Just two years ago, the Belchertown girls volleyball team was in the midst of having one of the program’s worst seasons in recent memory. 

The Orioles finished the 2021-22 season without a single win, struggling to even make it to the finish line. 

That season was one the Orioles wanted to forget. This year, Belchertown is having a season worth remembering, thanks in large part to a senior class that stuck around during the tough times to take the program back to new heights. 

The Orioles are sitting with an impressive 12-6 record following Wednesday’s loss to Fronter in the Western Mass. Class B semifinals. They bested Taconic 3-1 in the quarters to advance onward, and watching Belchertown play now is a night and day difference from two years ago. 

“I think that our team atmosphere has grown enormously,” senior Paige Magner said. “I remember years before, you would just look at the sideline and everybody would be so down, everybody on the court would be so down. But now we have such a better mentality of picking ourselves back up and picking everybody else up too.”

There were flashes of brilliance from Belchertown last season – after starting 0-5, the Orioles won their last four regular season matches, including two five-set thrillers, to make it to the western Mass. tournament. Seeded fifth, they defeated N0. 4 Putnam to earn a spot in the semifinals, but it seemed like that might be the end of their western Mass. run – they were facing No. 1 Wahconah.

It would have been easy for the Orioles to pack it in early. Just getting any wins would have been an improvement from the previous year, and they already had an upset win against Putnam. Taking down Wahconah, the top seed, just one year removed from their winless season? Maybe next year. 

Instead, Belchertown buckled down and stole the first two sets from the Warriors before holding on in an epic five-set win that the current seniors and head coach, Melissa Gramuglia, say is one of the most memorable moments of their volleyball careers. 

“If you told me that's how it was gonna end, I would have been like ‘Oh, maybe,’” Gramuglia said. “What the girls were able to do, I mean, beating Wahconah at Wahconah, that was honestly the highlight of my career.”

That win, more than anything else, showed Belchertown that it can be serious contenders. The players have been putting in the work to improve their games, playing in the offseason and staying in shape so that they went into the season more prepared than they did before. Senior Jordyn Hunter credited the team’s junior varsity program with helping set up its current players for success, and fellow senior Bethany Lavoie also cited the team’s competitiveness as a factor in its improvement.

“I think just the will to want to get better... seeing other teams, seeing athletes that are way better than you, and that push to want to be like them, I think that's influenced me playing all season,” Lavoie said.

That will to get better has been rewarding for Gramuglia to watch. Some of the players on the varsity team now were fifth graders at clinics that Gramuglia coached; to see them grow and evolve into the players they are today is a full circle moment for the head coach.

“The game is fun, and for whatever magical reason they see it when they're playing and they want more. A lot of them play in the offseason and they're forgoing some of their other sports – I don't tell them to do that – they're really investing and trusting their process,” Gramuglia said. “It feels good to see the kids that I've known since they were in elementary school now that they play for me, it's exciting.”

They love the game, and they definitely love the wins, but when asked about what has given them the palpable confidence that fans and opponents alike see when the Orioles take the court, the answer is simple – Belchertown’s players love each other, and it is their friendship and connection that drive them to be better.

The Orioles now turn their attention to the MIAA Division 3 tourney, which begins next week. The Orioles were ranked No. 13 in the most recent release.

“We should win state because we want it, we really want it. I feel as though we want to get better as teammates too, because we all love each other. And we also love winning,” senior Christina Santiago said. “We don't give up, we don't like losing and every loss that we take is a teachable moment. We learn from each and every single one of them… watch out, everyone.”

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.