SOUTH DEERFIELD — A grueling regular season schedule has the Frontier boys volleyball team prepared heading into the state tournament. 

Of the Redhawks’ 20 regular season matches, 15 opponents qualified for either the Div. 1 or Div. 2 state tournament while nine of those teams earned top 10 seeds, showcasing the level of opponent Frontier played throughout the season. 

Hosting 37th-seeded Lynn Vocational on Thursday in the Div. 2 preliminary round, 28th-seeded Frontier looked like a team ready for the tournament. 

Frontier pulled away in the first set, grinded out a victory in the second and got going late in the third set to walk away with a 3-0 sweep over the Tigers at Goodnow Gymnasium. 

“We had a loaded schedule,” Redhawks coach Courtney Parent said. “We played veteran teams that have been around for a long time, much like our girls’ team. We get to a point where we have to remind them that this is just our fourth year having a team and they’ve come so far in those four seasons. I do think to a point our schedule makes us better but it’s hard to keep the morale.” 

For Frontier (8-13) on Thursday, it was about focusing on themselves and performing their best regardless of the opponent. 

“We talked a lot about error management and keeping our side together,” Parent said. “We wanted to control what we can control on our side of the court and the rest will come together if we keep our serves in, keep our unforced errors low.” 

Tegan Dexter was a force all night long for the Redhawks as Frontier tried to get the ball to him early and often. 

Dexter smashed four kills early that helped the Redhawks build a 10-6 lead in the opening set. Frontier pulled ahead 21-12 after Dexter and Will Reading put down kills and the Redhawks went on to earn a 25-16 win to take a 1-0 lead. 

Frontier led 22-16 in the second set but Lynn Vocational (16-5) rallied, cutting the lead to 24-22. The Redhawks held on and scored on a Dexter kill to earn a 25-22 set win to go up 2-0. 

Leading 14-13 in the third, Frontier scored 11 of the final 16 points to seal the win with a 25-18 set win. 

Dexter led the way with 20 kills and 12 digs, Tavo Vincent-Warner distributed 37 assists, Nate Rivera put down nine kills to go along with 11 digs, Reading finished with nine kills and seven digs and Will Petrin added two kills, two aces and five digs in the winning effort. 

It’ll be a familiar opponent for the Redhawks in the Round of 32, as they go on the road to take on No. 5 Chicopee Comp on Saturday at a time to be determined. The Colts beat Frontier, 3-0, earlier in the season. 

“I’m excited to see them again,” Parent said. “They are a top 10 team and competed well in Western Mass. A lot of their guys play in the offseason. They’ll be a team to reckoned with and it’ll take a lot if we want to beat them Saturday.” 

Boys tennis

Div. 4 Round of 32

Sutton 5, Frontier 0 — The Redhawks’ season came to a close in the Round of 32, as 25th-seeded Frontier was unable to steal a set against No. 8 Sutton, as the Sammies advanced with a 5-0 victory.  

The Redhawks close their season with an 11-5 record, the 11 wins tied for the most in program history. 

Oliver Brown closes his career with the most wins in program history (30) while Casey Bestler finished the season with eight wins, the most for any Redhawk player in top singles in a season. 

“It was a memorable season with room to grow,” Frontier coach Brian Campbell said.