Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Tigers senior Wesley Fee (left) goes up for the ball during the first set of Wednesday’s game in Howland.

HOWLAND — When the tournament bracket was being established, Walsh Jesuit sought out Howland for its first-round matchup.

The Tigers players took note of that and wanted to make them regret that decision.

Taking the first set with a 26-24 comeback victory, Howland won each of the next two sets, 25-20 and 25-18, to sweep the Warriors and advance to the second round of the Division II, Region 6 tournament.

“We put our spot on the board first, and they could have picked any team. They picked us, and we kept that in our minds all week at practice,” senior Wesley Fee said. “They wanted us. They wanted this matchup to happen, so we gave it to them.”

The Tigers are in the midst of their best season as a program yet. In year four of the program, Howland sits at 19-4.

Coach Amanda Lingenfelter Florek credits the team’s senior class for laying down a solid foundation over the years.

“Our senior class is a group of guys that have been here since freshman year, when we first started the program, so they’re coming in with tons of experience,” Lingenfelter said. “They’re confident on the court, and they’re ready to go out with a bang.”

Howland has now swept its opponents in 16 of its 19 wins this season.

Fee, who finished the match with a team-high 16 kills, mentioned the group’s cohesion as a main reason why they’ve had such success this year. When things go bad, the team is in lockstep. Just keep playing.

“When the other team scores on you, you just got to keep playing,” Fee said. “You just got to keep going back and get the next point. And if there’s a bad call or if you think it’s a bad call, you just got to play through it. Just keep playing.”

Junior Evan Neely earned 21 assists in the win and Nick Caesar recorded five blocks. Freddie Rivera had 13 service points. He and Phillip Rullo each had a pair of aces.

The Tigers have a quick turnaround as Howland travels to fourth-seeded Amherst today for a trip to the district semifinals on the line.

“They’re the No. 4 seed. I know we were tied in the seeding meeting, and they won by tiebreaker. So we’re hoping it’s going to be a good match, and we’re just coming to compete,” Lingenfelter Florek said. “Hopefully get as far as we can.”

Relying on that group cohesion is going to be essential.

“We’re gonna play a really good team tomorrow,” Fee said. “We just got to keep playing like we did tonight. Keep playing as a team, keep playing as a group.”

The match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start time.