Maeve Powell paced the offense with seven kills, and host Mahar Regional School came away with an impressive sweep in its season-opener on Tuesday.
The Senators held on in three tight sets, sweeping Chicopee High School, 25-23, 26-24, 25-20, in the independent volleyball match at Grzesik-Bixby Gymnasium in Orange.
Powell recorded three aces and three digs for the Senators (1-0), which avenged last year’s 3-0 loss to Chicopee. Lauren Henne and Carissa Johnson had five aces apiece as Mahar registered an impressive 18 on the night.
Sophia Smith added three kills and an ace in the win, while Ava Santana had two kills. Setter Aria Flematti dished out 11 assists.
The defense was powered by Henne (five digs) and Johnson (four digs).
Mahar hosts Belchertown High School on Thursday.
South Hadley 3, Athol 2 — A valiant comeback fell just a few points short, as Athol High School charged back from an 0-2 hole to force a decisive fifth set but ultimately couldn’t finish things off Tuesday night. Visiting South Hadley High School held on to capture a 25-16, 25-17, 23-25, 16-25, 17-15 independent victory at Mallet Gymnasium.
“The girls stayed mentally strong and kept their passing up to take Games 3 and 4,” lauded Athol coach Nick Savoie. “We almost got the fifth but couldn’t quite do it.”
Julia Ramos paced the Red Raiders (0-1) with six kills, five aces and four digs, while Page Truehart notched five kills, four aces and a pair of digs. Alexis Carrasquillo put down four kills to go with five aces, while Hannah Lajoie added four kills of her own.
Athol travels to Pioneer Valley Regional School Thursday for its Northern Division opener.
Belchertown 3, Mohawk 1 — Setter Ashley Reynolds put together a huge night with 50 assists, but visiting Mohawk Trail Regional High School dropped its opener to Belchertown High School Tuesday evening. The Orioles captured the independent win via scores of 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-17.
Lexi Mazza paced the offense with 14 kills and added two blocks and four aces for the Warriors (0-1), while Gabby Shean tossed in nine kills and four digs. Julia Massy filled up the scoresheet with four kills, four aces, four assists and three digs.
Mohawk hosts Sabis International Charter School in its home opener Thursday night in Buckland.
Turners 3, Easthampton 1 — Sienna Dillensneider had three aces, 13 assists and five kills to help Turners Falls High School get off to a solid start to the season with a 25-17, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23 victory over Easthampton High School in independent action Wednesday in Easthampton.
“It was a great match between both teams,” Turners coach Kelly Liimatainen said. “They set the standards high for the rest of the season.”
Taylor Murphy led the team with 10 kills to go with four aces and five digs for Turners Falls. Abby Loynd finished with five kills, eight digs and two aces, and Adrianna DiMaio collected 16 digs and two aces.
Sabis 3, Pioneer 0 — Annika Tormanen had 12 digs and eight aces on Tuesday but Pioneer Valley Regional School suffered a season-opening 25-12, 25-19, 25-22 loss to Sabis International Charter School in an independent girls’ volleyball match in Springfield.
Kiana McGraw had four kills, two aces and three blocked shots for Pioneer, while Avery Johnson had eight assists and three aces.
PV Christian 3, FC Tech 0 — Jocelyn Holloway smacked five aces, but host Pioneer Valley Christian School opened its season with a 25-16, 25-15, 25-21 sweep over Franklin County Technical School in a Metro Division match Tuesday in Springfield.
Holloway added two kills and two digs for the Eagles (0-1, 0-1), while Reagan Fiske recorded five digs and tossed in an ace.
Tech hosts Southwick High School Thursday in its home opener.
Hampshire 13½, Frontier 10½ — The 1-2 tandem of Mikey Corduff and Bryan Baumann took 6½ out of eight possible points, but visiting Frontier Regional School was unable to tame Beaver Brook Golf Course in a season-opening 13½-10½ loss to host Hampshire Regional High School in a Suburban West golf match Tuesday in Williamsburg.
Corduff took medalist honors in the No. 1 spot with a 42, earning the freshman 3½ points against Hampshire’s Garrett Antosz. Baumann won three points after firing a 49 at No. 2.
Rowan Blair added three points for Frontier (0-1, 0-1) at No. 4, shooting a 48.
The Red Hawks are slated to host Amherst High School today.
Palmer 15, Pioneer 3 — Rain cut play down to just six holes on Tuesday, but visiting Palmer High School had more than enough scoring to hold off Pioneer Valley Regional School, 15-3, in Suburban West action at Northfield Golf Course.
Pioneer’s Kyle Maynard was the medalist with a six-hole total of 25. Maynard took 2½ points from Palmer’s Matt Bachand at No. 1.
Jake Fuller took the other one-half point for the Panthers (0-1, 0-1), carding a total of 31.
Chris Knight holed out from the fairway on the sixth hole for his first birdie in a match.
Mahar 13, Hopkins 11 — Mahar Regional School got 11 points from its bottom three golfers on Tuesday afternoon to get past Hopkins Academy, 13-11, in a Suburban West golf match at Hickory Ridge Golf Course in Amherst.
Tucker Ninteau took three points at the fourth spot with a 46, and because Hopkins Academy did not have a fifth or sixth golfer to fill out the card, Mahar took four points from both spots.
Brandon Green also captured 1½ points for Mahar at the third spot.
Gansett 2, Mahar 0 — Emma Tallman had one goal and one assist Tuesday and Narragansett Regional High School defeated Mahar, 2-0, in an independent field hockey game in Baldwinville.
Narragansett outshot the Senators, 17-0, and also outcornered the Senators by the same numbers. Hannah Birch stood tall in the Mahar net, stopping 15 shots.
“She played awesome today,” Mahar coach Laurie Saisa said of her goalie. “She was diving around on the ground and she had some aerial saves.”
Tallman put Narragansett up 1-0 with 9 minutes, eight seconds left in the first half when she buried a pass from Abby Celata off a corner play. Tallman then set up the second goal of the game midway through the second half scored by Amber Eaton.
Mahar hosts Franklin County Technical School Friday afternoon.