Two local schools reached at least the quarterfinals in the inaugural state volleyball tournament format, and with the talent returning, both are expected to be in contention for the MIAA Div. 5 state crown again this fall.
One of those schools, Frontier — which has won 10 state championships under coach Sean MacDonald — made a run to the Div. 5 finals, where it fell just short of a title in a loss to Paulo Freire.
The other team to make a deep run was Turners Falls, which has been a force on the court in recent years. The Thunder dominated the Northern League — comprised of Mohawk Trail, Wahconah, Mahar, Pioneer, Athol, Greenfield and Franklin Tech — not dropping a single set in league play.
Despite only losing to the Redhawks in the regular season and dropping a Western Mass. tournament semifinal match to Mount Greylock, Turners was only the No. 22 in the Div. 5 field. That didn’t end up mattering, as the Thunder cruised into the quarterfinals with wins over No. 43 Salem Academy Charter, No. 11 Holbrook and No. 6 Westport, but fell to the Mounties for the second time in the state quarterfinals.
After graduating just two players, another deep run could be in the cards for Turners.
“We’re excited to be playing games again,” Thunder coach Kelly Liimatainen said. “It feels like we’ve been practicing forever. We’re ready to go and to get playing.”
Madi Liimatainen returns as the top hitter for Turners and has looked good so far in practice. She’ll be given the ball by Taylor Greene, who returns as the Thunder setter and is another member who has worked hard in the offseason to improve.
Abbi Holloway, Madisyn Dietz, Tatianna Carr-Williams, Steph Peterson and Jill Reynolds are some of the other hitters who will be tasked with replacing the production of Emily Young, who graduated in the spring.
As for Frontier, losing in the state championship match gave the perennial powers some added motivation heading into the season. With seven returning seniors, the Redhawks are aiming to reach their 10th state final in the last 11 tournaments.
“Last year didn’t end exactly how I wanted it to, and there’s a lot of unfinished business,” Frontier senior all-state setter Sydney Scanlon said.
Scanlon, Jillian Apanell, Eve Dougan, Samantha Baker and Brooke are five of those seniors returning to the Redhawks, all having a plethora of varsity experience under their belts.
Apanell, an all-state player, went down with a knee injury during the state semifinals and is working her way back. Junior Caroline Deane stepped in during the postseason when Apanell went down and had a monster game against Greylock in the semis.
Like they always seem to do, coach Sean MacDonald has plenty of talent coming through the pipeline, with Frontier once again expected to be one of the top teams in the state.
“We’re gonna have some depth, we’re gonna have a lot of interchangeable parts,” MacDonald said.
Franklin Tech brings back a big senior group from a team that qualified for the Div. 5 state tournament a year ago. The Eagles are hoping that group can bring them back to the postseason this fall.
Lillian Poirier, Faith Smith, Maria LaBelle are three of those senior returnees while junior Lea Chapman played a big role last year and will once again slot into the Eagles’ lineup.
Freshman Skylei Lapan and Jenna Petrowicz are outside hitters who are new to the team while the sophomore group of Shelby O’Leary, Christine Given, Cordelia Guerin and Haley Benoit have played well so far in practice.
“We’re hoping to qualify for all three tournaments; the state vocational tournament, the Western Mass. tournament and the state tournament,” Franklin Tech coach Jade Cuevas said. “It’d be nice to qualify for all three. This is a cohesive team this year and we’re hoping that leads to success. With the core seniors, we’re hoping they’ve been playing together for so long and can lead the younger girls.”
Mohawk Trail qualified for the state tournament and spent that run making trips to the Cape, earning a win over St. John Paul II in the preliminary round before falling to Bourne in the Round of 32.
Five seniors are lost from that squad, though coach Sherri Lannon believes the group she has this year has the talent to once again be competitive.
Hannah Plesnar returns from injury and is someone Lannon is thrilled to have back in the lineup. Rylee Hager and Emery King join to make up the returning seniors for the Warriors.
Palmer King will serve as the setter, Riley Giard, Grace Davenport and Sophia Goodnow are returning juniors while freshman Jadelynn Wheeler has impressed so far.
“We got the experience of going to states last year,” Lannon said. “That’s something we’re looking to attain this year.”
Greenfield graduated a big senior class but still has plenty of rising talent in the program.
Karisma Santana is a senior captain who bring a lot of power to the middle of the court. Rachel Dodge is one of the Green Wave leaders, playing as a setter and outside hitter.
Emerald Camero-Rivera is a good athlete who will be a setter and back row player. Addie Rotkiewicz is coming into her own as a player, Mackensie Goncalves will see time as a middle and outside hitter, Stella Verlander will play opposite and Laura Brown will see time at libero.
“We’re going to try to reach the tournament,” Greenfield coach Lisa Moore said. “We’ve had some good practices so far.”
Pioneer graduated five seniors and returns a young team with its sights set on making it to the postseason.
Whitney Dunklee and Olivia Hammond are the two returning seniors while Emma Peterson and Addison Harrington are younger players who played volleyball for the first time last year and have made big strides in their second season playing the sport.
Emma Strong is a big server, Avery Johnson made big improvements during the summer and Aidan Wall returns as the Panthers’ libero.
“The girls have such a great attitude,” Pioneer coach Shannon Connolly said. “We were so close to getting in the tournament last year and our goal is to make it this year. We want to play hard, be super positive and go out and play our best. This team is super peppy and eager to get the season started.”
Maeve Powell — who graduated from Mahar in 2018 — takes over a Senators program with a young team that is looking to build toward the future.
Saylor Kegans will be a key cog at setter, showing great hands in practice. Emilia Ramos is another senior who’s shown well while Cordelia Rhodes is an eighth grader who is picking the game up quickly.
“It’s a very young program,” Powell said. “It’s going to be a season about getting back to the basics. We need to work on nailing down our fundamentals and rebuilding the program for the future.”
Athol’s Alma White and Laney Florentino enter their third year setting, and Bears coach Donna Lajoie said she’s seen major growth from the two of them.
Alyssa Logan returns as the Athol libero and has looked good so far at practice. Olivia Mayer transferred from Mahar and is a strong all-around player.
“I’m hoping we can qualify for the tournament,” Lajoie said. “Our main goal is to improve from last year’s record. I think we can compete with most teams, I’m just waiting to see if we can finish.”