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By THOMAS JOHNSTON

SOUTH DEERFIELD — After a slow start, the defending Western Mass. Class B volleyball champions rounded into form against South Hadley on Monday. Frontier has made a habit of playing its best come the postseason, hoisting a Western Mass. trophy each of...

It was a dominant start to the NCAA Division 3 Tournament for the Smith College volleyball team.The Pioneers scored a convincing 25-18, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of Endicott College in the opening round of the tournament in a match played at Goldfarb...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

SOUTH HADLEY — Sabrina Bardwell was dead set on field hockey.It was the beginning of the school year in the early 1990s, and the seventh grader was choosing her fall sport. But her mother, Betsy Riley, had just started a one-week volleyball program at...

By GARRETT COTE

BELCHERTOWN — Coming into the Belchertown girls volleyball team’s match with Lenox on Tuesday night, Orioles senior captain Vivian Ross needed just one assist to reach 1,000 for her career – which has spanned four years including this fall.Although it...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

For the first time in 21 years, Sean MacDonald’s hulking figure won’t be patrolling the sidelines at Frontier girls volleyball matches. MacDonald retired from the girls program last year after 429 wins, 18 western Mass. titles and 11 state...

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier girls volleyball team wanted to challenge itself early in the season to prepare for tough league matches like the one it played on Monday against Amherst. Facing Dennis-Yarmouth, Nauset, Westfield and Melrose to open the...

By GARRETT COTE

All but one sport featuring local players has crowned a gold medal winner at the Bay State Games this summer, with several medals given out over the weekend. Only girls basketball remains (July 19-21), as softball, baseball, girls soccer, boys soccer,...

By GARRETT COTE

GRANBY — During the Granby boys volleyball team’s run through the Western Mass. Class C tournament, it seemed to have one plan of attack when it needed a clutch point.Any time the Rams’ backs were against the wall, they would feed their star senior,...

By GARRETT COTE

CHICOPEE — All the momentum was against the No. 1 Granby boys volleyball team in the third set of Saturday’s Western Mass. Class C championship match with No. 2 Ware.The Rams had breezed through the first two sets, but they faced a 24-21 deficit in...

By GARRETT COTE

BELCHERTOWN — Throughout the entire offseason, Frontier senior Aleks Carey worked tirelessly to improve as a middle hitter so he could come back and dominate his position.When the season started, it became evident Carey was one of the best passers on...

By GARRETT COTE

SOUTH HADLEY — Fighting toe-to-toe with Veritas Prep in the fourth set of its first varsity boys volleyball game in program history, South Hadley was on the brink of history.The Tigers did just enough to pull away and claim a 25-23 win in the frame,...

CONNOR PIGNATELLO

After two Western Mass. Class C titles in two seasons as a varsity program, Frontier boys volleyball has ditched its independent schedule and is joining the Eastern League in pursuit of a Western Mass. three-peat.Sean MacDonald, who led the Frontier...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Before she became the best libero in Western Mass., Amherst’s Liza Beigel was trying to decide whether she wanted to keep playing volleyball or not. Beigel grew up playing soccer and was an excellent player, joining a club team and competing against...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Kacey Schmitt never meant to coach the Amherst Regional High School volleyball team for longer than a season. Frankly, she thought she’d be done after a couple weeks. She was talked into the job by then-athletic director and friend Tom Cullen, and...

By HANNAH BEVIS

FITCHBURG – After falling 3-1 to No. 2 Bellingham in the MIAA Division 4 state semifinals, the No. 3 Frontier girls volleyball team spent a little extra time in their huddle postgame Tuesday night. As family and friends who traveled 90 minutes to...

HANNAH BEVIS

It was a big weekend for Amherst’s Sophia Jacobs-Townsley and the Syracuse women’s cross country team.Jacobs-Townsley, a redshirt senior, ran to an impressive 22nd-place overall finish at the NCAA Division 1 Northeast Region Cross Country...

By HANNAH BEVIS

WORCESTER – When No. 4 Amherst took the court against No. 1 Medfield in the MIAA Division 3 Girls Volleyball Final Four Monday night, the Hurricanes struggled to find any cracks they could exploit.Receiving? Medfield had it covered. Setting?...

By HANNAH BEVIS

AMHERST — As she counted down the hours until her team suited up for the MIAA Division 3 girls volleyball quarterfinal, Amherst head coach Kacey Schmitt sent a message in her team’s group chat. It was a poem written by Walter D. Wintle, and reads in...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

SOUTH HADLEY — The final result Wednesday night – a 3-0 loss to No. 33 Mashpee in the MIAA Division 4 state tournament – seemed almost secondary to first-year South Hadley head coach Sabrina Bardwell. Of course, the 32nd-seeded Tigers wanted to win...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

Two local teams earned top four seeds in the MIAA state volleyball brackets, which were released on Monday. Frontier is the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 bracket while Amherst earned the No. 4 seed in the Division 3 bracket. Both teams are facing a new...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

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...