SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier boys volleyball team watched its 2-0 lead evaporate in a heartbeat. The Redhawks led the third set 23-21 but Belchertown scored the next four points to steal the set and extend the match. In the fourth set, the Orioles squeaked out another 25-23 victory to force a fifth and final frame.

Despite trailing 3-1 early in the fifth, it was Frontier’s turn to battle back. Tegan Dexter put down a couple of key kills as part of his 30-kill performance, and Johnathan Olvera sealed the Redhawk win with a well-placed ball in the corner to take the fifth set 15-12.

Frontier (4-6) won its second straight match, this one a barn burner by the score of 25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, 15-12 on Thursday night at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield. Belchertown dropped to 1-10 in the gauntlet that is the East Division.

“I told these guys after the second set, Belchertown plays a tough schedule like we do, and our records don’t necessarily reflect how good they are,” Frontier co-head coach Sean MacDonald said. “Belchertown made a lot of errors in the first two sets, and then we made a lot in sets three and four to lose by two twice.”

Dexter’s 30 kills were a match-high, and he also added two aces, seven digs and a block. Will Petrin blocked five shots for Frontier, Tavo Vincent-Warner was terrific setting up his teammates as he dished out 49 assists and Will Reading put down 11 kills.

On several occasions when the Orioles began to steal momentum from the Redhawks, Frontier would go back to the well — feeding Dexter, a senior, for another thunderous kill.

“I wish we had another year or two with him,” Frontier co-head coach Courtney Parent said. “We works very hard, he’s coachable, he takes what you say and applies it. I feel like he’s getting better every practice and every game, and for him to have a huge game like that was huge for us because we needed someone to step up.”

Facing a 2-0 hole and a 23-21 deficit in the third, Belchertown never went away. The Orioles dug in and fought, maintaining a great spirit and a whole lot of energy on their sidelines throughout the entirety of Thursday’s match.

Head coach Chris Shea said that’s been a staple for his bunch all year. The results may not be there, but every player on his roster enjoys playing volleyball and loves being around one another. Thursday marked the first time the Os have won multiple sets in a match since their season opener on March 31.

“The games that we’ve had have tested our will to be here, and the want,” Shea said. “But these guys have the want, and they always have. Our record will never reflect how hard we play. Today we didn’t start how we wanted to, but they found it in themselves and gave it their all... It just took them too long today, and you can’t do that against Sean (MacDonald), and you can’t do that against Frontier.”

Noah Yankson led Belchertown with 12 kills, Shea MacLean put down 10 and Gabriel Ibekilo recorded six. Colin Mullen and Nicholas Ibekilo orchestrated things with 17 and 11 assists, respectively.

Shea saw many positives in what was one of his team’s best performances of the spring. Now, it’s just a matter of finding that level more consistently.

“It’s not a surprise that Noah Yankson just does what he does,” Shea said. “And then Shea MacLean, he’s a cheat code. Being as tall as he is, he’s left-handed, but he hits with both hands so he’s hard to corral. Now it’s just having that mentality that we have to swing hard every time. If we’re going to go to a fight, I’d rather go with a whole arsenal than just a couple of pistols. We have to start firing everything we’ve got.”

Belchertown returns to action on Monday against Putnam, as does Frontier when it travels to Longmeadow.

Baseball

Monson 7, Granby 4 — The Rams scored one run in each of the first three innings to jump ahead 3-0, but Monson responded with seven runs across the next two frames to pull ahead for good on Thursday afternoon.

Brandon Carillon singled and added two RBIs, Brodie Funk singled and scored as did Joseph Barrett, and Gavin Moreno and Gavin Kennedy each hit safely for Granby.

Frontier 6, Greenfield 0 — Joey Hutkoski allowed just one hit while striking out four to lead the Redhawks to a victory over the Green Wave in Greenfield on Thursday. 

Collin West knocked an RBI triple, Henry Drinker drove in two with a single, Braeden Dion tallied an RBI single while Ben Caron recorded three hits in the victory. 

Turners Falls 8, Smith Academy 5 – A four-run sixth inning wasn’t enough for the Falcons, which climbed out of from a 7-1 hole during its high-scoring sixth, to make it 7-5.

Smith Academy’s Harry LaFlamme had two of its seven total hits as the Falcons fell to 1-6 on the season.

Ware 10, South Hadley 0 (5) – The Tigers fell behind early and never recovered in the shutout defeat. The Indians went ahead, 3-0, following the first inning, then plated seven more over the next four innings to hand South Hadley its fourth loss of the season.

Memphis Huertas-Febles and Lincoln Belsky provided the hits for the Tigers.

Belchertown 9,  Agawam 0 – Jake Waller’s three RBIs powered the Orioles to the shutout victory Thursday afternoon. Waller went 1-for-3 at the plate, but made his one hit count, driving in three runs early in the game with a double. Elsewhere on offense, Joshua Misiaszek (hit, two RBIs) and Kamden Houle (hit, two runs, RBI) swung the bats well.

On the mound, Misiaszek (5 1/3 innings) and Ryan Gould (1 2/3 innings) combined for the blank slate against the Brownies, which only managed two hits. 

Softball

Hampshire 16, West Springfield 2 – The Raiders’ bats came alive late in this one, as they scored 15 of its 16 total runs in the final three innings. Reagan Hickox led the way from the batter’s box, smashing four hits and one RBI as Hampshire cruised to its eighth straight win. Teagan Charles (two hits, four RBIs) and Caelyn Thayor (hit, three RBIs) had impressive performances for the Raiders as well, who totaled 16 hits in the victory.

Ryanne Dubay and Hickox combined for 13 strikeouts from the circle for Hampshire.

Westfield 7, Easthampton 0 – The Eagles were held off the board for the fourth time this season in the defeat. 

Westfield’s Shea Hurley threw a complete-game no-hitter, while racking up 17 strikeouts.

Boys lacrosse

Northampton 12, Hoosac 8 – Four goals apiece from Jack Carpenter and Keller Mahoney lifted the Blue Devils to their ninth consecutive victory to open the season on Thursday.

Northampton (9-0), which has scored double-digit goals in seven of its nine games, also received two goals from Jackson Oravec, and single tallies from Eli Reid and Bryce McGinn Stevens. Goalie Henry Fallon made eight saves in the Devils cage.

Pope Francis 6, South Hadley 5 – The Tigers fell for the fourth game in a row in the one-goal contest. Rush Camacho and Julius Hebenth each scored twice for South Hadley, while goalie Brayden Blais registered 15 saves.

Smith Voc 17, Monson 2 – The Vikings picked up their first win of the season on Thursday, nearly netting 20 goals in the process.

Girls lacrosse

Granby 13, Hampshire 11 — Kalli White netted 10 goals to carry the Rams to their third consecutive victory. Kelly-Lynne Kennedy also had multiple points for Granby (goal, assist) in the tightly-contested matchup. The score was tied 6-6 at halftime, but the Rams outscored the Raiders, 7-5, in the final 24 minutes.

Josephine Hicks had five goals as Hampshire’s top goal-scorer, while Ryleigh Fennessy (two goals) and Mary Thibault (two goals, assist) each had multi-point outings.

Faith Ramos made seven saves in goal for Granby.

Wahconah 8, Northampton 7 – Five points from Imanni Power-Greene (hat trick, two assists) wasn’t enough for the Blue Devils, which saw their four-game win streak snapped on Thursday.

Northampton led 2-0, after the first quarter, but were outscored in each of the following three frames to drop its second game of the season. Ainsley Dawson concluded with seven saves in goal for the Blue Devils.