SOUTH DEERFIELD – The Amherst Regional girls volleyball team stormed past Frontier, 3-0, at Goodnow Gymnasium on Tuesday in each squad’s 2025 season opener.
The Hurricanes won in straight sets by scores of 25-12, 25-20, 25-16 to notch win No. 1 on the season.
“Amazing work out there,” Amherst head coach Kody Crawford said. “They kept pushing. They didn’t let in, even when we were up, we pushed hard.”
A lengthy serve streak from Amherst’s Rowan Albertson during the first set put the visitors in the driver’s seat right away. Coupled with several instances of miscommunication from Frontier during that span allowed Amherst to cruise to the set-advantage relatively quickly.
“I thought Rowan Albertson’s serves were on fire tonight,” Crawford said. “She led the team in that [category].”
The Redhawks were much cleaner during the second set as their mistakes were minimized and it translated on the scoreboard. The score was even 20-20 during the middle frame — off the backs of a couple of extended volleys that the hosts took advantage of — however the Hurricanes’ sharpness in serves proved to be Frontier’s Achilles’ heel all match long.
“I think we finally got in a good rhythm, took some good swings and made a lot less errors,” Redhawks head coach Courtney Parent said. “That first set really killed us. We made a lot of service errors and a lot of passing errors. I think we got out of our own way a little bit in that set too.
“Amherst did a great job tonight,” Parent added. “They’re definitely going to be a team that’s top in our league. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and the next time that we play them and even now and our next game.”
The third set mirrored the first as the Hurricanes charged out to a multi-point lead early in the period and never let Frontier get within striking distance. Kiko Bhowmik had the hot hand, but the entire team’s improvement in its blocks throughout the contest stood out to Crawford after the final whistle was blown.
“I thought we progressed in our blocking throughout the night,” Crawford said. “All around, just an amazing start to a great season, I think.”
Tuesday’s win marked Amherst’s first victory against the Redhawks since 2023 as Frontier won both matchups last season.
Cadence Martin was all over the court for Frontier in the defeat, garnering three kills, nine assists and five digs. Greta Hale led the Redhawks in kills (five) while Kaelyn Johnson paced the hosts in digs (seven).
Sixteen reception errors spelled trouble for Frontier though as it fell to 0-1.
Longmeadow will count as both team’s next opponent. The Hurricanes will host the Lancers on Thursday at 6 p.m., while the Redhawks will have to wait until Friday when Longmeadow travels to Goodnow Gym for a 6 p.m. start.