GRANBY — The Granby boys volleyball team picked up its third clean sweep of the season in its 3-0 win over Springfield International Charter School on Wednesday. The Rams won by at least seven points during each set (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) to improve to 7-2 on the season.
“I thought they played very selflessly,” Granby head coach Chad Gagnon said. “It was a lot of good teamwork and working with each other to try and get the end result. The team is coming together as well as I had hoped for at this point in the season. New players on the team are getting feathered into the loop here and I’m happy with the teamwork as a whole.”
The Rams flexed their muscles serving the ball as they concluded with 11 aces against the Bulldogs (7-3). Five different Granby players recorded at least one ace, proving to be an aspect of its game that SICS could not solve.
“It’s a focus, it’s a heavy, heavy focus,” Gagnon said of the team’s depth serving abilities. “We’re obviously not a tall team so we can’t allow them to tee off on us.”
Jake Gagnon (four) and Nathan Walsh (three) combined for seven aces for the Rams.
Gagnon, a junior, led the victors in kills (10) and assists (13) as well while Durant Garden paced Granby in blocks with three. Brandon Chatel’s six digs was also most among Rams players.
SICS entered the matchup with the same amount of losses as the Rams, but boasted a win streak that stretched to four matches. However, that didn’t alter Granby’s gameplan one bit.
“It’s been our goal all season to serve hard and keep them out of system,” Gagnon said. “They weren’t able to get to their biggest weapon [Peter Nguyen]. He’s a very dominant player but if they can’t get it to him… that minimized [their effectiveness].”
Braeden Gallagher’s statistics weren’t as shiny as some of his other teammates with five kills and three digs, yet Gagnon felt he was Granby’s most important player on Wednesday.
“I thought Braeden Gallagher had an outstanding game,” Gagnon said. “He kept hitting everything in and off hands and it was an outstanding performance. He’s always been our best passer. You take it for granted, but when you don’t have it, it’s painful.”
Daniel Santiago (four kills, two blocks and four digs) finished out the Rams’ contributors on the stat sheet.
Granby will look to remain perfect in West Division play when it hosts Ware (2-8) on Friday. The match is set to begin at 5:15 p.m.
“I think the team is coming together and we’re learning to play one point at a time,” Gagnon said. “Obviously, everybody makes mistakes at this level, at any level, we just have to figure those out and get on to the next play.”
Sci-Tech 3, Holyoke 0 — The Purple Knights lost their fourth match in a row in a straight-set sweep in Springfield on Wednesday afternoon.
Holyoke (3-7) hosts East Longmeadow on Friday.
Pioneer 12, Hampshire 2 — The Panthers broke open a close 4-2 game in the fifth inning, erupting for eight runs against the Raiders bullpen to pull away on Wednesday afternoon in Westhampton.
Jacob Sicard connected for a pair of hits for Hampshire, Zach Phakos and Ethan Kudelka recorded RBI singles and Wes Thompson tallied his first varsity hit.
Northampton 5, Mohawk Trail 2 — A low-scoring bout between Franklin County League East foes went to the Blue Devils on Wednesday, as Greta Lepore fanned a dozen Warriors batters and gave up only two runs in a complete-game gem in the circle.
Haly Doucette-Kaplan collected three hits in three at bats and Northampton scored in each of the first three innings to pull away for its fourth victory of the spring.
Smith Vocational 15, Gateway 0 (5) — Makayla Tatro blasted two home runs and a double as part of her five-RBI day to pace the Vikings’ offense in a blowout win over the Gators on Wednesday.
Grace Sampson gave up just one hit in the circle, striking out five and walking two in a complete-game shutout. Maggie Lauder and Abby Desrochers each drove in two runs while Natalie Blanchette tallied two hits.
Turners 3, Frontier 2 — For the second time this season, the game between the Thunder and the Redhawks came down to the final inning. The game was scoreless going into the sixth when Frontier put two on the board, as Delaney Fifield and Olivia Machon drew walks, and Raine Wonsey scored both with a double to right field to give Frontier a 2-0 lead.
Neither team scored in their next at bats but in the bottom of the seventh — just as the Redhawks did to the Thunder earlier in the season — Turners rallied. Mia Marigliano led off with a base hit and Madi Liimatainen smoked a home run to tie the game. Janelle Massey drew a walk and Marilyn Abarua followed with a drive up the middle.
McKenzie Stafford, running for Massey, took the turn to third but the throw to get her sailed high, allowing her to score and give Turners a 3-2 victory at Gary Mullins Field on Wednesday.
Wonsey also went the distance for Frontier, striking out seven and allowing five hits. Ashley Taylor and Abby Schreiber hit safely for the Hawks.
Monument Mountain 23, Amherst 3 (5) — The ‘Canes had seven base runners in Wednesday’s defeat, and five of them came in the first inning as Amherst scored all three of its runs in the opening frame but couldn’t sustain it against the Spartans.
Ava Eddy (two), Corinne Charlebois, Eve Jacoby and Arianna Roberts all hit safely for Amherst.
Amherst 3, Belchertown 2 — In a battle of two red-hot teams, the Hurricanes prevailed in a nail biter on Wednesday afternoon in Amherst. The ‘Canes swept singles play while the Orioles took care of business in both doubles matches.
Katie Gromacki (first singles), Emma Learned-Miller (second singles) and Mahina Ganesun (third singles) didn’t drop a single game in three 6-0, 6-0 sweeps for Amherst. Belchertown’s Katie Collins and Edith Audette earned a 6-4, 6-1 first doubles win while Emma Kornbluth and Allie Randall won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
The Orioles (9-2) came in having won their last three and Amherst (7-1) was winners of four straight. Both teams only had one loss (each losing to Longmeadow) entering Wednesday’s match.
Granby 19, McCann Tech 3 — As good as the Rams offense was on Wednesday afternoon, their defense was equally as dominant. Granby led 16-3 at the half and didn’t allow a single goal over the final two quarters to cruise past the Hornets on the road.
Kalli White scored a game-high seven goals, Mylin Laliberte added seven points (three goals, four assists) of her own and Kelly-Lynne Kennedy tallied five scores to pace the Granby offense.
South Hadley 19, Hampshire 10 — Ava Asselin continued her scorching stretch of play with 10 more points (five goals, five assists), Margo Watkins buried five goals and Lauren Monremagni, Hannah Haesaert and Kelcey Zraunig each scored twice to help the Tigers in a decisive victory on Wednesday. South Hadley’s Riley Nestor made five saves in goal.
Mary Thibault (four goals) and Emmie Collins (three goals) tallied hat tricks for the Raiders, while Ryleigh Fennessy notched a pair of goals. Kailee Rohcone (10) and Emma Erickson (7) split duties in the cage, combining for 17 stops.
