The Blue Devils were in the most dangerous position: match-point with serve.
The ball floated to Summit’s strongest serve-receive rotation, but the pass went long. Neither team could make out which side of the net the ball would land, so both middle-hitters jumped. The whistle sounded. The ref straightened his hand towards Westfield’s side. After a moment of confusion, whoops and hollers exploded from the Blue Devils as the team stormed the court.
Securing their ticket to the UCT final, No. 2 seed Westfield triumphed in the intense battle with No. 3 seed Summit. This was the third meeting of the 2024 season, and the two previous matches both ended in wins for the Blue Devils. The team made history, not only beating Summit in a UCT game for the first time in the program’s history, but also advancing to their first ever UCT final.
Last night, the ALJ gymnasium was filled with cheers from the crowd, chants from the benches and chirps from the players. But most importantly, not a minute passed without the referees blowing their whistles.
A game of technicalities. Doubles, net violations, illegal back-row attacks, carries and more, allotted easy points for both the Blue Devils and the Hilltoppers. The tie-breaking set uncovered no clear victor as the scoreboard traded points to both sides after each rally, until it was Summit’s turn to serve with the score at a stalemate, 23-23.
Westfield quickly ended the rally with a first-ball-kill by junior Veer Agawal, who tallied a career-high of 19 kills. Then, with their advanced lead (24-23), Westfield brought it home after a Summit violation was called for reaching over the net and attacking a ball while it was fully on the Westfield side.
The other two sets showed an obvious winner earlier on with Summit taking the first set and Westfield taking the second.
“Our hitting,” said head coach Ed Saggio, is what determined Westfield’s first-set loss. “We made eight hitting errors. We were passing phenomenal, serving phenomenal, but we were hitting the ball out of bounds.”
Although the first set displayed no huge point gaps, Westfield fell victim to unforced mistakes and the Hilltoppers came out victorious, 20-25.
Senior captain Logan Sheperd said,“In the beginning we started slow and lost the first set. I don’t think we were playing too bad, I just think Summit was playing really well.”
Agawal agreed, “We were all just tired because we played a lot over the weekend with three games on Saturday, and it just took a while for us to warm up…but [in the] last two sets, we really really connected as a team.”
The tables would turn going into the second set as Westfield dominated the court with an early 12-4 lead. While Agawal, sophomore Ben Bukiet-Beker (13 kills), and senior Jack Hickey (3 blocks) controlled the net, junior libero Brandon Genlot (13 digs) and junior defensive specialist Ryuichi Tanemori (7 digs) covered the ground to create an overall dynamic and unbeatable front.
Between their powerful hits, flawless passing, and constant communication, the Blue Devils were able to win the second set 25-16 with a huge lead throughout.
With a late surge of energy, the Hilltoppers had potential to recover during this set. Summit’s senior pin-hitters, Sebastian Arias and Oliver Hogan, challenged Westfield’s defense with their forceful hits and celebratory momentum.
However, the Blue Devils’ attitude coming out of the first set propelled them to victory.
Shepherd said, “[The] mentality change was the biggest thing– from us, our supporters, the JV players– [that] shift enabled us to win the second set and… we made sure to ride out the third set and make our way to the finals.”
They plan to continue this momentum at 7 p.m. at Kean on Friday for the UCT finals where they will face rival No. 1 seed Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
SPF is the No. 3 ranked boys volleyball team in the state with a record of 25-1, and 8-0 in UCC. Going into today’s game, the boys’ mentality is “play to win” according to Agawal.
