Senior Caitlin Cabrales launched into the air, making contact and rocketing the ball over the net, just barely missing the fingertips of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood defenders. With so much power behind the hit, the ball’s high velocity was too much for the SPF defender as it ricocheted off of her forearms and flew halfway up the home-side stands, welcomed there by raucous cheers. 14-7, Westfield. The next point, a quick kill from Cabrales. 15-7. The same again. 16-7. The team rallied behind her as she single-handedly drew them closer to a first-set win.
Cabrales’ domination in this three-play sequence from the first set was not alone in Westfield’s two-set sweep over the Raiders, both sets decided by eight or more points. Dominance was the name of the game for the Blue Devils, winning points through fantastic offense with impeccable sets while holding down the defensive side. “I think we all around just played like a team,” Cabrales said. “We played a really balanced defense.” She was exactly right; they always turned defense right into offense to send a return back to the SPF side.
The Blue Devils came into this match undefeated through four games. “We’re really confident,” said senior Abby Pevzner. “But I think we’re so ready to just play our game and to stay focused. I think that was really important.” And that is exactly what they did.
The first set started off quickly with an ace from senior Olivia Calandra. Immediately after, the Raiders took the next point and the ice was broken. Westfield took the lead early. An ace from senior Genna Gauthier brought the Blue Devils lead up to 8-4. Just a few plays later, a Calandra solo block brought it to 12-5. Cheers erupted from the sideline to congratulate the commanding play. Westfield took the lead, and they were not giving it back.
A few plays after Cabrales’ consecutive kills, she served an ace to set the score at 20-8. This would usher in a five-point run from Scotch Plains. It would not be enough. The run dissipated quietly with a net violation, leaving the scoreboard flashing 21-13, Westfield.
The Blue Devils only needed a few points to close out the first set with a comfortable margin. Pevzner, in the left-side hitter position, with the score at 23-15, made it happen. The set lofted into the air, giving her plenty of time to leap into the air and strike the ball authoritatively across the court, landing clear of any Raider defender. The crowd came alive, energized by the power of the hit.
Pevzner said her kill “felt great. I was really comfortable and we all had really great energy.”
This energy was maintained with senior Chole Weidman’s ace to close out the set 25-15. There was no doubt that it would carry over to the second set.
It happened in an instant. With Cabrales serving for most of the run, Westfield went up 7-0. An SPF win seemed almost inconceivable at this point. However, Westfield allowed the Raiders to shorten the gap slightly; a missed serve and a few failed defenses later, and the score was 12-7. This would be the closest Scotch Plains came to catching up to Westfield for the rest of the set.
The rest of the set was a back and forth game, but Westfield kept winning small battles and inching the score margin forward. A kill from Pevzner brought it to 18-10. “I think all of our hitters played great. We were hitting aggressively and they had a weaker block so we really took advantage of that,” said Cabrales.
With Scotch Plains making no threats to the Blue Devil lead, junior Keira Deignan produced the final point with a kill over the net. 25-17 Westfield. Though they had known the win was coming for a while, the Blue Devils’ sideline hopes were confirmed, and they flooded onto the court to cheer with Deignan and the rest of the team.
Westfield will take on Governor Livingston away at 4 p.m. on Thursday. They hope to replicate their exceptional play. To do that, they will be “working on keeping our services clean and working on our tempos to make sure we can run a fast offense,” said Cabrales.
This dominant win from the Blue Devils moved them to 4-0 on the season. While SPF are Westfield’s historical rivals in all sports, after the match coach Beverly Torok seemed more focused on the upcoming game against Union Catholic in the second round of conference play, who will pose more of a threat to their undefeated season.
Looking past the next rivalry match against Union Catholic and a tough tri-match against Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon, and Williams Town, Westfield looks to win their second state championship in a row. Coach Torok said, “We’re looking pretty good,” but for a two-peat to be in the cards, “a lot of things have to fall in place. You have to have a little bit of luck at times, you have to stay healthy, and you have to keep up and that’s the hard part.”
