It’s 18-22 in the fourth set with Scotch Plains-Fanwood holding the lead over Westfield. Momentum shifts in Westfield’s favor when junior Jeremiah Brooks gets another powerful kill from the middle. Now, SPF only leads by three points. It seems that Westfield could win the fourth set, which would lead to their first five-set game of the season. However, SPF’s dominance overpowers the Blue Devils 21-25, preventing them from taking the NJSIAA Group 3 Sectional Final title and ultimately ending their season.
The first set was controlled by Westfield, with the team holding the lead until the final points, where they won 25-22. Brooks credited the team’s energy, saying, “I feel like we started really hot, which is usually a struggle for us.”
The second set, however, was a different story. The momentum shifted relatively quickly in SPF’s favor. Senior tri-captain Ethan Cha said, “For the second set, we came out a little bit flatter. Maybe we were expecting it to be a little bit easier after the first set, but they just came back even harder than the first set, and we weren’t ready for that.”
The best aspect of the Blue Devils’ gameplay in the match was their ability to terminate the ball. Standout hitters included senior tri-captain Benjamin Bukiet-Beker with 16 kills, Cha with 13 and Brooks with 11. Brooks’ performance, especially, was very impressive as middles tend to get set much less than the outside hitters.
The third set was very similar to the second, with SPF holding the lead the entire time, and the set ended with a 10-point gap of 15-25. Despite the positives that shone through the low score, Bukiet-Beker said, “After the first set, I thought we passed worse. Passing worse means setting worse, which also means hitting worse. It all goes together.”
In the fourth set, the constant back-and-forth kept the energy high on both sides of the court. Head coach Ed Saggio said, “The way we fought back in the fourth set really showed what we could do. We came back from behind and could have won it; we just had to have had better execution.”
Even with the 6-11 lead the Raiders had on the Blue Devils, they continued to fight back with all they had. Alongside the tremendous offense Westfield had to offer, their defense truly left it all on the court. Bukiet-Beker and Cha dominated the back row with 17 and 13 digs.
Even with this being a season-ending loss, the boys were all very happy with their success this past season. Through countless hours of practice, the Blue Devils have improved every aspect of their game and will look to continue their improvement next season.
