The girls volleyball team walked into this season with high expectations. Not only did they attempt to repeat as Group 4 champions, but they held themselves to a standard unlike any other team this fall. Playing 26 games, they delivered on every account, finishing with a record of 21-5, bringing in a county championship and a North 2, Group 4 championship home for the Blue Devils before closing out their season with a loss in the semifinal round of the Group 4 Tournament.
Starting early in the season, Westfield needed to adjust on the court. Beginning their season 3-0 the team took a hit as one of their star players, junior Catie Carayannopoulos suffered a season ending injury, leaving a huge hole in the Blue Devils’ lineup.
The Blue Devils continued their win streak from the season prior until their seventh game of the season. Here they suffered an uncharacteristic loss to their rival Union Catholic causing a shift within the team. As the girls had only lost one game the season before, they were determined to come back from the loss knowing they could potentially face the rival team later on in the Union County Tournament.
Strong matchups and blowouts followed the loss. Strong wins over teams like Scotch Plains and Hunterdon Central helped the Blue Devils gain momentum as they were entering into the tournament season.
One true highlight of the entire season was the Union County championship win for the Blue Devils. This match was an absolute gridlock against Union Catholic, but the Blue Devils never relented. They swept the Vikings in two sets, entering the North 2, Group 4 Sectional Tournament victorious and full of momentum.
The Sectional tournament on the other hand, was not much of a challenge for the Blue Devils. They faced Elizabeth in the title game, a team they had competed against and beaten three times previously throughout the season. Coach Beverly Torok knew they could win this game without much competition, but still wanted her team to be proud: “Not that it wasn’t an accomplishment. It was sectionals, but I think it would have had a different feel if it was a different team.”
Even though the Blue Devils were unable to repeat as Group 4 champions, they were so proud of the success they had in another, undoubtedly special season. Senior captain Cailtin Cabrales stated that, “Overall I think we had a great season. We accomplished a lot of our goals. We won conference, counties [and] sectionals, obviously it would have been nice to win states again. But we still had a lot of success and had a great season so even though we didn’t win states, I still think we lived up to the expectation of having another successful season.”
Another factor besides the team’s dedication, skill and effort that led them to a great season was Torok. To keep the team motivated, Torok always reminds her team of the end goals for the season, “We had our goals written up on the wall and we looked at them at different points throughout the season. [The girls] see them everyday, they see them when they are setting up. We focused on them at various times and tried to bring it back, bring back our mentality to pushing towards those goals.”
Losing the senior class that contributed to these past two notable seasons will impact the program significantly. But, with the returning underclassmen and Torok as coach, there are no doubts for the team’s future and the success it will hold.
