Boys volleyball opened their regular season on Wednesday with a dominant win over Linden. The match was an offensive masterclass for the Blue Devils as they tallied a total of 23 kills. Despite some competitive and energetic rallies, the Blue Devils maintained control throughout the match, winning in the first two sets.
Prior to Wednesday’s opening match, the Blue Devils participated in the Bloomfield Tournament in which they fought their way to the finals, the first time they had ever done so. Senior tri-captain Ben Bukiet-Beker, who highlighted the game with eight kills, said, “Our serving was far better today than at the tournament which helped. Starting each point with a good serve puts the other team on their heels and gives us the advantage.”
Another impressive performance came from sophomore Gunner Gaspard who tallied 20 assists in the match. Gaspard’s set ups were complemented with kills from six different players, a reflection of the depth of this Westfield team.
Going into the game, Westfield was aware of Linden’s athleticism and did not want to play into their strengths and make the match a jump off. Head coach Edward Saggio said, “We just have to play our game, we practice competitively everyday so we do not get flustered by another team’s game. Our motto is ‘game ready game speed.’”
After a successful tournament and a dominant opening win, the Blue Devils have plenty of momentum to carry into the rest of the season. Saggio noted how important it was to “gather some rhythm going into the season. We fell to SPF in the Bloomfield finals 25-20 which was frustrating but we have been short handed, senior Matthew Bonn is out currently with a back injury.” This win over Linden was a necessary boost for the team who is operating without Bonn, one of their captains.
Bukiet-Beker said, “It’s great to dominate a team that’s pretty competitive, but we have to take everything game by game, we have another big one against Elizabeth tomorrow.”
Elizabeth and Westfield have been very competitive with one another historically. In their last five matchups, Elizabeth has claimed the majority with three wins, but four of the matches were taken to the final set. The match at Elizabeth on April 2 at 4 pm will be a great opportunity for the Blue Devils to claim back-to-back in conference wins.
