BELCHERTOWN — In less than ideal weather conditions, the Belchertown girls tennis team successfully defended its Class B Western Massachusetts title with a 5-0 victory over Frontier on May 21 in the championship match. Second doubles was the only match to go three sets as the Orioles proved its place as the top-ranked team in Class B, who kept the second-seeded Redhawks pointless for the first time this season.

Belchertown moved to 18-2 overall with its ninth straight victory on a chilly afternoon on its home court.

“It feels great,” Orioles head coach Alanna Grady said. “The girls have been working really, really hard all season and its nice to see them accomplish that goal.”

Belchertown’s second doubles team of Allie Randall and Emma Kornbluth took the third set tiebreaker by a 10-8 score, counting as Brooke Charest and Hailey Fernandez’s first defeat all season for Frontier. The Orioles claimed the first set, 6-1, before the Redhawks responded with a 6-3 win in the second set, setting up Belchertown’s tight third set win and ultimately, the Class B crown.

“I was really impressed with how everybody was able to rise to the occasion,” Grady said. “That’s a theme of what they’ve been doing all season across the board. Second doubles had the closest score, so their ability to come back after losing the first set … their ability to come back and to win the second set is something that is a big challenge no matter what situation you’re playing in and to be able to do that in the Western Mass. final shows a lot about their ability to compose themselves and handle the moment.”

Amanda Murray moved past Thanushi Ratnatunge in first singles (6-0, 6-2), Mia Corish downed Kayla Fagan in second singles (6-1, 6-0) and Gianna Picardi surpassed Ella Sibley in third singles (6-1, 6-1). Katie Collins and Edith Audette topped Esther Ehle and Aylen Shaw, 6-0, 6-4, in first doubles to account for all five of the Orioles’ points.

Belchertown’s victory versus Frontier mirrored its semifinal performance against Pope Francis as the Orioles blanked the Cardinals, 5-0.

“Definitely a strong way to end the season and gives us some positive energy going forward into some situations with some new teams that we might not necessarily have played before,” Grady said on back-to-back shutouts in the Western Mass. tournament.

While the Redhawks (14-6) came up short, head coach Andrew Varnon was pleased with the effort his team showed against a talented Belchertown bunch that plays in a completely different division during the regular season. The Orioles are in Division 3 while Frontier is in Division 4.

“I don’t think this is a surprising result,” Varnon said. “They have an experienced team, a team with juniors and seniors, we have a team with eighth graders and ninth graders. Despite the scoreline, I’m watching from the sidelines as a coach and I’m seeing pretty much all of my players hanging in there. Nobody felt like they didn’t deserve to be on the court. For us, this is a learning experience, this is a chance that we have to see the examples the Belchertown athletes are setting and to grow.”

Grady is confident her athletes will continue to uphold good habits to prepare for the upcoming grind that is the state tournament.

“We tried to have a goal this season of doing well and maybe being in this position again without having any expectations,” Grady said. “I think this has proven to us the point of, working hard pays off, so we want to keep that mindset of working hard as we continue into practice and get ready for our state match, whenever that is.”