A Woodbridge middle hitter tapped the ball over the Blue Devils blockers, the rest of the team frozen as the ball landed on the ground for Woodbridge’s 25th point of the set. Westfield had just been hopeful for a comeback and had come close, keeping up with Woodbridge until a 21-21 tie. At the very end of the set, the Barrons pulled away and took the game entirely.
Westfield’s 2-set loss to Woodbridge could have ended very differently in many different ways. Both of the sets were very close, with scores of 25-19 and 25-21. Both teams fought back and forth for the lead, with numerous lead changes throughout the sets. However, Woodbridge seemed to come alive at the end of the sets, creating momentum that they’d use to surpass the Blue Devils and take the set.
This Blue Devils loss could be attributed to many things, such as small errors, mental mistakes or new positioning. Notably, Westfield seemed to have moments of confusion on the court through the first set and even into the second, where one player thought the other would go for the ball and vice versa.
Related to their positioning, senior Chris Gonzalez said, “Our blocks are all mixed up right now.” This fact was apparent when watching the game. Westfield had far fewer blocks than previous games, which allowed Woodbridge to remain on the offensive for much longer and eventually capitalize and score.
Gonzalez elaborated, saying, “One of our right sides quit, so we had to fill in that position. So now with our right side open we had one of our three middles to go there, Logan [Shepherd].” This shift of positioning added to the confusion, placing players out of their comfort zones and forcing them to adapt.
The team has now passed the halfway point of the season, just over 10 games. Looking back at this past half, senior captain Sebastian Lorenzo said, “Our hitting has been great. Veer, Cha, Bukiet, but we also know what we have to improve, which is our decision making.” Going forward, Lorenzo will try to lead the team in addressing these issues.
Their next game is this Thursday against Scotch Plains-Fanwood at 4 p.m. away.
