NORTHAMPTON — There wasn’t much separating the Smith Vocational and Mahar girls volleyball teams on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Western Mass. Class C Tournament. 

The third-seeded Vikings stormed ahead to win the first set and take a 1-0 lead, but the sixth-seeded Senators rallied back to win the second and third frames for a 2-1 lead. 

Smith Vocational didn’t give up, taking an early lead in the fourth and not relinquishing it to force a fifth and decisive set. There, Mahar snatched momentum back to walk away with a 15-11 set win, advancing to the sectional semifinals with a 3-2 victory. 

“I’m so proud of the way we kept our energy up throughout the match,” Senators coach Maeve Powell said. “I think that was a deciding factor. The consistency even when we were down, we were able to regroup and come back up which was great to see. Everyone contributed today.” 

Smith Vocational coach Ashley Clark said she was proud of the resilience her team showed on Tuesday, not giving up even when it appeared Mahar had all the momentum. 

“Again and again, year after year, they don’t want to quit,” Clark said. “They get a fire in their belly. It’s just a matter of sustaining that fire. That’s been a little bit of a struggle.” 

The Vikings (13-5) pulled ahead midway through the first set and never gave up the lead, with Brook Wolcott putting down an ace late to  help the hosts take a 1-0 lead following a 25-17 set win. 

It looked like Mahar (9-8) was going to cruise to a set win  in the second after taking a 20-9 lead, but the Vikings had other ideas. 

Smith Vocational went on a run with Jaelyn Kulas in the service station and later, cut the lead to 23-20. The Sens scored two of the next three points however, tying things up with a 25-21 set win. 

A pair of Hayden Comeau kills helped Mahar build a 13-7 lead in the third set. Irelyn Marcoux caught fire in the service station for Smith Vocational to get the Vikings back in it at 19-19. 

With Angelina Alonso serving however, the Senators scored the next six points — with Comeau adding a kill along the way — to help Mahar earn a 25-19 set win to take a 2-1 lead. 

“We knew it was going to be a close match,” Powell said. “I’m really excited.”

With their backs against the wall, the Vikings responded in the fourth set. Smith Vocational scored the opening five points of the set with Abby Desrochers serving and leading 14-10, the Vikings ripped off six straight with Roma Bentrewicz serving. Smith Vocational eventually earned a 25-17 win to force the fifth set. 

“I expected it was going to be a four-setter at least,” Clark said. “We’ve been working hard on our defense the last few weeks. It’s paying off, it’s just a matter of the stamina and keeping it going.” 

Madelynn Burgess’ serving was the difference in the fifth set for Mahar. Burgess opened with an ace before a pair of Comeau kills helped the Sens take a 10-6 lead. 

With the Sens leading 11-7, Burgess smashed back-to-back aces and Mahar held on from there, earning a 15-11 set win to move on to the semifinals. 

“We talked about focusing on each point,” Powell said. “We weren’t focused on what the score was. When you look at the score, you can get overwhelmed. You have to keep that straightforward mindset. They wanted it.” 

The Senators will travel to play at No. 2 Lenox in the semifinals at a date and time to be determined. 

Not only did Mahar keep its season alive, but the win made it so the Senators will finish with a .500 or better record and automatically qualify for the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament. 

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Powell said. “It’s the first time the program has gone since I’ve been here. A quarter of the girls on this team I’ve had for the last three years. They’ve been working super hard so it’s awesome to see that work pay off.” 

The season isn’t over for the Vikings either. Smith Vocational has qualified for the Small School Vocational Tournament as well as the Div. 5 state tournament. 

“I told them we have plenty more games,” Clark said. “It’s far from the end of the season.” 

WMass Class A quarterfinals

No. 6 Agawam 3, No. 3 Amherst 1 – The visiting Brownies rallied after dropping the opening set, storming back to win the next three and earn a spot in the Class A semifinals.

Amherst took the opening stanza 25-19, but Agawam came back for a 25-22, 25-18, 25-23 victories to set up a meeting with No. 2 Minnechaug.

The Hurricanes (11-8) will have one more non-playoff match before the MIAA Div. 2 state tournament.

