Mount Greylock, Wahconah Claim Western Mass Crowns

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – They say nothing succeeds like success, and the Mount Greylock volleyball team Saturday proved that winning can carry over from one generation of players to the next.

 

Ninth-graders Annabelle Coody and Olivia Perez combined for 27 kills, and the Mounties survived a five-setter against Lenox to win their third straight Western Massachusetts Championship.

 

Senior Kylie Sweren had 14 kills, and classmate Emily Alvarez served a team-high nine aces in the 20-25, 25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 16-14 win in the Class C title game.

 

But senior leadership does not just come on game days.

 

Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer credited his five seniors with taking an hour of practice time on Friday for a team meeting on the verge of the rematch of last year’s regional final.

 

“We had a three-hour practice,” Alvarez said. “But it was more like two and a half hours, but we took 30 minutes and all the girls went into the locker room, and we really talked about mindset.

 

“We’re such a young team. So going into these games, your mindset is a huge part of it. So we talked about that and told the younger girls everything we felt when we were younger and how to change that. And I think that was a huge thing. We did not really get down on ourselves at all, even when we lost the first set. We knew that we could come back from it.

 

“And we were really calm. That was a huge thing. We were really focused and calm, but we did have energy. And that’s what got us the win.”

 

Mount Greylock’s win in the Pittsfield High gymnasium gave Berkshire County teams a 2-1 record in Western Mass finals on Saturday. At Chicopee Comprehensive, Wahconah beat Baystate Academy in the Class B final; at West Springfield High, Lee battled back from a rough start to take Mohawk Trail to a fifth set before the Tigers fell in the Class D title game.

 

In Class C, the Mounties and Millionaires seemed on a collision course since Mount Greylock took a five-set victory from Lenox way back in the season opener for both teams.

 

And Saturday’s rematch did not disappoint.

 

Lenox drew first blood, jumping out to a 19-14 lead with a five-point run on the serve of Evelyn Julieano (11 digs, two aces).

 

The reigning state champion Mounties fought back with three points from Kelsey MacHaffie, who served one of her four aces to make it 20-19, Lenox.

 

But the Millionaires got a sideout on a kill from Kelsey Kirchner (eight kills). And two sideouts later, the serve found Hailey Armold (15 kills, 12 digs, three aces), who served out the set to put Lenox on top, 1-0.

 

Geyer said Mount Greylock had to change things on the fly to get back in the match.

 

“We basically had to make a bunch of adjustments during the game in order to do better against the way Lenox was playing,” Geyer said. “I would say Lenox had less unforced errors than we did – by a mile.

 

“And the way they played that first set was really amazing. … What we did was, we stopped blocking with our outside blockers, so we would have a little more on the defense. And then serving – initially, we were serving aggressively hard, the way we like to serve. And they have such a great back row, they were passing everything. So we switched up to move the ball around – not hard, just put it somewhere.”

 

The changes paid dividends midway through the second set, when the Mounties went on a seven-point run on Coody’s serve to open a 22-15 lead. Perez had a block, Alvarez got a point on a bump that ticked off the top of the net and fell in front of the Millionaires, Coody served an ace, and Kiera Kristensen had a kill during that stretch.

 

But Lenox settled down and answered with a six-point win in the third set to retake the lead. The Millionaires got six points on the serve of Emily Barenski (39 digs, three aces) to take an 11-4 lead, and the Mounties never got closer than five points the rest of the set, which ended on a Kill by Kirchner at 24-19.

 

Mount Greylock evened the match in the fourth set, which started with a pair of runs – six points on Alvarez’ serve followed immediately by six from Evelyn Julieano to give Lenox an 8-7 lead.

 

From there, the two teams slugged it out with neither getting more than a two-point advantage until Alvarez went back to the service line with Mount Greylock ahead, 18-17.

 

A tip by MacHaffie started a six-point run that ended with Alvarez getting the Mounties to set point with an ace. After Armold got a tip to give Lenox a sideout, the Millionaires won a point on their serve to get within five. But a tip by Sweren gave Mount Greylock a 25-19 win and sent the game to the fifth set.

 

Sweren, like Alvarez and MacHaffie, was a major contributor on Mount Greylock’s senior-laden 2023 squad that won a state title in its second straight state finals appearance. On Saturday, she said that the Western Mass title game still is special for the team.

 

“It still means so much,” Sweren said. “We lost a lot of girls, but I trust everyone on this team. We’ve been working so hard to push through and keep going.”

 

The fifth set, like the whole match, was neck and neck.

 

Mount Greylock looked like it might pull ahead when MacHaffie served five straight points to give the Mounties a 9-5 lead.

 

But Lenox got a kill from Armold for a sideout, and she served an ace and got a kill from Kirchner to again make it a one-point game.

 

An ace by Coody again put Mount Greylock up by three at 12-9, but Abby Winger (five kills) got a kill of the Mount Greylock block for a sideout and then a tip at the net to again make it a one-point margin.

 

A kill by Sweren gave Mount Greylock its first match point at 14-12. But Lenox retook the serve on a kill by Armold. Barenski then served an ace to tie it at 14-14, but Sweren’s bump across the court hit the floor in to give Mount Greylock a second match point at 15-14.

 

This time, Sweren’s serve found a hole in Lenox’s defense to end the match.

