Summit, now with an impressive record of 16-4, came out of the gate quickly with a 4-0 start. Westfield senior captain Jason Billings stood in the Hilltoppers’ way. Billings breathed life back into the Blue Devils, giving them a quick 3 points from behind the service line, including a perfectly placed ace.
“When we served it to the libero they were able to get the ball on the ground. When we served away from their libero they weren’t able to run their offense as well,” said Westfield head coach Ed Saggio.
Summit wouldn’t let up, though, going on to make it 11-8 after trading back-and-forth possessions. Senior captain Ben Greeley also contributed to the Blue Devils’ valiant comeback with dominant, powerful kills.
The Hilltoppers, unfazed, marched their way toward the golden number of 25 points. At a score of 23-18, Westfield slowly saw its chances slipping away, forcing Saggio to call a timeout. The Blue Devils ultimately went on to drop the set, 25-20.
The second set opened nearly the same as the first. Summit jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, leaving the Blue Devils to play catch-up for the rest of the set. Westfield slowly crawled back, but Summit stood strong, keeping a gap between the two teams. With Summit slowly moving toward victory the Blue Devils called a timeout at a score of 12-7. “We have to block better, blocking is key,” Saggio told his players.
Coming out of the timeout the Blue Devils were in desperate need of a momentum shift… it never came. Summit went on to lead 17-9, and traded possessions with the Blue Devils until the score reached 21-15, forcing Westfield to call its second timeout of the set. Despite a small comeback, it was too little, too late, as Summit won the set, 25-21, and the match.
The loss puts the Blue Devils’ record at 15-4 heading into the Union County Tournament. On Monday the Blue Devils will square off against Linden in the first round of the tournament at WHS. These two teams are familiar with one another after already facing each other twice this season. Westfield won both meetings. But Saggio explained, “We have a tough Linden team on Monday. We’ve gone three sets with them in our matches this year, so it’s definitely not going to be easy.”
