Westfield’s crowd erupted in cheer and chants as the Blue Devils made a great defensive play, going up 25-24 over Colonia. Now, far into the third set with Westfield serving on game point, and the opportunity to keep Westfield alive into the next round of the state tournament, the whole gymnasium held their breath as the serve left the palm of Logan Welsh. After a short rally, Colonia attempted blocking a kill from Westfield and their deflection landed out of bounds, winning the game for Westfield. This comeback after losing the first set and being in a five-point deficit toward the end of the third set was legendary and extraordinarily thrilling for the players, parents, coaches and fans.
Head coach William Leonard said, “We knew we were never out of that game. We’ve been talking about it all year, our mantra on this team and something we have been telling ourselves all year is ‘down, never out’ and it doesn’t matter what happens, it doesn’t matter what kind of start we get off to, it’s about how you finish.”
Westfield started off in a deficit in the beginning of the first set. They trailed closely in the beginning but finally ended up catching up to Colonia’s lead, tying the game 18-18. With timeouts taken between these high-intense points, only in the first set, the score remained tied 20-20. Eventually through tough serving, Colonia was able to closely take away the first set over the Blue Devils 25-23. Junior Benjamin Bukiet-Becker said, “I think our biggest strength in moments like these is how we come back. We have gone to a lot of third sets and came out on top.” He mirrored Lenard words, saying, “We’re down, never out, as coach always says”
The second set the Blue Devils found their rhythm. Their defense started to show up, giving them more opportunities to score points. With a close beginning of the set Westfield began to pull away with the lead making it 7-4. While Colonia was handing Westfield a match as they were able to match the Blue Devils. However, Westfield pulled away winning the second set 25-20 making the match tied at 1-1.
The third set brought high tension and high intensity. The refs were very involved throughout this set, dealing with many controversial calls and leaving many fans, oftentimes Colonia fans, unsatisfied. Westfield trailed for the entirety of the third set, nearing the end of it in a five-point deficit 21-16. Westfield takes a timeout to reset their momentum and mindset, which ended up benefiting them tremendously. “It’s just, these guys being able to believe in each other and being able to believe in themselves and be ready for the moment, whenever it comes to them.”
Westfield served and killed the ball with power and precision after this timeout. They tied together 5 impressive and nail-biting points in a row to tie the game 21-21, and finally gained their first lead of the game 22-21. Colonia tried to stop their momentum, equalizing the score once again, and this tied score remained until 24-24, forcing either team to win by two points.
The Blue Devils are back in action Monday June 2nd facing off against Millburn in the second round of the NJSIAA state tournament. The Blue Devils are looking to keep their season going and moving forward. Leonard said, “We’re just going to focus on us and we’re going to focus on, again, getting 1% better tomorrow.” Senior Veer Agarwal mimicked this saying, “For next game we are going to just keep working hard in practice, find out who we are playing, and play like we did today”
