AMHERST — Losing a heart-wrenching Western Massachusetts final to Longmeadow left the Amherst Regional volleyball team with a hangover to start the Division 2 state tournament.
The 28th-seeded Hurricanes trailed No. 37 Chelsea 18-14 approaching crunch time of the first set Tuesday at home. A few Red Devils servers were giving Amherst trouble, and the Hurricanes were committing too many unforced errors.
“They had to adapt to the new style of play. Once they figured them out, they were able to start adapting to that and adjusting,” Amherst coach Kacey Schmitt said. “I think they needed to start seeing that they deserve to be in the state tournament, that they deserved to be a seeded team and get that confidence back. When they lost the Western Mass finals in kind of excruciating fashion, I think they had to regroup a little bit.”
The Hurricanes found their groove through communication. They rattled off eight points in a row and never looked back. Amherst won the match 3-0 to advance to the Round of 32. No. 5 Melrose awaits at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“In volleyball, it’s hard to stay up at one level of play on one side of the net when the other is playing a different kind of free ball game,” Schmitt said. “I feel like Melrose is going to give us a huge challenge but I also feel like it’s going to help us step up and play more of the kind of game we’re capable of playing. We’re the lower seed, the pressure’s on them.”
Amherst felt the pressure early against Chelsea but responded to it comfortably. The Hurricanes outscored the Red Devils 11-2 to close the third set 25-20, gaining the final point on a rotation error.
Amherst setter Annabel Ogden looked to outside hitter Nicole Lambert often. Lambert finished with a team-high 11 kills and added seven digs with four aces.
Final: Amherst 3, Chelsea 0. Canes win the third set 25-10 to advance to the round of 32. NO. 5 melrose next pic.twitter.com/fYNhgzlD9J
— Kyle Grabowski👑 (@kylegrbwsk) November 3, 2021
“I think we were just off the first set, people were tired. It took us a minute,” Lambert said. “We just had to gather ourselves.”
The Hurricanes claimed the second set 25-15 and closed the match 25-10 in Set 3. Chelsea fought off two match points to keep its season alive before an Audrey Bowen kill ended the night.
Bowen finished with seven kills and teamed with fellow middle blocker Delaney MacPhetres (six kills, three blocks) to control the net.
“They definitely create a strong line of defense and offense, which is really great, especially when we have two middles on the court at the same time,” said Ogden, who added 29 assists and four aces.
Amherst libero Liza Beigel pulled up nine digs and added five aces.
Now the Hurricanes will turn their attention to Melrose, which last played Friday when it beat Central Catholic in five sets. The Red Raiders (18-2) have won nine of their past 10 matches.
“I was very happy we got a preliminary round game so we could get some of that confidence back that we’ve had all year and start playing back in the kind of game that we know we can play,” Schmitt said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.