Division 2 girls volleyball: South Hadley advances past Mohawk in first round

SOUTH HADLEY — The Thomas B. Landers gymnasium was buzzing as the South Hadley girls volleyball team defeated Mohawk, 3-1, in the first round of the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament.

The Tigers won 25-7, 22-25, 25-12, 25-15.

Controlling the first set, the sixth-seeded Tigers took a commanding 15-3 lead off the serving of Kiana Turner and Nicole Niemiec. Turner had four aces in the first set and finished the game with 12 kills, 11 digs and nine aces. Niemiec shined as well, with six aces, five kills and three digs in the win.

The Tigers took a six-point lead early in the second set. The No. 11 Warriors crawled their way back, tying the set at 20 and winning it 25-22 off a Niemiec error.

“In Set 2 we were down a little bit,” South Hadley coach Corey Koske said. “We came out flat and Mohawk started hot, they got some points early enough to finish that set off.”

The Tigers focused on playing their game in the third set, working the ball to the corners to allow Turner to spike the ball from the left side.

With South Hadley up 13-11 and Natalie Patruno serving, the Tigers rattled off seven straight points to take a commanding 20-11 lead. Patruno finished the game with 13 digs, four aces and three kills.

Down 6-1 in the fourth set and with the Warriors’ bench drowning out the South Hadley crowd, it looked as though the match was headed to a fifth set. But after a South Hadley timeout, the Tigers regrouped and clawed their way back into the game, rattling off a 14-5 run to take the lead.

Trailing 15-11, the Warriors called a timeout hoping to slow down the Tigers’ offensive attack.

“We wanted to play our game,” Koske said. “When we’re passing we can do anything, we can hit we can dump, and when we’re blocking in the front we want to make the other team change their strategy.”

After the timeout, the Tigers held Mohawk to four points the rest of the way.

With “All I Do Is Win” playing in the background, Turner and the Tigers celebrated. South Hadley will play at No. 3 Lenox (16-2) at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Lenox beat the Tigers 3-0 earlier in the season, and eliminated the Tigers from the playoffs last season.

“We always have to play like a team,” Turner said with her left arm wrapped around Patruno. “That’s what I always think about, so I just pass the ball and hope that my teammates are going to make a good play.”