The girls volleyball team came into this season knowing it would be a rebuilding year. After losing nine seniors, with all odds against them, they still managed to repeat their North 2, Group 4 Sectional championship win, and compete in the Group 4 Tournament final.
Although they were adjusting to the loss of many star players, the Blue Devils recruited many new assets, and gained senior Catie Carayannopoulos who returned from an ACL tear. The team found their dynamic midway through the season, at arguably the most pivotal time. Head coach Beverly Torok said, “I feel that we were playing more advanced volleyball by the end of the season with quicker tempo sets, and more strategic spots that we were concentrating on.”
Westfield had high expectations coming into the Union County Tournament after beating Governor Livingston the previous week, 2-0 and Union Catholic in the thrilling Pink Out matchup, 2-1. The Blue Devils fell short of GL in the semifinal round of the county tournament, fueling the team and giving them a reason to fight back for the rest of the season. Carayannopoulos said, “After the winning streak we had, [the GL semifinal game] was kind of a lapse because we knew now what our full potential was and wanted to perform to our highest ability to keep our season going.”
The Sectional Tournament was a breeze for the Blue Devils as they beat Union, Philipsburg, and Union City all in straight sets. In the sectional semifinal versus Philipsburg, the most points scored against them was 12, in either set.
The tough match came in the Group 4 semifinals versus Morristown for Westfield. Morristown and Westfield both took one set, forcing a third set. The infectious energy on the court and in the stands led to a victory for the Blue Devils, 25-23. Ava Gaspard contributed 15 kills along with 13 digs in this game that would propel them to the Group 4 state final.
Carayannopoulos returned ready to work hard and make her mark on the program. She broke the record for the most blocks in a single season with 58, as well as in a single career with 92.
Next year, the team will be losing three middles and one right side hitter. Torok said, “[The team] will need to make adjustments to these positions and try to improve on the positions that we are returning.” With more than half of the team returning next year, the Blue Devils have high expectations and look to build off of this year’s momentum.
Looking ahead, incoming seniors Audrey Stack and Emelia Dengler will lead the team to another successful season. Stack said, “I think going into next season we’re going to have to focus on working as a team…once we finally clicked [this year] we started to play better overall. We need to make sure we start strong and play strong throughout the season.”
