A fury of kills from senior tri-captain Ben Bukiet-Beker kickstarted the Blue Devils to an 8-0 lead in the first set and established their control for the entirety of the match. With technical serves and powerful kills, boys volleyball secured a win over Plainfield in two sets.
Coming off of a landmark victory over Scotch Plains-Fanwood, their first in program history, on Wednesday, Friday’s match posed a typical ‘trap game’ threat to the team. Head coach Edward Saggio said, “We made sure to stay focused after that win. I told the boys that if we let it get to our heads and don’t produce today, that win means nothing.”
Westfield displayed their refined fundamental skills in Friday’s victory. Senior Jack Graham said, “We were making great contact today and all our hits were intelligently placed. Our serves were also on point which sets the tone for each rally.”
While the fundamentals played an important role, the match had no shortage of highlights. Bukiet-Beker led the team with eight resounding kills while senior Logan Welsh and sophomore Gunner Gaspard had seven assists apiece.
The Blue Devils’ command over the game also allowed them to cycle in many players, giving underclassmen valuable experience and live gameplay. An impressive 14 players contributed to the game, displaying the depth of this Westfield team.
Looking ahead, Westfield has a rematch against an impressive Elizabeth team. Their meeting earlier this year was decided in the third set where Westfield won with a margin of four points. Saggio said, “They’ve got one very dynamic hitter so we just have to play our zones very well and make good contact.”
Graham said, “Tomorrow we’re going to watch some film on them to see where they look to place their kills, so we can anticipate their shots rather than react.”
Tomorrow’s practice, Bukiet-Beker said, will be “very intense so we can mimic Monday’s environment.” The team’s motto, ‘game speed, game ready’ has proven helpful this far so an intense practice on Saturday will be familiar to the team and crucial to their success. The Blue Devil’s matchup against Elizabeth will take place on Monday at 4 p.m. at WHS.
