The Trojans might have gotten a bit of a scare in the district semifinals, but thy bounced back from a long semifinal match and played one of their best matches in a 3-0 victory over Emmaus in the District 11 title game last Thursday at Catasauqua High School.

After needing five games to take down Freedom in the semifinal round, the Trojans dispatched of Emmaus 25-15, 25-14, 25-18 in the championship game.

“I thought we played really well and had really great control on our side,” said senior Jackie Malitzki, a four-year varsity player who had 26 assists, five digs and two aces in the title game. “We just made the adjustments that we needed to against whatever they were giving us.”

The first game of the title match was close until the Trojans flipped a 5-3 Emmaus lead into a 10-6 lead in Parkland’s favor. After extending the lead to 15-10, it never fell below three points the rest of the set.

The second game unfolded much the same. A 9-9 tie quickly turned into a 13-9 lead for the Trojans, who never let Emmaus within two points the rest of the game.

The Hornets put up their best fight in the final set, knotting the score at 14-14 before Parkland pulled out to a 19-15 advantage and went on to seal the title, the seventh straight for the program.

Emmaus had no answer for Parkland hitters Bryn Dreisbach (11 kills, 10 digs) and Scarlett Jago (11 kills, 3 aces, 7 digs). And the blocking of Elena Pursell (5 blocks, 3 kills) helped keep Hornet hitters at bay.

“It feels so good for working so hard through the summer and getting over all the obstacles coming with COVID,” said Trojan senior Emily Mohr, a four-year varsity player. “I feel we worked really hard and it feels great to get this as a senior and keep this streak going.”

While all high school sports were in jeopardy of being canceled this fall, volleyball had an even greater chance of being effected by the pandemic as it’s an indoor sport. When the team couldn’t meet for practice it was the three seniors (Malitzki, Mohr and Leah Brunnabend) that organized and led zoom meetings and did what they could do keep their teammates prepared for a season that would remain in question until late August.

“All these girls were really willing to work hard and come together and so all of us seniors had an easy job getting everyone together and getting everyone on the same page,” said Mohr.

Parkland entered the district final after beating Freedom 3-2 in the semifinal. The Patriots were just the second team all season to take a set from Parkland after Emmaus took two in a 3-2 season finale loss to the Trojans.

Because the schedules were condensed, Parkland only played Lehigh County teams during the season and didn’t face the same level of competition as most seasons. The tight semifinal match as a wake up call for the Trojans.

“Our regular season we didn’t have as tough of matches because of COVID we could only play teams in our county,” said Brunnabend, who had 12 digs and 4 assists in the title match “Freedom was one of the better teams we played all season.”

Parkland moves on to the state tournament. It will host District 2 champ Delaware Valley in a quarterfinal round game Saturday.