SOUTH DEERFIELD — Some of the top high school volleyball teams in western Mass. have been getting together on Wednesdays at Springfield’s American International College to compete in the Pioneer Valley Juniors Volleyball Summer League. 

On Wednesday, the league held its final matches of the regular season at Frontier Regional, as multiple courts ran at once at Goodnow Gymnasium. 

As the summer is drawing to a close and the fall season is on the horizon, Frontier’s Abigail Hernandez said the importance of summer league is to work out all the problems and be ready to go when the first practices kick off in a little over a week (Aug. 19). 

“Summer league is a time to get all the kinks out and work toward the fall,” Hernandez said. “We’ve been playing together since we were in seventh grade but a lot of us haven’t seen the floor a lot because we had a lot of seniors last year and the year before.” 

After losing four starters to graduation from last year’s Frontier squad that reached the MIAA Div. 4 semifinals, plenty of starting positions are up for grabs this fall. 

The summer is when the players stepping into varsity roles can come together and develop the necessary chemistry to try to make another run at a state title. 

“It’s a good time for us to come together,” Frontier’s Hannah Davis said. “It’s hard when we lose so many seniors to come back and put a team together. We push each other to be better. That’s what the summer is all about. You learn your strengths, learn your weaknesses and figure out how to fix it.” 

Despite losing those seniors, the Redhawks are able to reload each year. 

“I think there’s a lot of rebuilding we have to do,” Frontier’s Melanie Ring said. “We lost a lot of good seniors but I think we’ll figure it out. We figure it out each year.” 

Frontier isn’t the only power program playing in the PV Juniors League this summer.

Longmeadow, Westfield, Agawam, Amherst, Belchertown, Minnechaug, West Side, Putnam, Springfield Central, East Longmeadow, and a team comprised of players from Greenfield, Turners, Northfield Mount Herman and Stoneleigh Burnham make up the 12 sides competing in the Premier Division, showing the level of competition on a match-by-match basis. 

“It’s really good to create chemistry before we start,” Frontier’s Ariana Miller said. “A lot of teams in our league are here so it’s good competing with them.” 

The Green Owls — the team made up of Greenfield, Turners, NHM and SBS players — don’t have the same luxury as other teams when it comes to pre-constructed chemistry during the high school season. Despite that, they feel the lack of initial chemistry has made them better players, as they’ve had to really focus on communication while on the court to make sure everyone is on the same page. 

“Most of us have played before together in club season,” Lexi Short, who attends Stoneleigh Burnahm, said. “Communication has been a big thing because there’s new people each week. You learn how to adapt. It’s fun playing with new people though. It makes you a better player all around.

“Playing with people you’ve never played with before, especially as a setter and a captain, I have to know how everyone hits,” Short added. “If I don’t know you, I have to learn quick. It makes me a better leader and setter.” 

While the league is about competition and improving, it’s also been a great way to develop friendships. 

“Playing a bunch of different teams at different levels, you have to keep your head up,” Faline Zinn-Keane, who attends NMH, said. “It’s a good way to make friends with new people showing up each Wednesday.”

Vivian Ross, who plays for Belchertown, noted how helpful it is to have a dedicated summer league before the high school season. 

“We’ve been playing in this for a few years now,” Ross said. “Some upperclassmen started it and we’ve been able to get more people in our town to play each year which has been nice. It’s a really good way to prepare for the season.” 

Without a middle school program, Belchertown has used the league to put together a team of incoming freshmen and inexperienced players to compete in the On the Rise Division, which Ross said is a great way to develop skills. 

“It’s been really nice to get to know everyone, get everyone together and see the competition that we’ll see in the fall,” Ross said. “It’s good competition here.” 

The league’s playoffs are scheduled for Aug. 14 at AIC.