Late in the second set, senior co-captain Anneliese Bonn stepped up to the baseline and fired a missile of a serve into the defender’s arms and deflected out of play. The point extended the Blue Devils lead to six to fuel their 2-0 win over the Millburn Millers.
Westfield now expands their perfect record to 7-0, the third time in the last four years the Blue Devils have started with such a streak.
The first set went back and forth between the two teams with several lead changes. After Westfield went on an early 4-0 run, Millburn responded with a 5-0 streak of points to retake the lead.
“We started off pretty slow. We showcased more of what we could do at the end of our Cranford game and we didn’t really bring that momentum into the start of today’s game,” said senior Lillian Wood.
On top of that, head coach Beverly Torok noted how serving was a struggle for the Blue Devils that could have been avoided.
After a Westfield timeout, the Blue Devils came back to retake the lead and win the first set 25-21. Bonn and junior Liz Bresnahan dominated at the net, combining for 4 blocks and 12 kills. The senior had 3 aces to bring her season total to 18, just 3 shy of her season total from last year.
Bonn said, “When you’re serving it’s important to take a moment and focus on what you’re doing,” while also noting that her mindset and concentration play a pivotal role in her success.
Similar to the first set, Westfield got off to a slow start in the second set, trailing 9-5. Westfield then called a timeout, where Torok said they talked about technique and “adjusting places.”
The Blue Devils responded with a 20-9 run for the remainder of the game to take the set 25-18. Westfield has now won their last three head-to-head meetings with Millburn.
The key to their success, Torak said, was that “we came alive and got better on our serve receive and turned that into points” which was prominent in senior Heidi Foster’s 9 digs and senior Sophia Simeone’s 11.
Westfield is back in action for the fourth time in six days on Saturday with a tournament in Bloomfield.
“I hope to see us serve tougher to certain spots and see our serve improve statistically,” Torok added.
Wood noted that the Blue Devils’ “familiarity with their opponents” will also be key to their chances of starting 8-0 for the second straight season.
Following the tournament, Westfield looks ahead to a big week against rivals Union Catholic and Governor Livingston.
