EASTHAMPTON — The Amherst Regional girls volleyball team continued its run toward a perfect season Thursday night.
Top-seeded Amherst beat No. 5 Belchertown 3-0 in the Division 2 Western Massachusetts semifinals at Williston-Northampton.
Amherst (22-0) still has one more goal, a sectional championship. The Hurricanes will play No. 3 Minnechaug (16-5) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Holyoke Community College.
Teya Nolan, who had three kills for the Hurricanes, is ready for Minnechaug.
“They always come to play,” Nolan said. “So do we.”
Claire Basler-Chang had eight kills for the Hurricanes, who feed of the pressure of keeping their undefeated season alive.
“That’s our biggest thing,” Basler-Chang said. “Every game we feel the pressure and how intense it is. But we’ve developed as a team so much. We’ve been playing together since middle school. We’ve had some heartbreaking losses. All of our hard work is paying off.”
Amherst lost a set twice this season, including once to Minnechaug in a 3-1 win in October.
“They’ve been one of our biggest adversaries,” Basler-Chang said.
Amherst beat Belchertown 25-17, 25-10 and 25-19. The first and third sets were close until Amherst pulled away late behind dominant defensive play and authoritative kills.
“Every game you don’t assume anything,” Amherst coach Kacey Schmitt said. “It’s the playoffs. When you are undefeated everyone brings their A game. They know full well that every game needs full effort.”
Meg Rice led the Hurricanes with 13 kills, nine digs and four aces. Amherst’s serve was an effective weapon throughout the match. Jen Joy had four aces and Periya Yath chipped in with three.
Nina Hayes also had nine kills for Amherst.
“We played awesome,” Belchertown coach Scott Poulin said. “But there is no glaring weakness with them. Especially defensively. We thought if we stayed aggressive we could find a kink in their armor. But they clean it up.”
Cara McKenzie finished an impressive career for the Orioles and will attend Adelphi next fall. McKenzie finished with over 500 kills and 200 blocks for her career at Belchertown.
“She’s a phenomenal player,” Poulin said. “Her career is one of the best we’ve ever seen at this school. Adelphi is going to be happy.”
Part of Amherst’s strategy was to wait for McKenzie to be in the back to attack the net.
“That was the goal,” Schmitt said. “To keep her out of the equation.”
Seniors Allison Lukas, Rebecca Brozek, Sarah Woodford, Jenna Blain, Audra Hale and Melanie Allbozek played their last game for Belchertown.
