Cheers erupted from the Westfield bench as senior Genevieve Gauthier won the final point of the game. Off an aggressive serve into Elizabeth’s side of the court, Gauthier was able to place her hit in the perfect spot, allowing the ball to drop.
Westfield dominated the first few plays off a serving streak from senior Olivia Calandra, coming out of the gate up 5-0. Elizabeth came out with skill too weak to survive against the Blue Devils. Elizabeth not being able to control Westfield’s forceful serves and kills meant Westfield maintained a few point lead throughout the entirety of the first set.
Elizabeth was unable to keep most of their kills in bounds, resulting in their breakdown during the first set. Sophomore Ava Gaspard used that to her advantage and spiked the ball over the net to obtain multiple kills of her own, all in a row.
“We really started focusing on one point at a time and getting our passes, right sets of hits and I think we all just had to work together and have fun,” explained Calandra.
Senior and co-captain Giuliana Gallo also added to the scoresheet through her prevalent digs all throughout the set.
The final of the first set ended with a score of 25-13 Westfield, having over a 10 point lead.
Momentum shifted in the second set as Elizabeth stepped up their game, adapting to Westfield’s powerful plays; they took the lead for the first 4 points. Reflecting on the start of the second set, senior Abby Pevzner said, “we just kind of got in our heads a little bit. We got quiet, we lost our confidence. But as soon as we make a great play, our conference is right back up.”
Westfield finally ended their streak with a great rally and was catching up. But the set continued to remain tight between the teams, one catching up to the other with almost every point scored. As the second set stayed heated, the Blue Devils gained a lead, the score was 23-22.
“We got to pass first and then we were going to take it from there and a few technical things that we were seeing that they had that we needed [need] to adapt to,”said head coach Beverly Torok, as Westfield formed their huddled after they had called a time out.
The final few points of the game were the most important. The Blue Devils kept their mentality up, not faltering when the ball was tossed to their side of the net. The final score shined on the scoreboard with Westfield winning 25-22, gaining their fifteenth win of the season.
With a two-set win over Elizabeth, the Blue Devils are moving on to the Union County Finals against Union Catholic at Kean University on Friday at 7 p.m.
With the Vikings ending the Blue Devils winning streak this season, Westfield will look to seek revenge.
