As Union Catholic closed the gap to only 3 between them and the Blue Devils following a 3-point streak, junior Liz Bresnahan stepped up to the net and smashed a forceful kill down into the middle of the Vikings to obliterate their defense, taking the second set 25-20 for Westfield.
As Westfield and UC girls volleyball have been rivals for years, tensions rise each time they face off and the drive of each team to win is more noticeable than ever. The Blue Devils have been able to contain UC as of recent, as they defeated them twice last year including in the Union County Final.
With this backdrop, the Blue Devils took on the Vikings in what was expected to be a highly-contested and anticipated matchup. However, with Westfield defeating UC in just two sets, the Blue Devil dominance was present for the entirety of the game and proved they are a force to be reckoned with.
Westfield took the first set 25-15 in what proved to be a very one-sided game. Even though the Vikings were able to rack up 15 points, they were mostly won off of the Blue Devil’s mistakes and did not show much power from the Viking’s lineup.
Senior Sophia Simeone said, “We wanted to demonstrate our strength not only today, but also because UC is in our county and there is a really good chance that we’ll see them again this season so we definitely wanted to come out swinging.”
Westfield was able to execute on their serves especially, which was a major improvement from their last game against Millburn.
Along with strong plays coming from the Blue Devils’ service line, they were able to capitalize on many of their kills and blocks which accumulated to many of the points on the scoreboard for Westfield.
Head coach Beverly Torok said, “They have a good outsider hitter who goes line but she really wasn’t able to utilize that today. Their team wasn’t really able to set the ball up to her because of the ways we were hitting that didn’t allow them to pass much, which really helped us.”
In the first set, Westfield started off hot, coming out 9-2 early and despite the Vikings closing that gap to 11-10 quickly, the Blue Devils gained back their momentum and went on a run to extend their lead to 20-14, where UC called a timeout.
With a pivotal ace from Bresnahan, a powerful kill from Simeone and a few other key points, the first set was sealed in the hands of the Blue Devils, giving them confidence venturing into the next set.
Shortly after, UC was able to get the first points on the board and took an early lead 2-0 in the second set. Westfield was able to tie it at 4, and later found a 16-12 lead following an ace from senior Heidi Foster.
A tip from sophomore Madelyn Koellhofer brought the Blue Devils up 19-13 but the trailing Vikings deficit didn’t last long as UC was able to close the margin to 23-20 quickly, keeping Westfield on their toes.
With the opportunity to end the game in two sets, the Blue Devils were able to finish strong and overcome the Vikings 25-20.
Senior co-captain Annelise Bonn said, “Our takeaway from this game is that we need to stay aggressive and keep our energy up the whole game so that we can have even bigger gaps against the next teams we play.”
This win moves Westfield to 7-0 on the season and maintains their undefeated streak to start the year.
The Blue Devils will travel to Governor Livingston on Thursday at 4 p.m.
