AMHERST — The Amherst Regional girls volleyball huddle broke with one word: history.
Amherst led Frontier Regional late in the third set and in the match Monday at the middle school.
The Hurricanes didn’t let it slip.
They took down the Red Hawks 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-15) to remain unbeaten this season and take down Frontier for the first time in their careers.
“This team has been the enemy for so long because they’re the six-time state champions,” Amherst senior Amy Lynch said. “Beating them is a milestone for us. It’s a really big deal to beat them.”
At the time of that huddle, the Hurricanes led 22-12.
They didn’t trail at all in the match but also didn’t want to leave any door cracked for Frontier (4-5, 1-2 Eastern).
“Momentum can shift like this,” Amherst coach Kacey Schmitt said, snapping her fingers. “I never underestimate a Frontier team. Ever. They’re never going to give up, so we can’t let up.”
Amherst (8-0, 2-0 Eastern) floored the pedal from the beginning.
The Hurricanes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and didn’t let Frontier get closer than 3 for the rest of the set.
Lynch and Claire Basler-Chang combined for a block that put Amherst up 18-13 and sent the Hurricanes’ bench into raucous cheers.
“Frontier’s been the strongest hitting team we’ve ever played against,” Lynch said. “Getting that stuff block is a really good moment.”
Frontier tied the second set at 1, but that was the only time the match was tied other than 0-0 to starts the sets.
“They kept everything we put at them off the floor,” Frontier junior Selayna Bathurst said. “Their defense is incredible.”
Amherst held Frontier to a negative hitting percentage, which works like a baseball batting average except it can fall below 0 because errors are subtracted from kills before that number is divided by total attempts.
The Hurricanes had 51 digs led by 12 from Perria Yath and 11 from Basler-Chang to go along with 7.5 total blocks. Lynch had four blocks.
“They didn’t let much hit the ground,” Frontier coach Sean MacDonald said.
Amherst won the second set 25-13 and scored the first seven points of the third set.
“They’re coming out with confidence, not cockiness, and aggressiveness,” Schmitt said. “They’re coming out of the chute swinging. They’re coming out to put you back on your heels.”
Meg Rice led the team with 10 kills, while Basler-Chang had nine.
Setter Teya Nolan dished out 29 assists to seven Hurricanes. Four of them had at least four kills.
“Everyone on the court can pass and hit,” Basler-Chang said. “Everyone has a lot of developed skills.”
Frontier is still developing some of those skills.
Lauren Davenport, one of seven returning varsity players, led Frontier with 10 kills and 13 digs, while Ella Deane had 15 assists.
The Red Hawks have zero seniors on the team.
Amherst brought back its entire starting lineup.
“We definitely learned a lot from this game,” Bathurst said.
Amherst needs just two more wins to qualify for the playoffs but isn’t letting its unbeaten record alter its preparation.
“We can’t sit on our heels and expect the wins to come to us,” Basler-Chang said. “Communication on the court is really key for us. We’re all so eager to get to the ball that we crash into each other.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.