The girls volleyball team took home its first-ever sectional title on Tuesday, winning the North 2, Group 4 sectional championship in two sets. Westfield entered the night as the No. 1 seed and had defeated No. 9 Ridge and No. 4 Bayonne to reach the final. Watchung Hills entered the match as the No. 11 seed, yet the underdog seemed poised throughout most of the first set.
The match started off quick when the Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a loud crowd behind them, leaving Westfield searching for a response. The Blue Devils quickly rallied, electrifying the crowd through a Caitlin Cabrales kill and blocks from senior Ally Muller and junior Karolina Bonn. Senior co-captain Carly Rodrigues also got in on the action, adding a trick kill and getting the crowd into it. “The other team doesn’t see it coming,” said Rodrigues.
Watchung Hills tied it up, but powerful defensive sequences from the Blue Devils swung the momentum their way, pushing them ahead, 11-8. The Warriors quickly got themselves back in it, leading Westfield to call a timeout with the score tied, 13-13. Out of the break, senior co-captain and Dickinson College commit Jess Currie capitalized on a great set, giving the Blue Devils back the momentum and lead. After Westfield scored 3-straight points, Watchung Hills was forced to call a timeout, but that didn’t stop Westfield from piling it on, getting out to a 20-14 lead.
Sophomore Catie Carayannopoulos went on to make the score 23-15. “I have a lot of confidence in my setters,” she said. “We practiced a lot on when I go and what height they’ll set it.” The Blue Devils proceeded to win the set, 25-17, after a kill from Muller, dominating since they came out of the timeout.
During the second set, Carayannopoulos started off strong with a kill, but Westfield struggled to complete serves. Despite this, the Blue Devils began to pick up momentum after Muller came out with an incredible kill to decrease the Warriors’ lead to 6-5. After another big kill by Currie and a huge block, Westfield took the lead once again at 10-9.
With the Blue Devils picking up more speed and taking a 16-12 lead, Watchung Hills called a timeout, as Westfield was taking over the set. With a tricky play by Rodrigues, and Watchung Hills struggling with its serves, the Blue Devils bumped their lead to 20-14. After a few more kills by Cabrales and Carayannopoulos, Westfield ended the second set in dominant 25-14 fashion.
Bonn believed that the strong team connection has been valuable in Westfield’s progression through the tournament, saying that their “communication led to winning” on Tuesday.
Torok confirmed these connections, saying, “It has been a long time coming. I think for the team it shows growth that we have had from the beginning of the season. We certainly are playing a more elaborate game right now than when we started. We are really passing well aside from a few missed serves. We are just really in sync.”
The team is very excited to put “2022” on all three banners in the gym for the conference, county, and now sectional title. “One more to go,” Carayannopoulos said after the win.
The girls will travel to Livingston on Thursday for the Group 4 semifinals.
