A little over two weeks ago, the Parkland volleyball team experienced something that hadn’t happened to it in almost three years: a loss to a conference opponent. Liberty took down the Trojans in straight sets to win the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship and send a message across the league.

Parkland wasn’t going to let it happen twice, especially in a matter of week. The Trojans battled back from being down 2-1 to take the last two games and win the match 3-2 by scores of 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 26-24 and 15-9 in the District 11 Class 4A final last Thursday night at Whitehall High School.

It was the Trojans third straight district title, and first in the new 4A classification.

“After the EPC finals, the girls had to figure out what went wrong,” said Parkland head coach Mike Krause. “We watched film and we gained confidence. The seniors really took on the leadership role.”

“We came out with a lot more energy,” said Trojan senior setter Morgan Sherwin. “In the conference final, we came out flat and were making a ton of errors. This time, we came out with a ton of fire and we had the mindset that we wanted to leave everything on the court.”

Classmate and libero Megan Shaw agreed that intangibles were the key to victory.

“Our motivation and drive just overtook everything” said Shaw. “We decided that we were not going to lose and I think it really showed. That’s something we’ve really been practicing the past few weeks, being determined through everything and pushing every point.”

The Hurricanes were the top seed in the EPC playoffs, with Parkland taking the number two seed, but the seedings were flipped for the district tournament.

Just like in the league final, Liberty opened up the match by winning game one, and early in the match it looked as if they were going to take home a second gold medal in two weeks. But this time around, Parkland came back and won game two.

The Hurricanes once again jumped on top, powering through the third game and taking a 2-1 advantage. But again, the Trojans remained focused and tied the match by winning game four, having to hold on after leading 23-20 and scoring the next two points after the score was tied at 24-24.

Liberty tallied the first point in the pivotal fifth game, but would not lead again. With the score tied at 7-7, Parkland scored the next six points. Late in the match, Trojans hitter Sam Graver caught fire. She connected for a match-high 25 kills, including five in the short fifth game alone, to help Parkland claim gold.

“We decided we were leaving every blood, sweat and tear on the floor,” Sherwin said. “We were not giving up without a hard fight.”

Even with the names on the roster changing, the Parkland girls volleyball team continues to bring success to the program and school.

“Their motto at the beginning of the year was ‘The legacy continues,’” said Krause.

Five all-state performers graduated after last season, but the team didn’t skip a beat.

“It’s a great feeling,” Sherwin said. “We lost a ton of seniors last year and we all have been working so hard to fill their spots. Everyone has stepped up tremendously and done a great job. It’s a great feeling.”