The WHS varsity gym went silent as Watchung Hills went on a run early in the second set, taking the lead by three. The Blue Devils needed to regain control after winning the first set. Thanks to senior co-captain Emelia Dengler’s aces, Westfield got back in their rhythm and won the Quarterfinal Round of the State Tournament in three sets.
Recalling an important timeout in the second set, senior Vicki Morey said, “In that timeout, while we were in our rut, we made sure to focus on raising our energy. We were kind of dead on the court, super quiet, so bringing up that energy kind of sparked the motivation.” Morey led the team with five aces and added eight kills, which helped the Blue Devils secure the victory. The team overall had 16 aces during the match, many coming from their talents at the serving position.
A key difference between the State Tournament and the regular season games for the team was that it was a best-of-five set series instead of the normal best-of-three set series. Head coach Beverly Torok said this did not shake up the team because many of them are used to best-of-five sets on their club teams. When asked about how the team prepared for this change, Torok said, “In practice, we ran some higher energy drills that kept them moving for a longer period of time.”
Senior co-captain Audrey Stack said the Blue Devils have to focus on continuing to swing hard. She said, “Even if we mess up or swing out or get blocked, that doesn’t mean that our play wasn’t gonna work.” Stack added, “We have to work on adjusting to the set, and also reading the other side of the court to realize where their players are and where their block is, and then being able to work around that.”
Morey echoed Stack’s sentiment. She said, “We learned that even though you’re playing an easy team, you need to play your game, play hard and just stay ready for everything. We didn’t always expect [WH] to swing hard, so just being ready on defense for everything.”
Westfield will play Elizabeth on Friday at 11 a.m. at home in the semifinal round of the state tournament. The Blue Devils are aiming to win states, an accolade they last achieved in the 2022 season. Torok said, “I feel really good about this tournament. We have the skills to go very far.”
