The Frontier Regional girls volleyball team has been a mainstay in the state tournament, having won the Western Massachusetts Division 3 title the past 15 years.
Getting there in 2019, however, didn’t feel as certain as it may have in years past.
With expectations comes pressure, and after graduating five starters last season, Frontier came into this season with the goal of just winning Western Mass. That meant not looking past a sectional title and into the state tournament.
After accomplishing that, anything else was gravy. A 3-0 state semifinal victory over Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School put the Red Hawks into the championship.
They will square off with South champion Rockland (24-1) in the finals Saturday at noon at Worcester State University.
Frontier (16-8) is 9-2 all time in state finals. A potential 10th state championship was something coach Sean MacDonald said he couldn’t have imagined happening at the start of the year.
“I would think a lot of stuff had to go right,” he said. “Things would have to go as well as they would possibly have to go. Everybody would have to be healthy, we would have to make significant progress throughout the season. We’ve done all those things. I’d say we’ve made noticeable progress since Halloween. We’re still improving and looking to continue to improve.”
The semifinal match against AMSA was never a contest. The Eagles looked like a team that’d never been to a state tournament while the Red Hawks looked like a team that’d been there 15 years in a row.
“We were expecting it to be closer in score and a longer match,” MacDonald said. “What we knew of them, they looked good. I felt like we stuck to the game plan and executed as good as anybody ever has in my career. It was a really nice night.”
The Red Hawks will need another strong effort to raise a 10th state championship banner.
Like Frontier, Rockland played a tough regular-season schedule in preparation for the postseason.
The Bulldogs swept Ipswich 25-17, 25-18, 25-4 in their first state tournament appearance earlier this week.
Rockland is led by three senior All-State selections.
Hannah Wyllie is 6-foot-2 middle hitter who can hit and block. Caroline Elie is another All-State player on the outside and Jessica DeMarco is an All-State setter.
“We’re still trying to crack their code,” MacDonald said. “We’re going to have some resistance at the net and going to have to slow down how Wyllie can attack us and limit her opportunities.”
The Red Hawks are confident.
“We’re playing good right now,” MacDonald said. “We feel good about where we are and how we’ve responded after losing some important people. We’re looking forward to going in and playing hard and competing.
“If we play like we did Wednesday and play smart, I’m giving us a chance,” he continued. “I think we’ll be in it if we do that.”