Nine teams representing 10 schools played 32 sets apiece between July 11 and Aug. 22.
SOUTH DEERFIELD – Ever the ambassadors for high school volleyball in Western Massachusetts, Sean MacDonald and George Mulry set out to give girls a chance to compete during the summer.
The inaugural season of the Pioneer Valley Juniors High School Summer League – sponsored by the club that MacDonald and Mulry both run – wrapped up Wednesday at Frontier Regional School. Nine teams representing 10 schools began playing July 11, and play ended just in time for high school tryouts, which commenced Thursday.
Not only did the league give teams the chance to hone their chemistry a couple of months in advance of the season, it also provided opportunities for a few recent graduates to try their hand at coaching.
“It’s definitely going to be an advantage when the season comes,” said Alyssa Stankowski, a former Frontier star who led her Firecrackers squad to the overall championship with a 30-2 record. “Being able to play two or three months before the season starts is just going to help them.”
The top of the standings reflect the general status of the Western Mass. scene. Stankowski’s team featured most of Frontier’s varsity players, who will return to vie for an eighth consecutive Division III sectional title and third straight state crown.
In second place was Longmeadow (28-4), which aims for its sixth Division II title in a row.
“I think it’s gone great,” said MacDonald, the Frontier varsity coach. “Everyone has gotten a lot of play over seven weeks. The feedback’s been good.”
The powerhouse teams aren’t the only ones who benefit. While not reflected in their records, teams from Belchertown, Athol and Ludlow really came on strong as the season progressed.
With Ludlow’s summer coach, recent graduate Shannon Robitaille, away at preseason camp for Springfield College, MacDonald stepped in Wednesday to tutor the Lions. Longmeadow head coach Mulry, meanwhile, took the reigns of the other Firecrackers team as coach Kelsey Abrahamson prepared for her freshman season at Southern Maine.
One of Mulry’s recent Longmeadow graduates, Megan Houff, guided her squad – which picked up a lone player from Sabis – to a second-place finish before herself heading off to college.
“We see almost every other sport doing it,” Mulry said. “This year just felt like the right year to do it.”
Third place went to “Chaugawam,” a combined effort between Minnechaug and Agawam. Belchertown was fourth, followed by Amherst, Abrahamson’s Firecrackers (Frontier JV), Westfield, Athol and Ludlow.
The $50-per-player fee went mainly toward renting the facilities, printing uniform shirts and paying officials.