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 the three years since returning from COVID-19. While the Redhawks might be the No. 2 seed in the Class B tournament this year, they know with their history that nobody is going to be taking them lightly. 

The seventh-seeded Tigers certainly didn’t, opening up a 12-6 lead in the opening set of Monday’s quarterfinal matchup. It was all Frontier from there, rallying back to earn a 25-20 set win before pulling away with 25-15 and 25-12 set victories to move to the semifinals via a 3-0 sweep at Goodnow Gymnasium. 

“I think the nerves came up in the first set,” Redhawks coach Courtney Parent said. “All day I was thinking ‘here we are.' This is what we’ve been working toward. It’s no secret Frontier has a target on their back as the defending champions of this tournament. We’ve put in a lot of work and played a lot of volleyball these past two weeks. It feels good to get that first win under the belt and be able to settle into tournament season.” 

It’s just the third loss of the season for South Hadley (15-3), which won the Metro League this fall.

“Unfortunately I did not recognize my team on the court tonight,” Tigers coach Sabrina Bardwell said. “We have played so astronomically different this year, and it was difficult to see them lose the way they did… We worked really hard all season, went 15-2, and won our league, but sadly that same team did not show up tonight. I wish they had, it would have been a really fun game to watch and be a part of.”

While the Redhawks (14-5) have 10 seniors on the roster, the majority of the players are stepping into larger roles than the ones they’ve had in years past. The season started slow with losses to tough opponents, but heading into the Western Mass. tournament, Frontier has found its groove. 

The Redhawks entered having won nine of their last 10 matches, the lone loss coming to Longmeadow on the road. In that loss, Frontier handed the Lancers their only set loss of the season. 

Four of those nine wins also came in five-set matches, meaning the Redhawks are confident they can find ways to win no matter the situation thrown at them. 

“When we played Longmeadow last week they hadn’t lost a set,” Frontier senior Olivia Machon said. “We went in with nothing to lose but we were conditioned for those five set matches where a lot of teams aren’t. We've had a lot of them where maybe we shouldn’t have been in that spot but they’ve given us the experience of working that hard all five sets.” 

South Hadley built its 12-6 lead by capitalizing on Redhawk mistakes. Isabella Schaeffer smashed a pair of kills to give the Tigers the early lead, forcing Parent to use a timeout to settle things down. 

“I think we were just asleep,” Machon said. “We came out bored and were like ‘OK, we’re losing and need to step it up a bit.’ It wasn’t just one person. We were starting slow, our passing wasn’t great, the sets were off and our fits were off. We focused in, dialed in and Courtney put the smack down.”

Trailing 15-12, Frontier ripped off eight straight points with Ariana Miller in the service station — with Miller putting down three aces along the way — to put the Redhawks ahead, 20-15. Frontier didn’t let the Tigers back in it from there, taking a 1-0 lead following the 25-20 set win. 

"My first timeout I was like ‘what are we doing?’” Parent said. “Not to take away from South Hadley because we talked about what they were going to try to do but then we just let them do it. Kudos to them for picking out our weak spots. That first timeout I told them it wasn’t us and if we kept playing like that, we’d be done.” 

The Redhawks looked like the defending champs in the second and third sets. In the second, Frontier built a 10-2 lead early following a pair of kills from Machon before Greta Hale cracked a trio of kills late to help the Redhawks build a 2-0 lead with a 25-15 set win. 

Leading 11-6 in the third set, Frontier ripped off eight straight points with Machon in the service station to take a commanding 19-6 lead. Senior Sophia Pinardi closed things out with a kill to send the Redhawks to the semifinals. 

There, Frontier will take on No. 3 Wahconah, which is coming off a 3-0 sweep of No. 6 Taconic. The date and time of that semifinal matchup wasn’t determined at press time.

“We just had to push ourselves harder than we have,” senior Abigail Hernandez said. “I think everyone played really well. Next game will be different.” 

With the pressure on the Redhawks to win another trophy, Hernandez noted that playing with a nothing to lose attitude will be key moving forward in both the Western Mass. and state tournaments. 

“The last set was 12-25 and it should have been like that the entire game,” Hernandez said. “Whenever we get it together, we play really well. It’s just we get on a rollercoaster but it needs to end. We are in Western Mass. and have states coming up.

“We just have to play like we have nothing to lose,” Hernandez added. “Whenever we play scared, it doesn’t go well.” 

Hernandez led the way with eight kills, Bailey Martin put down six kills, Machon tallied five kills while Parrish Stilla dished 21 assists in the win.