The WHS gym was dead silent as the scoreboard read 24-23 Westfield. The Blue Devils were one point away from securing the first set after blocking problems. Senior Jack Graham stepped up to the service line for the set point, and the pressure was palpable. He joked, “I tend to miss my serve 50 percent of the time.”
However, he defied the odds and served an easy ace to win the set dramatically. The gym erupted with cheers and the energy was electric. This triumphant moment erased the back-and-forth first set for the Blue Devils, and the team breezed through the rest of the game to beat Elizabeth in two sets.
The team has dominated so far this season with an 8-1 record, their only loss against Edison on April 6. They are on a six-game winning streak and recently beat Scotch Plains-Fanwood for the first time in program history. Graham said, “We definitely built a lot of momentum, especially starting with [SPF], and then we rolled through Plainfield pretty easily, and now Elizabeth at home. We beat [Elizabeth] before [on April 4], so we knew we could beat them again.” Head coach Edward Saggio told his team, “just keep on doing what you’re doing. Don’t change anything” to keep this momentum going.
The first set was tricky for Westfield as they struggled to block Elizabeth’s shots. The Minutemen had the lead until the Blue Devils’ blocks began to hold. Senior tri-captain Ethan Cha said, “We had a goldfish mentality, as coaches always say. We forgot about our mistakes, left the points behind and then we just moved forward and tried to get as much momentum as possible.” That mentality paid off, propelling the team to victory.
Some standout performances came from Cha and fellow senior tri-captain Benjamin Bukiet-Beker, who both had 6 kills, followed by Graham, who had 12 digs and sophomore Gunner Gaspard, who had 17 assists.
The success stemmed from the team’s blocks. Cha said, “I think we did really well blocking today and playing defense in general. In the past, we’ve been having some problems with the block and our defense, so we just did a good job covering that today.” Saggio echoed Cha, “We’ve been really working hard on our blocking, and we blocked very well today. ”
The Blue Devils stepped on the gas going into the second set. Westfield gained an early lead, which only grew over the course of the set, with their biggest lead being 10 points. With crucial kills from Cha and junior Jeremiah Brooks, coupled with timely tips from the front line, the Blue Devils ran away with a decisive second set.
The team is back in action on April 22 for a quad-tournament away at St. Joseph’s Metuchen at 5 p.m. They will take on St. Joseph’s Metuchen, Fairlawn and Bloomfield, hoping to continue their dominance and winning streak.
