H.S.Roundup: Ezekiel-Sarcione leads Amherst volleyball to hot start in first season

AMHERST — Elizabeth Ezekiel-Sarcione is no stranger to winning. As the junior varsity coach at Amherst-Pelham last fall, she led the team to a perfect 18-0 record.

After moving up to lead the varsity team, that success has also followed Ezekiel-Sarcione. On Wednesday, the team’s latest win over Frontier pushed its record to 4-0. It was the Hurricanes third three-set win of the season, they dropped only one in their other win.

“I’m absolutely elated right now. They were relentless on defense tonight,” Ezekiel-Sarcione said. “They never gave up on any single ball. Their ability to work together and support each other was amazing.”

Amherst put together dominant wins in the first and third sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-13. Frontier put together a close fight in set two, losing by a margin of 25-20.

Despite the step up in competition, Ezekiel-Sarcione’s recipe for success remains the same: energy and familiarity.

Half of Amherst’s starting six on Wednesday saw time on JV last season plus several more key players such as junior libero Ava Kelly. Knowing all 12 players has allowed Ezekiel-Sarcione to integrate the newcomers and returners seamlessly.

“I’m so happy to be working with them again,” Ezekiel-Sarcione said. “It’s been amazing to see how they’ve grown and stepped up into these varsity leadership roles. They’re such fun girls to hang around.”

During the game Ezekiel-Sarcione is up and moving with each rally. Her energy matched by her team’s back line defense. Whether to cover a ball headed for the bench or the bleachers, the Hurricanes corralled almost every ball the Redhawks hit their way.

On defense, Kelly set the tone with a team-high 11 digs. Outside hitter Noa Long had seven on her own. Defensive specialists Mariam Ben Nekhi, a junior, and Amalia Feldman, a sophomore, added a combined nine digs.

“My back line is so good,” senior setter Olivia Nolan said. “They’re fast on their feet and getting it over the net.”

Kelly was one of several players excited when Ezekiel-Sarcione got the promotion to varsity. Outside of skill development, she credits the coach with helping her improve on the mental side of the game.

“I get in my head a lot as a player,” Kelly said. “She helps me dig out of that and realize that it’s OK and not everything is a big deal.”

Nolan did not play for Ezekiel-Sarcione, the setter has seen the coach help bring the team together and get the successful start to the season.

“She’s a very strong, hard-working coach,” Nolan said. “She lifts us up when we need to and she’s really supportive in every way.”

With plenty of opportunities to set, Nolan generated 12 assists. She spread her passes around as eight Hurricanes recorded a kill. Freshman Emory Albertson and sophomore Tansy Warwick were tied for the team lead with five kills apiece.

On the opposite side of the net, Aimee Talbott led the Redhawks with six kills out of the team’s 15 on the day. Facing a backline that made serves and drives difficult to land, Frontier made multiple mental errors from the service line.

“A big strength of ours is serving and we missed far too many today,” Frontier head coach Courtney Parent said. “If you are going to that back line thinking, ‘I don’t know if this is going in,’ then you’ve already lost the battle. We just got to find a way to put the ball in play.”

Even with the loss, Frontier holds a winning record at 2-1. It hosts 1-2 Minnechaug on Friday. Meanwhile Amherst gets another home match on Friday with Bay State Charter coming to their gym.

Field hockey

West Springfield 2, Belchertown 1 — The Orioles were handed their first loss of the season in West Springfield.

Gianna Zenon scored the lone goal for Belchertown with Kina Roy recorded in the assist. Lila Roy made five saves in net.

Westfield 2, Amherst 0 — The Hurricanes struggled to find the back of the net at home against Westfield. Amherst is now 0-3-1 on the season heading into next week’s matchup against Smith Academy.

Golf

Smith Vocational 168, Mohawk 198 — The Vikings improve to 5-0 on the year after another win at Wyckoff Country Club.

Andrew Persaud (37) and Keller McMahon (38) each shot under 40 on the day. Jayson Clark finished the round at 46 and Nate Lindahl was right behind him with a score of 47.

Easthampton 155, St. Mary’s 203 — The Eagles won big a Tekoa Country Club on over St. Mary’s. All four Easthampton golfers shot under 45 while only one St. Mary’s golfer broke 50.

Easthampton’s Tanner Kmetz and Amelia Gruber each shot 1-over-par at 36. Jacob Murrett joined the duo in the under-40 club by carding a 39. Maeve Loring rounded out the squad with a 44.

Boys soccer

South Hadley 1, Springfield Central 0 — The Tigers earned its third straight win in a close battle against Central.

Chris Sotitopoulous scored the game-winner for South Hadley. Xzavies Rosario came up clutch for the squad with six saves.

Pathfinder 4, PVCICS 0 — Cayden Bousquet of Pathfinder scored all four goals for the visitors. Despite generating a few opportunities in the second half, the Dragons could not muster a goal.

Simon Doherty-Girard made three saves for PVCICS.

Girls volleyball

Belchertown 3, Easthampton 0 — The Eagles fought to the bitter end, but the Orioles came out on stop in a three set battle. After a lobsided set two where they lost 25-12, the Eagles refused to give in during the final set, pushing the score all the way into 30 before losing 31-29.

Harper Bean led Belchertown with nine kills and tied the team-high with six aces. Fellow Cassidy MacLean added eight kills. Olivia Skora was proficiently in the passing game with 29 assists. Kaiya Cavanaugh patrolled the back line with 32 digs.

Kathryn Koval had seven kills to lead the Eagles. Brooke Skowron had 18 assists and was one of three on the team with an ace.

PVCA 3, South Hadley 1 — The PVCA defense made life tough for the Tigers. South Hadley failed to reach 16 points in the three sets it lost.

Vivian Marion had the team high for kills with five for the Tigers. Aimee George and Grace Matyszewski each added four. Matyszewski also had 21 digs on defense.

Late Tuesday Scores:

Field hockey

Southwick 3, Smith Academy 2 — Smith Academy dropped its second game of the season in a tough battle against Southwick.

Sophia Jagodzinksi scored and provided an assist on Shae Moulton’s goal.

Chloe Avery made five stops in net for Smith.

Golf

Belchertown 166, Southwick 177 — The Orioles improved to 5-2 after a win at Edgewood Country Club.

Agawam 148, Northampton 165 — The Blue Devils fall to 0-7 after a loss to the Brownies at home.

Girls Soccer

Hampshire 2, Turners Falls 1— The Raiders picked up their first win thanks to goals from Neely Rondeau and Lily Connor. Rondeau and Bella LaFortune received assists on the day.

Goalies Sarah Zajac and Grace Layman combined for 11 saves.

Boys soccer

Franklin Tech 4, Hopkins 1 — Nate Rickles scored the lone goal for the Hawks in their second loss of the season.

Smith Voc. 9, Ware 1 — The Vikings won big for their first win of the season over Ware.

Holyoke 1, Pathfinder 1 — The Knights broke their two-game losing streak in a tie against Pathfinder.

Volleyball

Hampden Charter 3, Granby 0 — The Rams fell in their home opener.