NORTHAMPTON — Last season the South Hadley girls volleyball team won just one set all year. 

In comparison, their 2022-23 campaign is off to a roaring start — the team has won its three first matches of the season, two of those five-set thrillers. Their third victory of the year came in a dramatic five-set showdown between Smith Vocational on Wednesday where the Tigers spoiled the Vikings’ home opener (25-19, 22-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-8). 

Both coaches were thrilled with their teams’ play after the match, regardless of the outcome. The relentlessness from both sides made it an entertaining contest from start to finish. 

“This is the first time we played against another team that really had the hustle and would not let the ball hit the floor. (I was) super impressed with them about that,” South Hadley head coach Sabrina Bardwell said of Smith Vocational. “I just let (our team) know that they've got to be the same way. They've got to treat the ball falling on the floor like an emergency, like their phone going over the edge of a boat before it sinks to the bottom of the lake.” 

The last play of the fifth set seemed to happen in slow motion — South Hadley was struggling to make a pass on what seemed an inevitable broken play. Madison Bruso threw out one of her arms in desperation and managed to bump it over the net, where a Smith Voc player automatically reached out and grabbed it, thinking the point was over. The referees blew their whistle, and that was it — a slightly anticlimactic end to a rollercoaster of a match. 

“I was in shock, I wanted to fall down and cry. It was crazy,” Bruso said. “(The ball) was there, so it was like I had to get it. Might hurt for a second, but it was like, we're at a good spot. So if we didn't get it, we can get it back, but we got it.”

Smith Vocational came out of the gate strong, led by sophomore Heidymar Diaz-Lopez, who finished the match with a team-high seven digs, nine aces and nine kills. She went on a five-point run at the service line in the first set, giving Smith a five-point lead that it was able to maintain to secure a first-set win. Early in the match, she had a deadly jump serve that gave the Vikings a lethal weapon. 

“She’s a solid outside hitter. She plays in offseason, so she's a year-round player, which is why I see her build each year,” Smith Voc head coach Ashley Clark said. “You can see her bring out her jump serve — she practices it a lot, so that’s how she’s able to do it successfully.” 

Josie Dubay also had four aces for the Vikings and Brook Wolcott added three aces.

The Vikings had the Tigers on their heels in the opening set, but the visitors were able to maintain their composure after their initial struggles. 

“I think that they got in their head a little bit in the first game and forgot that volleyball is also supposed to be fun and that everybody's gonna make mistakes, but the team that makes the least amount of mistakes is going to end up winning,” Bardwell said. “So I try to tell them not to be too hard on themselves.” 

The Tigers were able to limit their mistakes in the second and third sets and capitalize on the Vikings’ missteps. The second set came down to the wire, but Isabella Schaeffer came up with a textbook stuff block at the net to secure the penultimate point for the Tigers and set them up for the win. 

South Hadley raced out to a 10-3 lead in the third set, and though the Vikings chipped away at it little by little, the Tigers were able to hold them off. Fans could see Smith Voc’s tenacity toward the end of the set, and though it was too little, too late in the third set, they came out flying in the fourth set with the match on the line.

South Hadley went on a run toward the end of the frame, scoring four consecutive points when Smith Voc was at game point, but the Vikings’ lead was too big for the Tigers to overcome. 

After a back and forth beginning to the fifth set, South Hadley ran away with the frame in the latter half, securing a 9-4 lead and holding off the Vikings. When the final whistle blew, the team stormed the floor to celebrate together. As much as their skill has improved from last year to this year, Bruso said that team chemistry has been the biggest change. 

“We're a team,” Bruso said simply. “We're all good friends now...(I’m looking forward to) more bonding with the team, and just being besties… all the fun stuff, and more wins, hopefully.” 

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