 

Lenox coach Stephanie Armstrong said that her team will carry Saturday’s experience into next week’s Division 5 State Tournament; going into the regional final (which does not count toward the MIAA power rankings), Lenox (19-2) and Mount Greylock (17-3) were ranked sixth and fifth, respectively, in the state.

 

“I think it definitely helps,” Armstrong said. “Knowing [the Mounties] are the reigning state champions, knowing that they’ve competed with some of the top teams in the state – that’s huge for our girls’ confidence and our ego. I think they should keep their heads up, and I think it’s going to prepare us even better for states.”

 

Geyer, meanwhile, is happy with the development of his young squad.

 

“These guys are growing,” he said. “They’re freshmen. They’re learning from every mistake. There’s no way we win this match if we don’t play better than we’ve been playing all year.

 

“We did it during the match, and that was great. I’m really proud of them, especially the new players.”

 

Photos from this match here.

 

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – There is a healthy debate in education circles about whether to teach cursive handwriting.

 

But at Mohawk Trail High School, the “Palmer Method” is alive and well.

 

Senior Palmer King collected 10 aces and 22 kills in a 25-7, 24-26, 26-28, 25-19, 15-8 win over Lee in the Class D final on Saturday morning.

 

Top-seeded Lee (14-6) fell behind out of the gate when Mohawk mounted an 11-point run on King’s serve to take a 12-1 lead in the first.

 

A four-point run two sideouts later pushed Mohawk’s lead to 16 points, the Wildcats were never able to make a dent.

 

Mohawk Trail took that momentum into the second set, grabbing a 13-5 lead when Emma Cannaday served nine straight points, the last on a Megan Gabaree kill.

 

But Mika Diller (10 kills) got a tip for a Wildcat sideout, and Karalynn Hopkins (nine kills, 18 digs) got kills on back-to-back points to draw Lee within five points.

 

From there, Lee chipped away, tying the set on a Hopkins kill at 21-21.

 

It was a one-point deficit when the serve went to Kassidy Clark, who tied it at 23-23. The next Lee server, Diller, ended the set with two straight points to level the match at one set apiece.

 

“Mohawk came out strong in the first set and we were caught on the wrong side of the momentum,” Lee coach Julia Warner said. “We were able to learn a lot about how they ran their offense in the first set and the beginning of the second, we were able to make some defensive adjustments, get our own offense generated, reduce some unforced errors, and claw back from an eight-point deficit.”

 

Lee again trailed, though not by a lot, in the third set, when King served five in a row to give his team a 16-12 advantage.

 

Moments later, Lee took the lead when Claire Davis (23 digs) served three in a row, getting a kill from Diller to make it 18-17.

 

An ace from Abby Moffatt gave Mohawk Trail a set point at 24-23, but Lee got a sideout, and Diller served two in a row to give the Wildcats a set point at 25-24.

 

A push from King – who earned about half his points on swings from behind the 3-meter line and half at the net – tied the set, and the teams traded points before a kill by Alexis Masten (nine kills, 19 digs) gave Lee a sideout at 27-26, and King’s swing from behind the line went long to end the set.

 

Mohawk erased the 2-1 Lee lead with a 25-19 win in the fourth that featured late runs on Moffatt’s and Jadelyn Wheeler’s serves.

 

The fifth set started a little like the match did: a sideout for Mohawk on Lee’s opening serve and a six-point run on King’s serve that gave his team a lead it never relinquished.

 

Juliana Schuerer finished with a double-double for Lee, passing out 28 assists and pulling up 16 digs. Mya Andre finished with nine kills in the loss.

 

“Our team played well today and fought hard through all of today’s match,” Warner said. “I’m proud of how diverse our offense is with four players contributing in a major way at the net. We also were able to make adjustments to our defense in order to cover offensive pushes and dumps from Mohawk’s setter/hitter [King].

 

“We are looking forward to next week’s seeding to learn from this match as we head into the state tournament.”

 

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Megan O’Bryan put down 19 kills Saturday to lead Wahconah to a 21-25, 25-21, 25-10, 25-21 win in the Western Mass Class B Championship Game.

 

Third-seeded Wahconah (14-7) overcame a rough start en route to its fifth-straight win.

 

“After a slow start in the first set, Wahconah settled in and finished strong having tied the set, but couldn’t finish,” coach Dave Lussier said. “Wahconah set the tone offensively after that set.”

 

O’Bryan pulled up 16 digs to earn a double-double and also had a couple of aces.

 

Eve Colombari directed Wahconah’s attack with 41 assists and also collected 10 digs for a double-double of her own.

 

Emma Jacinto and Taea Cunagin finished with 14 and nine kills, respectively. Olivia Carr-Cole had a team-high 18 digs.

 

When informed of Wahconah’s win after his match, Mount Greylock coach Greg Geyer was nearly as excited about the rest of Berkshire County’s success as he was the Mounties’.

 

“I’m the founder and director of the AVA volleyball club, which a lot of these Lenox kids are in,” Geyer said. “Our kids are in it. We love the success of Berkshire County. … Wahconah beat Frontier [in the semi-finals] and stopped their run of [18] consecutive Western Mass championships.

 

“We had three potential champions today. Wahconah won? Wow. That’s so great. It’s just Berkshire County volleyball – doing it.”