Parkland’s girls volleyball team were crowned Eastern Pennsylvania Conference champions after sweeping Bethlehem Catholic, 25-22, 25-22, 26-24, on Oct. 22 at Northampton High School.

Bethlehem Catholic took early and significant leads in the first two sets, but the Trojans came back in each.

“They have that intensity in their heart,” said Parkland coach Mike Krause. “They’re coaching themselves in a huddle. They’re giving each other feedback, which was relevant and important, so that was pretty neat. The work these girls put in and the resilience they demonstrated is so rewarding as a coach.”

Bethlehem Catholic threatened to take the match to a fourth set with two leads and two ties late in the third, but Parkland outside hitter Riley Schilling closed the door on the Hawks with back to back kills for the victory.

“I knew my team counted on me to score those last two points, and it felt good, and I’m just glad we got to end those two points with the win,” Schilling said. “You know, I kept on saying to my team, we’re not done yet. They may have gotten a point, but we keep on pushing and persevering through those hard moments. Yeah, they might have been up for a little bit, but coming back and finding our momentum, getting that back. Like, OK, well, let’s take control of the first ball, and then second ball. Let’s just get it to someone who we know can get that ball in play. but also trusting everyone on the court.”

While the Trojans were playing with power for points, the Golden Hawks used a variety of return angles to score.

“Developing power was gonna be critical, we thought, for us to be successful because that’s something we take a lot of pride in, and I think that helped us,” said Coach Krause. “We had, initially, difficulty making the adjustment when they were doing their off-speed stuff, but we saw it on tape, and we trained it, and then getting accustomed to the environment and the championship, we settled down, and we were able to move freely.”

In the first set, Bethlehem Catholic took a 9-5 lead on a tremendous dig by Madeline Ahner followed by a kill from Zoey Praedin.

Parkland won a long rally to tie, 10-10, but the Hawks took back the lead on a tip, a kill to the back corner, and a crosscourt by Jocelyn Bell.

But Becahi’s 16-13 lead flipped to a 20-17 advantage for the Trojans on a kill by Chloe Coonradt.

“We do practice coming back from that and trying to sustain when things are going well,” said Krause, “so we felt that it’s got to get to 25. It doesn’t matter how it’s gonna happen. It could be in runs, it could be point by point, and that was our mindset.”

The Hawks tried to save the set on a block by Piper Ruggiero and Anna Schwartz, but were behind, 21-24.

Another point gave Bethlehem Catholic hope, but the Trojans ended the set with the win.

The Hawks jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second set, but again, Parkland rallied back for another victory.

Gabrielle Nissen led the Trojans in kills with 12.

“I just think it was a great fight,” Nissen said. “I think that definitely, we did a good job of reading what they like, where the court was open, so that we could get those kills. I think that we did a good job reading them so that we can get those balls up.”

Bethlehem Catholic coach Jessica Attieh applauded Parkland’s play while expressing pride for her Hawks.

“Parkland did a very good job of keeping their serves and still serving very aggressive,” she said. “It’s just hard for us to get out of rotations, offensively. Their defense was just doing such a great job.

I honestly just told the girls, being the smallest school in the league, playing the biggest school in the league, and making it this far three years in a row just shows how tenacious they are and how much of fighters they are. I really look forward to playing in districts where we play other big schools and hopefully eventually meet big schools in states.”