The end of the second set was tight, with the game tied 17-17. Senior tri-captain Ethan Cha sent a powerful kill over the net, forcing Summit into a timeout, and with another kill by Cha, the game quickly fell into the Blue Devils’ hands. Westfield boys volleyball delivered a dominant performance, defeating Summit in just two sets. This victory gave the team a comeback after a loss to Union, bringing their record to 11-3.
Westfield dominated the first set 25-14, starting out strong against the now 2-12 Hilltoppers. Despite the score evening out at times, the Blue Devils persevered with strong performances from Cha and senior tri-captain Benjamin Bukiet-Beker.
Bukiet-Beker added that the last time the Blue Devils beat Summit, it was a tight game when it shouldn’t have been, so their game plan was “winning a swift win.” He also complimented his team on their performance today, adding, “Our serving was really good, and our passing was great, so that was easy to set and then hit in the end.”
Head coach Edward Saggio also complimented the team on their performance, mainly focusing on their passing. “Our passing was very, very good today,” he said. Saggio also added that the team “got aced in the last two games, 14 times total,” stating that “that’s two very close games that we could have won.”
Sophomore Gunner Gaspard led the team with 22 assists. Senior tri-captain and Lancaster Bible College commit Matthew Bonn had a great showing as well, with five kills and two digs.
Going into the second half, the Blue Devils kept up the momentum despite a slow start that gave Summit a short lead. However, a series of kills from Bukiet-Beker, Cha and senior Brock Borlenghi gave Westfield the lead again.
“Our game plan going into the match was just perfecting our blocking, playing extremely strong defense and keeping our energy up,” said Cha. “We have a problem sometimes of starting off a little slow and then falling behind, and today we did a really good job of not doing that.”
Looking ahead, Bukiet-Beker added that the team will continue working on their blocking. He said, “If we have good blocking and good defense, then our offense can run smoothly, so we’ll continue working on blocking this week.”
The Blue Devils will look to secure another victory away against Roselle Catholic at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
