While the Mohawk Trail girls volleyball team beat Turners Falls twice in the regular season, and in the Western Mass. Class D semifinals, all three matches were competitive throughout. 

It was only fitting the two Northern League foes got a chance to play for a fourth time on Saturday in the MIAA Division 5 Round of 32. 

The Thunder held 2-0 leads in both regular season matchups against the Warriors only to see Mohawk Trail rally back to win the final three sets to ultimately take the Northern League crown.

The script flipped on Saturday, as 15th-seeded Turners found itself trailing the 18th-seeded Warriors two sets to none. Like Mohawk Trail did to the Thunder in the regular season however, the Thunder rallied to win the third and fourth and force a fifth set. 

Turners kept the momentum going and took the fifth, advancing in the state tourney with a 3-2 victory in Turners Falls. 

Set scores were 22-25, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13. 

“We executed a different game plan, adjusted some things from last time and the kids played really well,” Turners Falls coach Kelly Liimatainen said. “Props to Mohawk, too. They played very hard. It’s two very evenly-matched teams.”

Madi Liimatainen put down 15 kills to go with four aces and three digs to pace the Thunder. Maddie Dietz went for three kills and five aces, while dishing out 16 assists in a busy all-around outing, and Tatiana Carr Williams added four aces and one kill. Maddie Haight also keyed the win at the service line for Turners.

Turners (15-6) will face the winner of Monday’s match between No. 2 Whitinsville Christian and No. 31 Georgetown in the Round of 16. The Thunder beat Whitinsville Christian in the state tournament two years ago.

Palmer King had 16 kills, 10 assists and 12 digs, Emma Canaday tallied six kills and seven assists, Emmalee Inman recorded four aces and one kill, Megan Gabree had three kills while Jade Wheeler came up with 21 digs for Mohawk Trail (16-2). 

“Down 2-0, I think their heads were down a bit but we just told them, ‘this is it, this is do or die’ and they kind of came alive,” Liimatainen said    of her club.

Boys soc  cer

Div. 5 prelims

Turner s 1, Cape Cod Tech 0 – The 37th-seeded Thunder sprung the road upset, taking the long ride to Harwich on Sunday and capturing a 1-0 win over No. 29 Cape Cod Tech in a preliminary round game.

Turners improved to 9-5 with the win, setting up a spot in the Round of 32 on Tuesday at No. 5 Maynard (4:30 p.m.).

Pioneer 8, Neighborhood House 0 – The 23rd-seeded Panthers netted just one goal in the first half before erupting for seven goals in the final 40 minutes of action to run away with a victory over 42nd-seeded Neighborhood House on Sunday in Northfield. 

Alex McClelland opened the scoring in the 32nd minute off an assist from Judah Glenn before Glenn scored his second one minute into the second half off a dish from Matan Lerman-Smith. 

Redeker then scored on a corner sent in by Lerman-Smith and Redeker added a free kick goal in the 54th that gave Pioneer a 4-0 lead. Glenn followed with three goals — giving him four on the game — before Brody Welcome closed out the scoring. Lerman Smith, Redeker and McClelland had the assists on Glenn’s tallies. 

Pioneer (17-1-2) will play at No. 10 Brighton in the Div. 5 Round of 32 on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Girls soccer

Div. 4 prelims

Frontier 4, Carver 2 – The Redhawks went on the road Sunday and sprung the upset, taking down No. 31 Carver in the MIAA Div. 4 preliminary round.

No. 34 Frontier improved to 14-5 overall. The Hawks will travel to No. 2 Hamilton-Wenham (14-0-4) for a challenging Round of 32 game on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.