The Frontier Regional girls volleyball team will enter the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament looking for its fifth straight title as the No. 1 seed and a lot of confidence with an undefeated record in regular-season play.

The Red Hawks (18-0) defeated defending state Division 3 champion Millis 3-1 Tuesday night.

"That was a huge win for us," said Red Hawks coach Sean MacDonald. "Playing from behind was something we hadn't done much of this year; it was good to get some experience."

Frontier won its fourth straight sectional championship in 2008, but graduated nine seniors, including three all-state players.

"We really only have three returning starters," said MacDonald. "Cassidy Stankowski, Kendra Ouimette, and Amanda Dacyczyn are all captains, and their experience is huge. Their leadership is very visible on and off the court."

The Red Hawks have a first-round bye in the 13-team tournament, and will host either No. 8 Mahar (11-8) or No. 9 Mount Greylock (12-6) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Monday.

The Mounties are at the Senators in the first-round match at 7 p.m. Friday.

Frontier has defeated Mahar twice this season by 3-0 scores, and has not faced Mount Greylock.

"It's unfortunate," said MacDonald. "I really prefer to know what I'm up against. I hate playing against teams I haven't seen before."

The Red Hawks, have played in two invitational tournaments, with teams from Massachusetts and elsewhere. Those results do not count in their regular-season record.

"Those tournaments are a huge help," said MacDonald. "We get used to playing all the western mass teams, its nice to see some teams we haven't seen yet and learn from that."

The Red Hawks will aim to improve on their state tournament performance last year, when they lost 3-1 to North Reading in the semifinals.

The two Hampshire County teams in the Division 3 tournament are Easthampton (No. 10, 15-5) and Belchertown (No. 13, 10-10).

The Eagles will play at No. 7 Wahconah (13-5) in Dalton in a first-round match at 7 p.m. Friday.

Easthampton has been eliminated in the first round during the past two years, including a 3-0 loss to Pioneer Christian in 2008.

"It's going to be nice playing a team we haven't seen before," said Eagles coach Molly Jacobson. "This way, we'll be able to focus just on our side of the net, and not worry about how to adjust to them. Sometimes it's good not knowing anything about the other team."

Jacobson said her team is optimistic coming off a 3-1 loss to No. 2 Lee (18-0) on Friday.

The Orioles also enter the tournament with confidence.

"The last two weeks or so have really been an eye-opener," said Belchertown coach Scott Poulin.

The Orioles dropped their last four matches against Mahar, No. 6 Pioneer (13-7), No. 3 Ware (14-3), and Division 2 opponent East Longmeadow (8-10). "We played some good teams and came out looking pretty good," said Poulin. "A lot of those games could have gone either way."

Belchertown plays a first-round match at No. 4 Monument Mountain (15-4) in Great Barrington at 7 p.m. Friday.

Division 2

Amherst Regional (14-3) earned the No. 3 seed in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament and will host a quarterfinal match at 7 p.m. Tuesday against No. 6 Westfield (10-10).

The Hurricanes twice swept the Bombers 3-0 during the regular season.

If Amherst wins again, it would advance to face either No. 2 West Springfield (19-1) or No. 7 Commerce (11-9) in the semifinals on Thursday.

The Hurricanes lost a five-set match to the Terriers during the regular season and did not play the red Raiders.

Amherst is confident, having defeated No. 1 Longmeadow (16-2) in a five-set match on the road Oct. 9.

"Longmeadow, West Springfield, and Amherst are all very evenly matched," said Hurricanes coach Kacey Schmitt. "If it gets down to those three teams, it's just going to come down to whoever comes out to play that night."

Schmitt's team is experienced.

"Six of my seven starters are seniors," she said. "They are committed and battle-tested."

Led by seniors Sonia Brown, Ashley Fuller, and Jennie Rogers, the Hurricanes will look to get past their 3-1 semifinal exit to East Longmeadow in last year's tournament.