“Know your job, do your job,” head coach Ed Saggio said from the sidelines. Westfield needed a last boost of energy to win the second set against Millburn, especially after falling short in the first set. The energy never came. Despite a booming offense, the Blue Devils took a 2-0 loss to Millburn, their first loss of the two matches they played Saturday.
It all started in the first set against Millburn. Sloppiness. An initially closely matched set turned into a nightmare. Senior Jason Billings, who leads the team with 110 total kills, did his best to stop the bleeding.
“We weren’t really clicking with our hitters, there were a few setting mistakes, a few hitting errors, and the blocking for Millburn was really good,” said senior Nathan Welsh. “We were a little cautious in some of our approaches and not always getting the timing right.”
Before long, the first set slipped out of Westfield’s reach, and the Blue Devils lost, 25-21. While this loss sliced through a piece of the Blue Devils’ momentum for the day, a late-set comeback was almost achieved, showing how Westfield was willing to fight back.
This fight was a continuous theme in the second set against Millburn. However, with this fight came frustration. The Blue Devils started off hot, taking a 3-0 lead as they finished their kills and played with lots of communication. Senior Ben Greeley also helped with big blocks, totaling 5 by the end of the set.
Things then took a turn for the worse. Millburn’s front line was a brick wall, causing Westfield to struggle offensively and increasing Westfield’s offensive anxiousness. Hard breathing and hands-on-knees posture were the sights the tired Blue Devils gave. Complete exhaustion.
“We need to block better because it’s really our downfall,” Saggio said, referring to Westfield’s dazed defense.
This was the dagger. Millburn took advantage, drawing in Westfield’s back line to quickly place the ball in one of the outer corners of the court. With Millburn leading the second set 17-13, Westfield needed to step up big time. This is exactly what the Blue Devils did.
Welsh commanded the offense, organizing the team and pushing the Blue Devils back, giving Westfield a 20-18 lead. A few moments later, the match was tied at 22-22. What seemed like a miraculous comeback for the Blue Devils soon turned into pain as Westfield fell apart. Millburn secured the 25-22 victory and took a 2-0 win over the Blue Devils.
“We want to come out of it 1-1 today,” Saggio said. “So we have to pass and pick up our intensity because our intensity was down a little bit.”
This intensity was clearly prevalent in Westfield’s second match of the day, where the Blue Devils faced Linden.
Despite Linden’s 3-12 record coming into the match, the Blue Devils knew they had to prepare for a battle. In the last match between the Tigers and the Blue Devils, Westfield escaped with a comeback victory in the third set.
The Blue Devils started off the first set nicely. Serves from Jason Billings and phenomenal defensive plays allowed Westfield to get off to an early 14-6 lead.
Despite a late push from the Tigers, the Blue Devils were able to close out the first set thanks to a pair of kills from Billings and blocks from Iskandar Mirtagavi and Logan Shepherd.
“We did a good job of communicating and talking throughout the game,” said Brayden Abo. “We’ve been struggling with that on the court as of lately, and I think communication was one of our strongest attributes of the game.”
Unfortunately, this momentum the Blue Devils had did not carry over into the second set.
Nathan Welsh got the Blue Devils ahead 7-4 due to some nicely placed serves. However, the Tigers marched right back and tied the game up at 10-10. They then went on a 6-2 run, forcing a Blue Devil timeout.
This attempt of killing the Tigers’ momentum was unsuccessful, as Linden ended up winning the set, 25-15.
Linden showed no sign of slowing down in the third set as it took a commanding 7-2 lead.
The Blue Devils found themselves in a situation that they had faced not too long ago. A little over a week ago, Westfield matched up against Linden. After winning the first set, the Blue Devils had conceded the second. They then fell behind in the third and pulled off an impressive comeback.
Billings energized both the crowd and the team with a few kills, similar to the last time the two matched up. The Blue Devils had figured out the Tigers, and went on an 11-5 run to close the third set, winning 25-19.
“There were a few key plays that shifted our momentum and allowed us to pull off the comeback,” said Abo.
Billings led the team with 11 kills, and Nathan Welsh totaled 3 aces.
Westfield faces Plainfield next at home on Monday. Plainfield is 6-6, and Westfield has improved to 11-2.
