Last season ended a run of 10 straight District 11 championships for the Parkland High School girls volleyball team after it fell to Liberty in the final.

This year, the Trojans are one victory away from beginning a new streak as they take on the top seed and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champion Emmaus in the championship match Thursday night.

The first step toward the final for third-seeded Parkland was a straight-set victory over the sixth seed, Pocono Mountain East, last Thursday night at Parkland High School. Scores of the match were 25-13, 25-10, 25-17.

The attack was led by 14 kills from Kasia Burda, who also had a team-best four blocks and two digs. Both Riley Schilling and Sami Walls finished with eight kills, with Walls also adding six digs and two blocks. Gabby Nissen recorded three kills and two digs. Alex Serina tallied 21 assists and four digs. Chloe Coonradt notched a team-high 21 digs and Zoey Leach also had double-figure digs with 11.

Tuesday at Catasauqua High School, the Trojans went the distance and upset second-seeded Freedom 3-2 by scores of 25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 21-25, 15-7.

When it looked like Parkland would have an easy night with another straight set win, the Patriots responded with their backs against the wall and made Parkland work all the way until the very end to earn the victory.