The Belchertown girls tennis team has been a model of consistency since Alanna Grady assumed the head coaching position in 2021. Grady has guided the Orioles to winning records in each of the previous five seasons and this spring’s squad is arguably the best of the bunch.

Belchertown is 16-2 after finishing out its regular season on Thursday with a win over Agawam. Its only two blemishes came to undefeated Longmeadow and a talented Amherst Regional team. The Orioles now await the start of the Western Mass. tournament as the defending Class B champions and should be the favorites to repeat as few teams can match their depth.

Amanda Murray, Mia Corish and Gianna Picardi have been Belchertown’s top three singles players all season and have largely factored into the Orioles’ success on the court this year.

“I think just their willingness to take on challenges,” Grady said on improvements she’s seen from those three. “We know that when you are playing spots one and two in the lineup, you are playing every single other team’s best two players and that is a tough ask every single match. Mandy and Mia have really handled that with a lot of grace. And then for third singles just typically get a player who has a lot of experience, who has a lot of athletic ability and just does everything to get the ball back and Gianna has been handling that really well.”

Belchertown’s trio was thrust into new roles this season since 10 seniors from last year’s 20-win team graduated. Grady said Murray was at third singles last year and Corish was a regular on the first doubles team, allowing a couple of the returners to earn vital experience.

“We knew that coming into the first day of the season, so we had time during the offseason to prepare for that mentally, knowing that this year was going to look a little bit different in terms of our lineup,” Grady said. “And I think the goal was to try not to have expectations and just let this season be this season. Everybody's been working really hard and you've got to play every single match all the way through to see how things turn out.”

The Orioles’ doubles pairs of Edith Audette and Katie Collins, plus Emma Kornbluth and Allie Randall, have been equally as impressive. Six of Belchertown’s 18 total matches have been decided by one point and during those six matches, its doubles swept the opposition in four instances. In other words, without the strong play of the Orioles’ doubles teams during those matches, the team would have lost.

“They've been great partners to each other,” Grady said. “It's been really fun to see them support each other, lean on each other and to grow together as individual teams throughout the season and just to embrace the opportunities that they have full on.”

Maintaining a winning culture is easier said than done, however Grady feels the success the program has seen the past few seasons provides a powerful source of motivation for her athletes.

“I think we've been really fortunate through the work of teams of past years, they've really set the precedent for what's possible for our team to achieve,” Grady said. “And the girls who are in the lineup now, have been a part of the team, besides my new ones that came in this year, everybody has been a part of the team that's been able to have a lot of success and just been able to at least see what kind of success is possible. I think having that opportunity to see what is possible has really motivated them, particularly through the latter part of the season, to keep pushing in every match that we have.”

Frontier boys volleyball hoping to carry late-season surge into playoffs

The Redhawks finished up their regular season winners of three of their final five, including a 3-0 victory against Granby on Wednesday. It appears Frontier (7-12) has earned the final playoff spot in the Class C Western Mass. tournament, narrowly edging past SICS for fourth.

Frontier was previously the cream of the crop in Class C as it earned the Western Mass. championship trophy in 2022 and  2023. Last year, the Redhawks didn’t win a postseason match with first-round defeats in the Western Mass. tournament and state tournament.

Tegan Dexter and Nate Rivera have provided the power for Frontier this year with more than 400 kills combined, while Tavo Vincent-Warner nearly reached 500 assists. The Redhawks will rely on those three to get back into the postseason win column in 2025.

Frontier is likely looking at a matchup with top-seeded Southwick in the first round of the Western Mass. tournament. In the only regular-season meeting on April 30, the Redhawks took the Rams to the brink in a 3-2 loss.