It was an expected battle in Worcester on Friday between the 33rd-seeded South Hadley volleyball team and 32nd-seeded Saint Paul Diocesan in the preliminary round of the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament. 

The match went all five sets, with the Tigers pulling out a victory in the fifth to keep their season alive with a 16-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18, 19-17 victory on Friday. 

South Hadley (15-5) advanced to face top-seeded Bellingham in the Round of 32. 

Izzy Schaeffer led the way with 12 kills while Milana Stefoglo, Vivian Marion, Grace Matyzewski and Khloe Constantine had strong games in the victory for the Tigers. 

Div. 3 prelim

No. 33 Greater Lowell Tech 3, No. 32 Amherst 1 — The Hurricanes were unable to advance against Greater Lowell on Friday, falling 3-1 in Amherst. 

Greater Lowell Tech advanced to play top-seeded Weston in the Round of 32. Amherst closes its season with a 12-9 record. 

No. 27 Pentucket 3, No. 38 Belchertown 0 — Layla Liminski and Gianna Picardi put down five kills apiece, but the Orioles saw their season come to an end on Friday night with a road loss in the preliminary round.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-25, 25-14.

Belchertown (11-8) received 15 assists from setter Vivian Ross, and Melina David tossed in four kills.

Div. 4 Round of 32

No. 6 Frontier 3, No. 27 Ayer Shirley 0 — The Redhawks opened the Div. 4 tournament with an emphatic victory, cruising to a 25-9, 25-10, 26-24 victory over the Panthers at Goodnow Gymnasium Friday. 

Frontier (15-6) advanced to host the winner of No. 11 Rockland and No. 22 Stoneham in the Round of 16. 

Caitlin Maio put down six kills and two aces, Bailey Martin tallied six kills and one ace, Sophia Pinardi smashed six kills, Parrish Stilla and Cadence Martin each had nine assists while Ariana Miller made 13 digs for Frontier. 

Div. 5 prelim

No. 33 SICS 3, No. 32 Smith Voc 2 — It went to five sets in Northampton on Friday, with the Bulldogs squeaking out the fifth to advance with a 25-22, 23-25, 16-25, 25-22, 17-15 victory over Smith Vocational. 

SICS will play top-seeded Bourne in the Round of 32. 

Abby Desrochers finished with three aces, 14 digs and seven kills, Brook Wolcott tallied five aces, one assist and eight digs, Roma Bentrewicz recorded two aces, 18 assists, two digs and one kill while Irelyn Marcoux (three aces, four digs, six kills), Leah Franklin (one ace, four blocks, one assist, five digs, seven kills) and Nyia Forbes (three aces, nine digs, three assists, five kills) played well for Smith Vocational. 

Field hockey

Div. 4 Round of 32

No. 4 Frontier 6, No. 29 Franklin Tech 1 — A four-goal second quarter was more than enough for the Frontier field hockey team, as the fourth-seeded Redhawks scored all of their goals before halftime en route to a 6-1 win over No. 29 Franklin Tech in the MIAA Division 4 Round of 32 on Friday in South Deerfield.

Frontier (16-2-2) advanced to the Round of 16, where it will host No. 13 West Bridgewater at a date and time to be determined. West Bridgewater blanked No. 20 Stoneham, 3-0, in its Round of 32 game on Friday.

“We talked about it at practice, now we’re entering the state tournament and if you don’t win, you don’t advance,” Frontier coach Missy Mahar said. “We reminded them that this is what’s at stake. I think coming off a championship game [against Greenfield] on Monday, it’s just trying to refocus them. We’ve got to lock it back in.”

Harper Modestow, Rowan Reilly, Addison Harrington, Ashley Taylor, Stella Heflin and Lauryn Kalinowski tallied for the Hawks, which led 2-0 after one quarter and 6-0 at half. Harrington, Elsa Brown, Taylor, Macy DeMaio, Claire Kirkendall and Nora Sloan notched assists.

No. 2 Monomoy 9, No. 31 Smith Academy 0 — Falcon goalie Madison Didonna-Renner was under constant pressure from the Sharks on Friday, stopping 27 shots as Monomoy advanced with a victory in Harwich. 

The Sharks will play the winner of No. 15 Norwich and No. 18 Southwick in the Round of 16. 

Senior Alexa Jagodzinski played well for Smith Academy (8-9-2). 

Late Thursday results

Field hockey

Div. 2 prelims

Melrose 1, Amherst 0 — The No. 33 Amherst Regional field hockey team traveled to No. 32 Melrose for a preliminary round matchup on Thursday evening. Although the ‘Canes fought hard and were right in the mix the whole way, their season came to a close in a 1-0 loss.

Amherst ended the 2024 campaign with an 8-7-2 record, improving on its five-win season from a year ago.

Girls soccer

State vocational playoffs

Norfolk County Aggie 4, Smith Voc 1 — The Vikings fell in the first round of the state vocational playoffs on Thursday afternoon, losing their second contest in a row after winning their previous eight.

Smith Vocational goalie senior Maggie Lauder inched closer to 400 career saves, something she will likely get when the Vikings participate in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament on Monday against Franklin Tech.

Late Wednesday results

Boys soccer

 Turners Falls 3, PVCICS 1 — After a scoreless first half, PVCICS succumbed to a quicker, more aggressive Turners Falls team on Wednesday afternoon. The Dragons got a goal from Rafi  Razmi on a free kick.

PVCICS keeper Damian Loinaz made five saves in the loss.

Girls soccer

Holyoke 8, Athol 3 — Kyra Lippman scored half of the Purple Knights’ goals en route to a dominant team win on Wednesday afternoon. Lippman also dished out two assists. Leilany Figueroa had herself quite the game as well, scoring one goal while adding three assists, and Kayshaly Garcia put home a pair of scores for Holyoke.

Jaycah Stuckey made two saves in goal.