Midway through the second set, the Westfield Blue Devils’ junior Liz Bresnahan leaped at the net and slammed the ball down through the middle of the Summit Hilltoppers’ defense with dominance. The kill echoed throughout the gym while Westfield took a secure 12-6 lead. The Blue Devils never looked back, capturing a 2-0 win over their Union County Conference rival.
With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play while not dropping a set in their last four matches.
“We’ve got a lot of passing going on, and whatever we’re passing, we’re using,” said head coach Beverly Torok. “Even if we are out of the system we’re using, we’re getting the next ball in and a hit, not just a free ball over.”
After winning the opening point of the game, the Blue Devils jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the first set, before Summit went on a 4-0 run to close the deficit to one. Westfield pulled away after strong serves by senior Heidi Foster and junior Sonia Hemnani and took the set 25-11.
“We spend a lot of time in practice working on our serves, which I think last year was something that we really struggled with,” said senior Karolina Gawkowska.
The Blue Devils got off to another quick start in the second set, taking a 6-1 lead. Summit pulled to within five twice in the set, but ultimately couldn’t break through, leading the Blue Devils to win their second set 25-16.
Bresnahan led Westfield with 7 kills while senior Sophia Simeone added 5, bringing their season totals to 31 and 41, respectively. Senior captain Annelise Bonn had 2 blocks and 5 aces while senior Abby Wilson had 10 assists.
Bonn, Bresnahan, Simeone, and sophomore Madelyn Koellhofer were strong at the net, and their height gave the Blue Devils the offensive advantage.
“We have a varied attack which is something not every school has yet. Some of them just have outsiders, but we have a lot of hitters,” said Torok.
“I think that we have really good chemistry and an aggressive offense,” Bonn said. “We all just work together and have a great time while we do it.”
Westfield looks to continue their perfect season on the road against Cranford on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., a team that both Torok and Gawkowska said gave the Blue Devils some trouble last year.
Gawkowska said, “Last year we struggled against Cranford and we went for three sets with them, which we shouldn’t have. But I think that this year we have been working really hard, and I think we’re gonna do really well against them.”
“They kind of took us by surprise I feel. I feel like we weren’t mentally ready for them at the time, but this year we will be prepared and hopefully come in and really put together our true attack,” Torok said.
Following the game against Cranford, Westfield plays Millburn on Friday at 4:00 p.m. at Millburn High School before a tournament Saturday in Bloomfield at Bloomfield High School.
