EASTHAMPTON — Amherst Regional senior libero Periya Yath passed what she assumed would be a free ball from the back of the Hurricanes’ side of the court.

It caromed off West Springfield’s Tetyana Shvyvd to the floor for a kill, just her second of the season, that tied No. 1-seed Amherst with the No. 8 Terriers at 16 in Set 3. The Hurricanes trailed by as many as six points in that set but rallied back Tuesday in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 girls volleyball semifinals.

“I was shocked, but I was really happy that it happened,” Yath said.

The next kill that gave Amherst a 17-16 lead came from a familiar source, Megan Rice, who hammered the ball home cross court from the left side.

“We get hyped from that hit,” Yath said. “It brings us together more.”

The Hurricanes outscored West Side 8-6 over the rest of the set, capping a 17-8 run to win the set 25-22.

Rice unleashed a rocket to pick up the final point at Williston Northampton.

“I love finishing it with Megan’s bomb,” Amherst coach Kacey Schmitt said.

It clinched the match for Amherst — 25-16, 25-21, 25-22 — and put the Hurricanes into the semifinals.

Amherst (21-0) will face No. 5 Belchertown (18-4) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Williston. Belchertown beat No. 4 Ludlow 3-0 on Monday in its quarterfinal.

“We know that we need to play our game – keep our serves in is the main thing,” Rice said.

Amherst struggled to find the range on its serves against West Springfield (9-11). The Hurricanes committed 12 service errors in the match compared to eight aces.

“I thought our serving was off tonight. That was one area I thought we really need to do better,” Schmitt said. “We can’t give them points they don’t earn.”

Schmitt attributed the lack of accuracy to playing in an unfamiliar environment and first tournament game jitters. Amherst played its entire regular season at Amherst Middle School after water damaged the high school gym in the summer. The Hurricanes played at Williston after they couldn’t find a closer site.

“We were a No. 1 seed without a home. It was very disappointing that local colleges didn’t support us,” Schmitt said. “Williston came through, and we really appreciate it.”

The tournament jitters could have happened anywhere. Amherst trailed by as many two points in the first set, five points in the second set and six in the third. At one point the Hurricanes had five hitting errors in a row in the third set to go down 8-3.

“A little bit more nerves and we haven’t been here before, so it’s a little different,” Rice said.

Rice and Yath calmed Amherst down before the deficit ever grew too large. Rice finished with a team-high 17 kills on a .324 hitting percentage, which is like a batting average. Yath led Amherst with 12 digs and contributed two aces.

“She’s a real stabilizing influence back there, that’s why she’s the libero,” Schmitt said. “Her passes were really, really on tonight.”

Senior setter Teya Nolan also kept the offense running smoothly with 34 assists. That included her 1,000th career assist and upped her career total to 1,020.

More than any one player, though, the Hurricanes fought back to the lead together. They trailed in every set but never after either team scored 20.

“We had to tell each other to keep our heads up and keep fighting for it,” Yath said. “We wanted it as much as we wanted the whole season.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.