For the fourth game this season, a Westfield match has been decided in only 2 out of 3 sets. With this victory over Roselle, they improve to 3-2, once again breaking above the .500 mark. Senior captain Sebastian Lorenzo said, “This officially marks a winning record, and I’m happy to be a part of a team who’s strong this season.” As a setter, Lorenzo led the team with 12 assists, adding to his total of 83 so far this season.
The Blue Devils won their two sets 25-12 and 25-14, propelled by their combination of Lorenzo’s setting and their hitters. “Our strengths were definitely our arms hitting super well when we got a good pass and set,” Lorenzo said.
Notably, Westfield’s outside hitter, junior Veer Agawal, had 12 kills across the two sets. “Nobody has been able to stop our [outside hitters],” said head coach Ed Saggio. “Especially with Veer hitting out of the back row, he’s been phenomenal, and [junior Brandon] Genlot has been playing very, very well defensively.”
Both the offense and defense showed out, scoring almost twice as many points as Roselle. The combination of these two sides of the game allowed the Blue Devils to receive their opponents attacks and then quickly piece together attacks of their own.
However dominant the scoreboard reads, at times, Westfield played messy and were not working together as a team. At times, after a bad judgment call on a ball that ended up in bounds or a misread as to who should go for the ball, the team seemed disjointed. Saggio commented on this, saying, “We need to be mentally tougher and a little more disciplined. Now they’re playing for Westfield, they have to do it the Westfield way. I’m in my 41st year of coaching, I know a little bit about the game.” Last season, Saggio led the Blue Devils to a 20-8 record and an appearance in the North Group 4 semifinals. After five games the team sits at 3-2, and they will try to improve their record in games to come.
Westfield will look to do so over their next few games, when they face Basking Ridge away at 4:00 p.m. on Friday and Monday against Union at 4:00 p.m. at Westfield High School.
