Westfield comes out on top in a 3 set battle against rival Scotch Plains-Fanwood. This is the second matchup of the season between these teams; the first ending in the same fashion as this afternoon, with a score of 2-1. The Blue Devils are currently undefeated on the season and looking to build off a 16-7 record last season.
The Blue Devils opened up with possession, but due to blocked kills the score was even after points were traded until each team had 4 a-peice. Westfield found a rhythm soon after going up 12-6 with incredible kills from senior co-captain Jess Currie and junior Caitlin Cabrales. However, key blocks from Scotch Plains tipped the momentum in their favor bringing the score back to a close 16-12, still in Westfield’s favor. Westfield couldn’t find the in-bounds line, giving up points to the raiders, which led to the score evening up at 20, but a big kill from junior Abby Pevzner gave Westfield possession and the lead.
A late surge from Scotch Plains, however, tied the score at 24-24 until sophomore Catie Carayannopoulos took over with a kill to allow Westfield to take the first set. The Blue Devils were a cohesive unit throughout the game. “Team chemistry is one of the most important parts of the game to us. We’re constantly working together both on and off the court, and we’re always cheering each other on. That’s what makes our team chemistry so strong, we always want to see each other succeed. Without it, we wouldn’t be the same team we are now” said Currie.
Scotch Plains opened up firing in the second half going up a quick 4-0, but its lead didn’t last long as Westfield began to chip away at Scotch Plains lead. Senior co-captain Carly Rodrigues and junior Chloe Wiedman were unstoppable from behind the service line which helped get the Blue Devils back into the game. After a fault, Scotch Plains regained possession going up 15-9 with powerful and well placed kills, as well as serves that had the Blue Devils on the defense. After a costly net violation, the ball turned back over to Rodrigues bringing Westfield back into the game with big time kills from Carayannopoulos and Pevzner taking the score to 19-22, still trailing by 3. Westfield continued to play on the defense for the rest of the set allowing for Scotch Plains to grab the second set 25-23.
The critical 3rd set began with Blue Devil possession not lasting long thanks to early kills from Scotch Plains’ outside hitter. A back and forth third set pushed the score to 11-8 in favor of the Blue Devils, as Pevzner intensified the pressure with powerful kills that proved to be too much for Scotch Plains blockers, growing the lead to 14-8. After a run by the Raiders and leading 15-12, Westfield called a timeout to stop the momentum of a Scotch Plains team who seemed to have everything going in their favor.
After a trade off of faults, the score was 19-15, but a key block from Raiders gave them possession to get the score to a close 20-18. That was the last for the Raiders though as Westfield cruised to a 25-18 victory in the third set behind well placed kills and serves from Rodrigues the Raiders couldn’t handle. The girls look to improve to 8-0 when they take on Union Catholic at home next Wednesday.
