Championships. The ultimate goal of every team. Tensions rise and pressure intensifies as tournament season inches closer, the pressure of maintaining a record, of placing a favorable seed, and for each and every player, of simply executing a role. The anticipation of victory infects all of the teams; passion for the sport is evident in every late-season competition. The heartbreak of defeat, however, is what waits for most of them. Only one team can claim the trophy.
13-12, Westfield. The Blue Devils had just mounted a 6-1 run that put them in the lead. In the second set of the Union County Championship, the culmination of their championship hopes lay just ahead of them. The gym roared with noise, the energy of every point won filling fans with elation. Students from Union Catholic shook the bleachers, their chants suffocating all other sound. Westfield acted as a true championship team, remaining unfazed as the pressure provided them a motivational force that propelled their play to new heights.
Senior Caitlin Cabrales stepped into position to serve. All noise ceased to exist. A squeak of her shoes as she jumped into the air. A slap as she struck the ball. An uproar from Westfield fans as it hit the floor on the Union Catholic side. Ace. 14-12, Westfield.
The beatdown continued with a kill from senior Abby Pevzner. 15-12, Westfield. They could not be stopped. Two Westfield blocks and two Union Catholic mistakes later, and the scoreboard gleamed 19-12. The Blue Devils had pulled away. The trophy was all but theirs.
The dominant two-set victory over the Vikings erased any doubt of Westfield’s skill. Suffering their first loss in over a year to Union Catholic just a few weeks ago, the Blue Devils solidified their reign over the Union County Conference with this victory. Head coach Bev Torok knew what the girls needed to do in order to win: “We know it’s always a battle with Union Catholic, it’s been since I started coaching here. And we prepared. We know their strengths, which are their outside hitters. And we’ve prepared for that. And we executed today, which was nice.”
Having won the county tournament both this season and last, also sweeping Union Catholic, Westfield has momentum that may also help them replicate last year’s sectional title.
“It being our senior year,” said senior Chloe Wiedman, they want to “build some momentum for the rest of the season… Just knowing how well we can play it’s really easy to know our best potential.”
The Blue Devils certainly played to the fullest of their potential, proving not only to themselves but to the entire state that they are a force to be reckoned with.
They started off the first set with a quick 8-5 lead over the Vikings. Another positive run brought the score to 16-10. Union Catholic called their first timeout.
Clearly making adjustments, the Vikings came out swinging; two kills from them brought the score to 17-13. This would be the smallest score margin that Union Catholic would see for the rest of the set. Kills from seniors Karolina Bonn and Olivia Calandra brought the score to 20-15, and senior Grace Kim scored on the next serve to add once more to the Westfield lead.
After a Union Catholic kill along with two mistakes, the score lay at 23-17 with Westfield leading. To close out the set, Westfield scored off of a block and a Cabrales kill. 25-17. A seemingly effortless set to start off the UCT championship.
Looking for revenge on the team that handed them their only loss of the season, Westfield came out against the Vikings playing impeccably. Mistakes were a rarity, the Blue Devils’ rhythm carrying on unimpeded. “[When] playing, especially against UC, it’s really important to play a clean game because if you can make them make the errors, and you’re just playing your own clean game, I think that’s really the key to winning,” said Cabrales. “That’s when we play the most successfully: it’s when we’re playing clean.”
Westfield’s lead grew easily in the first set. It did not start out the same in the second. A pair of mistakes from the Blue Devils left the score at 2-2. Union Catholic’s front line then took over. A couple of kills and blocks gave them a lead, and two aces extended it to 5-9. The largest deficit of the match for Westfield. The Vikings responded to kills from Cabrales and Calandra immediately to bring the score to 7-11, the Blue Devils still trailing.
This sequence of scores would usher in Westfield’s big run to put them up on the scoreboard. According to Cabrales, the success in this run was due to multiple factors. “We were really good on the defensive end; our blocking in our defense was just amazing,” she said. No matter which hitter they went to, she said, “I think we were beating them on the speed of our offense.”
The offense beat down on Union Catholic with continuous kills while the defensive line disrupted the Vikings’ attempts with relentless precision. Westfield forced Union Catholic to make multiple mistakes that brought the score to 13-12.
The girls needed a spark. Torok had worked with her team on keeping energy high to match the pressure and that came through on the front line.
Junior Keira Deignan was a critical part of Westfield’s front line, recording numerous blocks over the course of the game. Early in the season, she got the chance to play in the absence of junior Catie Carayannopoulos, one of the Blue Devils’ most talented players, who suffered an injury earlier in the season against Union Catholic. Deignan stepped up remarkably, using her height to command the game at the net, finding great success in the midst of the pressure of replacing a star. Deignan said that Carayannopoulos is “one of my best friends. So every game I just tried to go out there and play for her.”
With the score at 19-12, the Blue Devils continued to press on. Westfield served out of bounds to give the Vikings a point. Violations from both teams brought it to 20-14. An ace from Wiedman. Union Catholic served out of bounds. A kill from Calandra. A kill from the Vikings. Another from Calandra. 24-16. One more point.
At this point, Westfield faltered in their play. They made a mistake on offense. Then, they let up a kill and a block from the Vikings. 24-19, Westfield. A comeback was unimaginable at this point in the set. Westfield hit the ball out of bounds. Another mistake on an overpass. 24-21. Torok called a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Blue Devils settled in, ready for a fight. This would not come, however, as a Union Catholic hit out of bounds brought it to 25-21. Westfield had won the county championship.
Pevzner said that Westfield’s energy and teamwork is what helps them make it through these slumps in games. “I think what helps us really come together is our energy and our motivation once we get our energy back up. It helps us play well together as a team. It brings our confidence back up,” she said.
Deignan said that the team wants to give all of the seniors on the team a great year, and this title contributes to that: “It means so much because we have so many seniors who are leaving this year… we just played our hearts out.”
Their efforts paid off. Now they are champions.
After this win, Westfield goes on to play in the North 2, Group 4 Sectional Tournament, looking to repeat the win from last year.
