NORTHAMPTON — Heidymar Diaz-Lopez hung suspended in the air as time slowed in the Smith Vocational gymnasium.
The Smith Voc volleyball team needed to get the ball over the net, trai,ing 24-23 in a must-win second set against Franklin Tech. If the sophomore couldn’t connect, the Vikings would be down 2-0 to a talented Eagles squad.
As she fell backward to the floor, Diaz-Lopez managed to hit the ball back across the net. As she thudded to the floor, the ball landed on the Eagles’ side of the court, tying the set at 24. Diaz-Lopez went to the service line and rattled off two aces to give the Vikings a win, tying the match 1-1.
The message from the home team was clear – game on.
The game was competitive all night long, but ultimately, it was the Eagles that soared away with a four-set win. After Franklin Tech won a hard-fought third set, the two teams battled to a deuce again in the fourth set. This time, it was the Eagles who dug deep and gritted out a gutsy win to close out the match (25-19, 24-26, 25-20, 29-27).
“Their will to fight and want to win the set, I think that was very impressive,” Franklin Tech head coach Jade Cuevas said. “They have it in them, but I wasn’t sure when it was gonna come out.”
After dropping the first deuce in the second set, the Eagles weren’t going to let it happen again. Smith Voc tied the final set at 24, forcing a Franklin Tech timeout as they tried to avoid a similar fate from the second set. Both teams made errors in extra time, but a monster kill from Franklin Tech to tie it 27-27 sent Lea Chapman to the service line. She unloaded a fiery kill to give the Eagles the lead, and an error from the Vikings gave the visitors the final point they needed. Chapman finished with 19 kills and six digs to go along with four aces.
“We came back so strong, we had to get our energy up,” Chapman said. “We had to move our feet and come together as one – and we put that game in the bag.”
Franklin Tech’s Shelby O’Leary had 15 assists and Emma Petersen had seven kills and three aces.
Diaz-Lopez led Smith Voc with 11 kills and eight digs while setter Roma Bentrewicz tossed up 18 assists. Jaelyn Kulas was relentless in the back court with 15 digs.
Despite the outcome, Smith Voc head coach Ashley Clark was thrilled with her team’s no-quit attitude and hustle.
“They fought really hard. They dug themselves into a little bit of a hole here and there, but their ability to not quit is what got them to that fourth set and we pushed it,” Clark said. “I feel like all the losses that we have had have been such good matches that I don’t even feel bad about the loss.”
Amherst 3, West Springfield 1 – Ruby Austin was stellar on the front line for the Hurricanes, totaling 12 kills to propel them offensively in a four-set win over the Terriers.
Talia Sadiq did a magnificent job filling in for Liza Beigel – who didn’t play Friday – in the back row, digging up 26 balls for Amherst. She also served four aces. Annabel Ogden added 15 assists, and Lauren Joy tallied seven kills and five aces in the win.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-14, 23-25, 25-18.
Easthampton 3, PVCA 2 — Kierra Carson put down 11 kills and Kaelin Damon joined her in double figures with 10 as the Eagles held off Pioneer Valley Christian in a five-setter on Friday night.
Set scores were 25-20, 17-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-10.
Setter Erin Teague amassed 30 assists for Easthampton, which received five kills from Sophia Faginski (three blocks) and four from Lidie Buttrick. Kayley Downie put together a standout back row performance with a match-high 30 digs.
Frontier 3, Agawam 0 – Caroline Deane recorded double-digit kills for the fifth time this season in the Redhawks sweep of the Brownies. Deane had 12 kills, and Gabby Adams put down seven of her own to pace the Frontier offense.
Allie Pierce had a terrific game from behind the service line, as she tallied 11 aces to go along with her 18 assists. Five of the Redhawks’ six wins have come via sweep, including their 26-24, 25-11, 25-21 win over Agawam on Friday.
South Hadley 2, Southwick 1 – The Tigers used a strong second-half push to erase a 1-0 deficit behind goals from Brady Graham and Jack Chagnon.
Graham’s goal was assisted by Ethan Markham, while Chagnon’s – the game-winner – was unassisted and put South Hadley ahead 2-1. Keeper Noah Carillon grabbed one save on two shots in the win.
Girls volleyball
Renaissance 3, Granby 1 – The Rams were able to tie up the match by winning the second set, but fell in a four-set defeat to Renaissance (25-23, 17-25, 25-19, 25-16) on Thursday.
Madison Bombard led the Rams with eight kills and 18 digs and Annabella Brown added 17 digs and four kills. Katie Grabherr posted 15 digs and six kills and setter Audrey Pleisch had 19 assists and four kills.