No matter the score, a Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Westfield matchup will always be intense. This game was no different. As the boys attempted a last-minute comeback surge, Scotch Plains looked to seal the victory with a match point. As Westfield lined up to return the serve, it would prove to be too powerful resulting in an ace and victory for the Raiders in just two sets.
Coming off a loss against Monroe on Thursday, Westfield was not looking to duplicate the result. Westfield was focused and motivated coming into the gym and made it very clear early on that Scotch Plains was going to fight for every point.
This attitude rang true for the first set. Scotch Plains held a skill advantage but the sheer athleticism from the Blue Devils proved a tough opponent. The upfront defense from senior Jack Hickey and junior libero Brandon Genlot receiving serve after serve Westfield kept the first set to just a few points.
Scotch Plains was ahead by one or two until junior Veer Agarwal was able to deliver four points in a row for the Blue Devils gaining their first lead of the day at 14-13. This forced Scotch Plains to take their first timeout of the game. However, this change in momentum ended the Blue Devils’ hopes of taking the first set. Scotch Plains went on a scoring tear pulling ahead, 17-13.
The Blue Devils answered with two of their own, but their lead was two much even with strong efforts from sophomores Matthew Bonn and Ethan Cha upfront as the Raiders took the set with a 25-18 win. Despite the loss of the first set the score remained tight, and they still had determination to win this rivalry game.
Unfortunately, the devils could not keep up to the raiders in their second set. With a mix of lack of communication, passing control and hits that ended up out of bounds, Westfield lost 25-12.
“I think they sort of started warming up and we stopped communicating as much because we got intimidated in the second set,” said Agarwal. This loss of communication between the players on the court cost the Blue Devils many passing and scoring opportunities; it ultimately was the peak of their downfall.
Adding to the teams faults in the second set, the intimidation of facing Scotch Plains also might have gotten to them. “It was tough because we just came off a loss yesterday… and they are the number one in our conference,” said senior Sebastian Lorenzo.
Despite this tough loss, it is still very early in the season for the team, and they plan to take their faults and improve them for the future. This team is young, with a large portion of underclassmen. This season they plan to “battle just like we did the first set and not let our youth get us like in the second set,” said head coach Ed Saggio.
The Blue Devils look to play their fourth game of the season against Summit away at 4:00 p.m. on April 9, hoping to flip the script of their last two losses.
