In what has become a familiar sight for Westfielders, the Blue Devils wildly jumped in the air as they raised their championship plaque high over their heads with pride. With a 3-0 takedown of Passaic Tech, the Blue Devils clinched their fifth consecutive North 2, Group 4 sectional title.
In front of a boisterous and packed crowd, the Blue Devils got off to a fast start, taking a 3-0 lead before the Bulldogs stormed back to tie the game 4-4. From there, the teams exchanged points and neither team led by more than three, until an ace from senior Karolina Gawkowska gave Westfield the momentum they needed to pull away. Kills from Liz Bresnahan, Madelyn Koellhofer and Sophia Simeone, combined with Heidi Foster’s three aces, led the Blue Devils to win 11 of the final 15 points on their way to taking the set 25-13.
“I feel like all week we hyped up this game and made it seem like a big challenge, so we were all kind of tense coming into it. I feel like coming into [a match] with that tenseness and knowing that they were a good team set us up to play to their level and showed our dominance,” Gawkowska said.
As the teams switched sides for the start of the second set, the Blue Devils dropped the first four points. The team responded with a 9-0 run led by the strong play at the net from Simeone, Koellhofer, Erin Whelan and senior co-captain Annelise Bonn. Despite Westfield’s impressive response, Passaic Tech bounced back with a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game at 20. A kill by Simeone regained the Blue Devils lead as they pulled away to a 25-23 win. “[Sophia and Madelyn] had a lot of great hits and that was due to people setting it up. It was a huge team effort and they scored when we needed it most,” head coach Beverly Torok said.
On the verge of a championship, Westfield began the third and final set behind a powerful kill by Bonn. The Blue Devils controlled play throughout the set to keep the Bulldogs at bay. Senior co-captain Lillian Wood put the finishing touches on the win with the final kill to win the set 25-19.
“It feels amazing to win, there’s really no words to describe how we feel. This team has been playing together since eighth grade. We put in so much work and the fact that it is finally paying off is amazing,” Simeone said.
This Sunday, Westfield will take on Old Bridge at 11 a.m. at Franklin High School in an exciting state championship matchup, with both teams ready to leave everything on the court. After months of hard work and preparation, the team will look to carry their momentum into their final game. With the state title on the line for the fourth time, the girls are ready to compete and finish the season with a strong performance.
