Amherst Regional High School is the clear favorite to win the Western Massachusetts Division II Tournament this year. Frontier Regional School saw first-hand why the Hurricanes are that good.
The Hurricanes used their offensive consistency with solid serving and near-flawless defense to cruise to a 25-13, 25-16, 25-15 PVIAC Eastern Division girls’ volleyball victory over the Red Hawks Wednesday night at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.
“They have good servers, good hitters, and they’re just older and more poised than us right now,” Frontier coach Sean MacDonald said of Amherst, which moved to 17-0 overall and 7-0 in the East. “Where they are this year is where we’ve been in previous years.”
Lauren Davenport led Frontier with 6 kills, 7 digs and 2 aces. Ella Deane dished out 13 assists, and Selayna Bathurst had 3 aces and 3 kills. Bri Thurber collected 7 digs, Penelope Hosley contributed 4 kills and Hailey Orloski chipped in 3 kills.
“We’re going through some growing pains but I’m proud of them because we’re getting better every day,” said MacDonald. “We’re just working on consistency. If we can qualify for Western Mass. (by beating Southwick-Tolland Regional High School), it’s going to be a nice change to play some Division III teams.”
Frontier (5-11, 1-5 East) hosts Hopkinton High School Monday at 6 p.m.
Athol 3, Mohawk 1 — Athol High School clinched the outright Northern Division title Wednesday as it downed Mohawk Trail Regional High School, 25-13, 22-25, 25-11, 25-19, in a PVIAC North girls’ volleyball match Wednesday at Mallet Gymnasium in Athol.
Hope Parker led the Red Raiders (14-2, 9-0 North) with 13 kills, 6 digs and 1 block. Julia Ramos totaled 5 aces and 17 assists, Jess Soucie had 10 kills and 6 digs, and Abby Leadbetter chipped in 3 aces and 4 digs.
Lexi Mazza finished with 12 kills, 12 digs and 1 ace, and McKenzie Mayhew had 4 kills, 19 digs and 1 ace for the Warriors (5-9, 3-4).
Mahar 3, Smith Voke 2 — Aria Flematti dished 11 assists and had 3 digs to help Mahar Regional School outlast Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10, in an independent girls’ volleyball match Wednesday in Northampton.
Ava Santana collected 7 kills and 3 digs, Maeve Powell had 8 kills, Lauren Henne totaled 16 digs and 3 aces, and Carissa Johnson had 5 aces and 3 digs for the Senators.
Lee 3, Turners 0 — Lee High School won its 15th straight match Wednesday with a 25-14, 25-14, 26-24 win over Turners Falls High School in independent girls’ volleyball action Wednesday in Turners Falls.
Sienna Dillensneider finished with 10 assists, 4 aces, 3 digs and 1 kill to lead the Indians. Tess Hunter totaled 3 aces, 2 kills and 1 block, Jordyn Fiske added 5 kills and 1 ace, and Adrianna Dimaio collected 8 digs.
Turners Falls (8-8) hosts Agawam High School today at 5 p.m.
Pioneer 5, FC Tech 1 — Jess Scoville’s natural hat trick powered Pioneer Valley Regional School over Franklin County Technical School, 5-1, in a Western Division field hockey game Wednesday in Turners Falls.
Scoville scored all three goals in a 10-minute span of the first half. Sydney Unaitis notched an assist.
Elizabeth Sweeney and Makayla Glazier (from Jenny Fuller) had second-half tallies, while Kristin Slowinski score the lone Eagles goal, assisted by Ashlee Townsley.
Steph Scoville made 6 saves for Pioneer, which held a 22-7 edge in shots and 13-4 in corners. Kailynn Mason-Emond had 17 stops for Franklin Tech, which hosts Southwick-Tolland Regional High School Friday at 4 p.m.
Holyoke 5, Turners 2 — Bella Courchesne racked up three goals and one assist to lead Holyoke High School over Turners Falls, 5-2, in a West field hockey game Wednesday night in Holyoke.
Sarah Healy and Katie Keane each added one goal and one assist for the Purple Knights (11-3-1, 10-0-0).
Cassidhe Wozniak and Aly Murphy each scored a goal and Hattie Harvey added an assist for the Indians, while Haleigh Greene made 14 saves in goal.
Frontier 4, Palmer 0 — Skyla Burniske turned aside all 4 shots she faced to lead Frontier Regional School to a 4-0 independent field hockey win over Palmer High School on Wednesday in Palmer.
Ashley Borkowski netted the first Red Hawks goal 5:07 into the contest, assisted by Alexis Ackerman. Kim Asseng upped the lead to 2-0 with 3:48 left in the half. Lilly Spencer had the helper.
Camille Alli added another insurance tally with 2:37 remaining in the contest, and she assisted Kathryn Mason’s marker with 10 seconds left.
Frontier outshot the Panthers, 14-2, and held a 14-2 advantage in corners.
Frontier (12-1-2) is scheduled to play at Greenfield High School tonight at 6:30, weather permitting.
Narragansett 2, Mahar 1 — A goal in each half helped Narragansett Regional High School edge Mahar, 2-1, in an independent field hockey game Wednesday at the Woodward Complex in Orange.
Kadie Jillson put the Senators up 1-0 with 4:39 in the first half, assisted by Erin Sandova, but the Warriors responded with Allison Lashua’s tying tally with 14 seconds left before intermission.
Taylor Elmore, who assisted on Lashua’s goal, scored the eventual game-winner early in the second half.
Hampshire 22, Mohawk 2 — Garrett Antosz shot a 41 and took 4 points to lead Hampshire Regional High School to a 22-2 independent golf win over Mohawk Wednesday at Beaver Brook Golf Course in Williamsburg.
Andy Robertson and Riley DuPree each took 1 points for the Warriors.