their mental focus into check.

Moments later, Andrew Hillman recorded his 11th kill of the match, this one to close out the fourth set and advance the Trojans. Parkland trailed 18-14 in that game-winning set, but went on a 6-1 run to regain the lead at 20-19.

"We just had to keep our composure," said Sean Lewis, who recorded a game-high 14 kills with 11 digs. "Certain times out there we dropped our heads and lost our composure a little bit. We just needed to keep our composure and keep up our intensity."

If it wasn't for a little bit of a scare in the first round of states, it's hard to predict how Parkland might have reacted last Saturday when Penn Manor opened its second-round game against the Trojans by taking a 9-0 lead.

Having battled through a five-game state playoff opener against District 1 runner-up Council Rock, the Trojans didn't flinch when they fell behind early to Penn Manor. They bounced back and won the match in three games, 25-22, 25-17, 25-22.

"In that (first-round) match our backs were against the wall," said Trumbauer. "We got punched in the nose in the first set and had to respond. Here, falling behind [Penn Manor] 9-0 in the first set is so unusual and it's a crazy situation. We knew how to respond and how to come back from that."

When the Comets opened their nine-point lead in Saturday's state quarterfinal game, played at Mechanicsburg High School, Trumbauer called a time out and asked his players to make a slight adjustment. Five of Penn Manor's nine points came from blocking Trojan spikes.

"Our coach told us to start swinging higher and swing high hands so we could get through the block," said Hillman. "We started off a little slow but we picked it up and stayed strong through all three sets."

Parkland turned the tables. Blocks from Hillman and Jack Driesbach helped them climb back in the game. They tied the score at 19-19 on a Jake Heyer kill and went ahead on another from Lewis. The Comets didn't lead again in the first set.

The second game saw Penn Manor get off to a smaller lead, 4-1, before the Trojans finally took the lead on a Bryce Gallaway block that made the score 9-8. Hillman later served six straight points to give his team an 18-11 lead en route to the win in game two.

Playing to keep its season alive, Penn Manor didn't let Parkland build a lead bigger than five points in the final game. But they couldn't hold off the Trojans, who have a court full of players who can finish a play.

"We can go to any hitter in any situation and put the ball down," said Hillman.

The Trojans won every match during the season by a 3-0 score. The first round of states was the first time they had their backs to the wall. That pressure situation should help them if they get in more like it over the next few weeks.

"I think it was a wake up call," said Kyle Stout, who had had several big kills against the Comets. "We walked in expecting to win it. We can't do that. We have to come out with intensity every single game."