The WHS Varsity Gym exploded with energy and shouts from fans as the officials called a touch on Westfield’s serve vs Scotch Plains-Fanwood. This moment in the game encompassed the deep rivalry between the two towns. The heated match was back-and-forth during both sets, and at one point, SPF was up five points in the first set. Despite all the hoopla, Westfield Girls Volleyball defeated SPF in the Union County tournament in 2 sets on Oct. 24 with the help of senior Vicki Morey’s standout performance and 12 kills.
Head coach Beverly Torok explained Westfield was able to defeat the Raiders because of their strong serves, clear communication and great sets for attacks. Torok said, “We also concentrated on their weaknesses. At one point, they were only blocking us with one person when [Morey] was in the front, and that guided us to get a lot of points out of that rotation.” Torok told her players to get under the ball more, as it was dropping when SPF was in the lead. This allowed the Blue Devils to recover and win the game.
Senior Ava Gaspard also performed well against the Raiders, with nine kills and nine digs. The Binghampton commit said Westfield had to get out of their heads and focus on service receives to defeat the longtime Westfield rivals. Gaspard also said, “Being loud on the court really helps because when it gets quiet, we can get in our heads.”
Morey said, “My mindset was just to be more aggressive than I was the last time we played SPF. I know I got blocked a lot, so my focus was on my offense and being more aggressive.” Westfield has now defeated SPF three times this season.
The team will face Cranford in the semifinal round of the UCT on Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. at Arthur L. Johnson High School. The team was knocked out last year during the semifinals by Governor Livingston, so they are looking to dominate against Cranford at match time. The volleyball team won against Cranford already this season, but in three sets, so the game could go either way. Morey said, “We’re looking just to keep this momentum up and go as far as we can. We lost last year in the semifinals, so we’re looking for revenge now.”
