SOUTH DEERFIELD — Thursday night was a battle of the top two teams in the Eastern Division, and despite winning the first set, 25-18, the Frontier Regional girls volleyball team fell, 3-1, to Longmeadow at Goodnow Gym.
The Lancers won the last three sets 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21.
Both teams came together for a Spike It For Life fundraiser. Spike It For Life is an organization that raises money to fight cancer and both teams wore Spike It For Life shirts for their match.
Lauren Davenport had three aces, 20 kills and seven digs, Selayna Bathurst had four kills, three assists and 10 digs, Hailey Orloski had five kills, and Ella Deane had 34 assists, three aces, one kill and seven digs for Frontier.
The Red Hawks also celebrated Deane’s 1,000th career assist in the loss.
“It feels really great because it isn’t a reflection on me, it’s a reflection on my teammates,” Deane said.
Longmeadow kept finding ways to get off to hot starts at the beginning of each set against Frontier.
“We didn’t pass well enough, we need to control the ball better and improve on our defense,” Frontier coach Sean MacDonald said. “Longmeadow played really well. They’re a really good team.”
Frontier (8-3, 4-1) and Longmeadow are now tied for first in the league.
The Red Hawks will look to bounce back Sunday when they host Notre Dame Academy.
“Our expectations are to get better over the course of the season and every day, and to win Division 3,” MacDonald said.
Putnam 3, Smith Vocational 0 — Iara Olivera-Torres had seven digs while Jess Shepard added five but the Vikings fell 25-16, 25-15, 25-7.
Marissa Rodrigues chipped in with two digs, an ace and a kill for Smith Voke (1-8).