WMass Class B quarterfinals

No. 5 East Longmeadow 3, No. 4 Belchertown 2 – The Orioles won the first two sets in convincing fashion, but the visiting Spartans flipped the script from there, winning the final three frames to advance to the Class B semifinals.

Belchertown captured 25-20, 25-17 wins to start the quarterfinal match, but East Longmeadow rallied with 25-17, 25-20, 15-10 wins to march on.

Gianna Picardi (19 kills, 15 digs), Layla Liminski (16 kills, 5 aces) and Vivian Ross (41 assists, 7 digs) put together outstanding performances to lead the Orioles (11-6), while Melina David added nine kills and Abby Almeida went    for four kills, five assists and four digs.

East Longmeadow will travel to top-seeded  Baystate Academy in the semis.

Girls soccer

Amherst 4, Frontier 0 – Madeline Hockman scored the 100th goal of her varsity career, and the Hurricanes scored all four of their goals in the second half to earn an impressive victory on Tuesday night.

Hockman tallied her 99th goal to open the scoring in the 42nd minute, then buried No. 100 in the 55th minute to make it 2-0.

Beatrice Eggemeier and Angely Rivas also scored for Amherst. Eggemeier notched two assists, while Rivas and Sama Mary also notched helpers. Goalies Neena Chinappa (seven saves) and Aaliyah Hall (two) combined for the shutout in net, and Frontier goalie Aylen Shaw stopped nine shots.

Easthampton 1, Lenox 0 – The Eagles went on the road and won their first game in a row, clipping the Millionaires on Tuesday night in Lenox.

Easthampton closed out its regular season 12-2-2 overall. The club will now wait to find out its seeding in next week’s Western Mass. Class B tournament.

Monson 3, Hopkins 1 – The Golden Hawks suffered their first loss of the 2024 season, falling to the perennial power Mustangs on Tuesday in Hadley.

Sadie Cyr scored for Hopkins (13-1-1-) in the 70th minute with an assist from Helen Vissas to cut the deficit to 3-1. Hopkins goalie Emmy Schmidt made five saves.

Boys soccer

Smith Academy 3, Sci Tech 1 – A brace from Cajun Benson helped the Falcons cap their solid regular season with a win on Tuesday.

  Benson scored twice in a span of less than a minute early in the second half, and then assisted on a Cameron Graves goal moments later to lift Smith to a 3-1 win in Hatfield.

Matt Scagel had two assists and Jake Wilcox made two saves for the Falcons.

PVCICS 4, St. Mary’s 0 – Teddy Scott buried a hat trick, and brother James Scott also found the back of the net for the Dragons in a 4-0 victory on Senior Night in Hadley.

Assists came from Patrick Canavan-Gosselin, Rafi Razmi and Julian Lee-Choi, and goalie Damian Loinaz made four saves.

Late Monday results

Girls volleyball

Lenox 3, Easthampton 0 — The Eagles dropped a 25-10, 25-7, 25-7 decision in the quarterfinal round of the Class C tournament on Monday night in Lenox.

Kierra Carson put down two kills for Easthampton (4-15), which will next play Greenfield in its season finale on Thursday. Addison Sigda went for three digs, while Camilla Corsello added a block.

Girls soccer

South Hadley 3, Monument Mountain 2 — The Tigers picked up a key road victory on Monday night, improving to 10-4-1 while snapping a two-game skid.

Maddie Soderbaum, Kate McArdle and Allison Fleury all tallied, while Hannah Haesaert notched an assist and goalie Sophie Quinn made six saves.

Field hockey

Northampton 5, Holyoke 0 — Behind a two-goal effort from Haly Doucette-Kaplan and a dominant overall performance, the Blue Devils got back into the win column on Monday night with a 5-0 victory over Holyoke under the lights on Senior Night at Smith College.

Northampton (5-9-3) led 3-0 at halftime. Camilla Brewer, Maya Berman-Lagier and Dreya Sawka all found the back of the net for the Devils, with Jenna Talbot assisting on two goals and helpers also coming from Doucette-Kaplan and Talya Fishman.

Lanaiya Rodriguez made five saves in net for the shutout, and Holyoke goalie Jenna Torrez stopped four shots.