One more mountain to climb. One more stern test to pass.
And it’s not going to be easy — not by a long shot.
Frontier Regional School — with no seniors and no postseason experience as recently as a week ago — is one step away from completing the most unlikely run to a Western Massachusetts championship by a local team in any sport.
The Red Hawks, who have won 11 consecutive WMass titles, will try to make it 12 in a row when they take on top-seeded Lee High School in the finals of the WMass Division III Girls’ Volleyball Tournament today at 4 p.m. at Holyoke Community College’s David M. Bartley Center.
The Red Hawks (10-13) have won a three-set match, a tight four-setter and an intense five-setter to reach the finals. Add in what was arguably the toughest regular season schedule any WMass school has ever faced, and they’re about as battle tested as an inexperienced squad can be.
The Wildcats (20-2) are a deserving top seed, and they were in the exact spot last year when they were swept by the Red Hawks in the final — one senior, and all of their key players returning.
Now that the roles are reversed, can Lee reverse the result? With a five-set regular season over Frontier win under its collective belts, the confidence is certainly there. But head coach John Warner knows his opponents will give the Wildcats everything they can handle, for as long as it takes.
Lee, which possesses a significant height advantage in this matchup, runs a standard 5-1 offense with Kendra Williams running the show.
Williams is one of four seniors — middle hitter Haleigh Richardson and outside hitter Shenna Tyer are the top front line threats, and Angelique Nejaime is the Wildcats’ defensive standout.
Junior left-hander Ahna Schlaefer is another option at the net from her right side hitter spot, and sophomore Bailey Thomas added height in the middle. Junior Lydia Morawiec also sees plenty of playing time as a hitter, and sophomore Anna Wang is the libero.
“Tyer, Thomas, and Richardson are offensive threats and put up challenging blocks for our hitters,” offered Frontier head coach Sean MacDonald. “Schlaefer is a capable hitting threat with a different look being a lefty. Wang is a stellar defender who will keep many balls off the floor to give the hitters extra swings. Williams does a nice job running the offense and distributing the ball to an array of hitters across all areas of the net.”
Frontier lost 9 of 10 matches after a 4-2 start, but was able to use that experience to advance to today’s match.
Ironically, the Red Hawks’ 13 losses are nearly as many as they’ve suffered between the 2007-2015 seasons combined (14).
“I knew this would be a challenging season,” admitted MacDonald. “We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress since late August. The girls have put in lots of hours in the gym and on long bus rides all over the state, from Williamstown to Barnstable.”
MacDonald knows that, with no senior, this team is a project that will not be finished this year, regardless of today’s outcome.
“Some will say, ‘Frontier is in the final again. What else is new?’ but for this team, it is a big accomplishment to be playing (today). Even with our graduation losses and our youth, we have the ability to win if we play well.
“We’re getting a little better every day,” he added. “We gained some great playoff experience with the win against Athol and the come-from-behind, five-set win at Mount Greylock. We can’t buy that kind of experience and it is invaluable moving forward.”
That experience comes from the tireless efforts of those who had to fill some big shoes from last year.
Junior setter Ella Deane has taken over as one of the primary leaders on the young squad, and her 44-assists, 9-dig, 3-ace effort in the semifinals was arguably her best performance of the season.
She’s been able to help hitters Lauren Davenport, Selayna Bathurst and Hailey Orloski and middle hitter Grace Randall develop more consistency throughout the season, as well as middle hitters Penelope Hosley and Ashley Telega, and outside hitter Olivia Deane. Bri Thurber and Sarah Zoly has been the catalysts on defense.
“I’m impressed with the poise of our team in tough situations,” said MacDonald. “These girls have been at very close matches in the past, but they haven’t been playing in those matches until this year. It’s impressive and I’m very proud of the progress of my whole team.”