Following a tightly contested 2-1 win against Morristown, the Blue Devils marched into the State Championship against Williamstown with energy and excitement.
On Nov. 17, parents and students flooded into a rambunctious Franklin High School gym as the volleyball team came into the building in search of the state title. Westfield played Williamstown on Sept. 28 in a Quad, a small tournament with just four games, losing 25-10 and 25-14. Knowing Williamstown’s potential, Westfield knew they needed to step up and put 100 percent effort into the match.
From the start of the first set, Williamstown came out aggressive and found themselves up by as much as ten. A strong hitting attack from Williamstown proved to be difficult for Westfield, but no matter the score they still found ways to get points on the board. Tri-captain Catie Carayannopoulos said, “They had very few weaknesses and I think they really used their strengths to their advantage. They went to number 9 a lot. She was by far their best hitter.”
During the 1st set Westfield was able to get some big kills from junior Ava Gaspard and senior Maddy Coen. Despite their efforts Westfield was unable to sustain their momentum. Coen said, “They hit really strongly and knew their spots. They definitely got us a few times with their ball placement.”
While there was some back and forth Westfield lost the first set 25-13 leading to what ended up being the second to last set of the season. Head coach Beverly Torok said, “We were trying to build off of the momentum from the last set because we finished the first set scoring a few points.”
The second set started off strong for Westfield after Coen hit a powerful kill, bringing Westfield up 1-0, the only lead of the match. The two teams exchanged points and found themselves tied 5-5. Williamstown then was able to find momentum and build their lead up to 11-6. Torok said, “They had really good placement on their serves which cost us a few points.” Westfield fought hard as they once again found some momentum in and out of their time outs bringing the score to 16-9.” From here, Williamstown showed their strengths and ended the set with a 25-11 win.
Carayannopoulos said, “Overall I think we played amazing, Williamstown is obviously a great team. But we gave it our all and I’m really proud of my teammates.”
