SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier boys volleyball team knew it had a gauntlet of a schedule to get through this week. 

The Redhawks hosted West Springfield — which reached the MIAA Div. 2 quarterfinals last spring — on Tuesday, and on Thursday, Frontier will welcome Westfield — the defending Div. 2 champions — at Goodnow Gymnasium. 

The Terriers handled the Redhawks on Tuesday, showcasing why they’re a state championship contender following a 25-14, 25-18, 25-13 sweep over Frontier. But for Redhawk coaches Sean MacDonald and Courtney Parent, it’s about learning from these matches against some of the best competition Western Mass. has to offer. 

“It’s good to see those teams because that’s what we want this program to become,” Parent said. “Sean said that earlier in the day. That’s the end goal but we’re still only in our fourth season having a team here. In our first season, we wouldn’t have been able to compete like that against West Side. West Side is a team to reckon with this year.” 

After capturing Western Mass. Class C titles each of their first two seasons with a team, the Redhawks (2-2) bumped up to the East Division last year, which features Central, Putnam, Belchertown and Longmeadow. That gave Frontier a much tougher schedule than it had played the prior two seasons. 

Being in the East means the Redhawks have to play crossover matches with the North, which is made up of Westfield, Agawam, Chicopee Comp, Minnechaug, Ludlow and West Springfield. 

With such a new program, it was inevitable that Frontier would have some tough tilts against the best Western Mass. has to offer, but MacDonald said it’s all about learning from these kind of contests. 

“After our second year, going up a league with this scheduling formula pushed us a little too much into the deep end of the pool,” MacDonald said. “We certainly wanted a more competitive schedule than the first two years but we didn’t know what we’d have these next few years. You’re scheduling in the blind and doing it for two years. We would have liked to bump it up but now we’re taking on the state champs. Next week we have Agawam who won states the year before. We’ve got a tough schedule.”

It’s also a new-look Frontier. Tavo Vincent Warner, who had 15 assists and one kill on Tuesday against the Terriers, is back at setter but it’s a much different team around him. 

Nate Rivera led the way with six kills on Tuesday, Tegan Dexter put down four kills, Will Reading tallied three kills while Will Petrin added two kills in the loss. MacDonald said that players are still adjusting to new positions and different spots on the court. 

“We have guys doing different jobs,” MacDonald said. “We lost [Aleks Carey and Jack Carey], lost Theo [Sargent]. We’re still figuring out who is going to do what. We have seen a lot of growth and the guys are working hard at practice trying to learn all the things we’re teaching them. The game happened fast today. That’s faster than we can simulate in practice. It’s hard to prepare for that because we can’t do what they’ve just done.” 

Holyoke 3, Athol 2 — The Purple Knights outlasted the Bears in an independent contest at Mallet Gymnasium on Tuesday.