AMHERST - Amherst Regional coach Kacey Schmitt was nervous for a moment as she watched senior Jamie Hoyle hobbling toward the Hurricane bench in game three of Tuesday's Western Massachusetts Division 2 Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal.

Schmitt remembered all too well Hoyle's unsuccessful attempt to play through the flu when Amherst fell to the same Westfield team in the same round of the tournament in the same gym last year. Losing her again was not an appetizing prospect.

But Schmitt's fears of a twisted ankle or worse were unfounded. A little stretching, a little rubbing and a lot of purple Gatorade took care of the pesky cramp during a timeout and then Hoyle took care of Westfield.

She was as dominant, if not more so, after the cramp scare and led the No. 3-seeded Hurricanes past No. 6 Westfield 20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-9.

Amherst (15-4) will play undefeated and No. 2 Mount Greylock Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Williamstown.

"It really hurt," Hoyle said. "But I definitely didn't want to come out, so I tried my best to play through it."

Hearing it was a cramp relieved Schmitt.

"I was less nervous when I found out it was a cramp than when I saw her almost go down and start limping," Schmitt said. "I was worried she'd twisted an ankle because it was right after she had dove for a ball. She came back more determined. She wasn't going to let a cramp keep us from winning."

At the outset it looked like the Bombers, whom Amherst edged in five games during the regular season, might upset the Hurricanes as they jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the first game. But Amherst settled down and scored eight straight points to tie the game. Westfield recovered to win 25-20, but the Hurricanes took momentum into game two.

"Losing the first game gave us more momentum because we knew we had to come out stronger," said Hoyle, who had 19 kills, two aces, 10 blocks and 16 digs. "I think it helped us come back stronger. It showed we can come back if we need to."

Westfield took an early 4-2 lead in the second, but on the strength of Sarah Krasnik's serving and Hoyle's hammer, Amherst scored 13 straight points and withstood a Bomber surge to win 25-17.

"We finally got the jitters out. We were too pumped," Schmitt said. "Once we settled down we started playing our game."

The Hurricanes opened an early 10-2 lead in game three before Westfield scored six straight right before and after Hoyle's cramp. But Amherst recovered and Haley Parker delivered the game-winning kill to bring the Hurricanes to the brink of advancing.

Hoyle made her final game in her final match in her home gym a memorable one. She had three loud kills as Amherst jumped out to a 7-0 lead and then served six straight points, including two aces, as the Hurricanes never let Westfield get close in the final game.

"We were very motivated. We played them last year in the quarterfinals and lost and we really wanted to come out and win it," Hoyle said.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.