A loud ricochet echoed throughout the WHS gymnasium as senior Addison Filipps fired an ace just inside of the baseline. The play secured the second set and 2-0 win for Westfield against Summit in the Union County Tournament quarterfinal round, sending the Blue Devils to the semifinals for the 16th year in a row.
“It feels wonderful to advance,” head coach Beverly Torok said, who has led the girls volleyball program through this impressive run. “It’s something that we strive to do every year and it’s showing that the program is consistent.”
After losing the first point of the game, Westfield responded by winning five of the next six points. Summit didn’t give up and came back to cut the lead for the Blue Devils to one, 10-9. Following a Blue Devils timeout, Westfield escaped on a 6-1 run, on their way to taking the set 25-15.
“We passed very well today and therefore, it allowed the setters to use a variety of hitters and that’s exactly what we had. All three of them got swings, picked up a lot of good balls on defense and made some great plays,” Torok said.
Senior Karolina Gawkowska echoed similar thoughts. “We really passed much better on serve receive in this game than we did in our previous games, such as Old Bridge,” she said, referring to the Blue Devils only loss in 23 matches this season.
Westfield began the second set similarly to how they ended the first. After senior Heidi Foster saved the ball and Annelise Bonn tipped it over the net, the Blue Devils took an 8-0 lead. They dominated throughout the set, including a kill by senior Sophia Simeone, one of her four kills in the game to extend her team-leading total to 155 on the season. The Blue Devils led by as many as 13 on their way to winning the set 25-13.
“I think we served really well. They were pretty tough and hard to get,” Gawkowska said.
The Blue Devils combined for nine aces in the game, led by Foster’s three. She also added 11 assists to bring her season total to 235 which is 25 more than anyone else on the team. Simeone had eight digs while Gawkowska finished with six, and junior Liz Bresnahan had eight kills.
“I think that they are supportive of each other and I feel that they want it and they are hungry for it,” Torok said of the team.
Gawkowska agreed and said, “We practice really hard and try to really push each other. Everything we do is to make each other get better.”
As the number one seed in the conference, Westfield will play Cranford at Arthur L. Johnson High School on Monday. The Blue Devils have won both meetings between the teams this season, winning four of the total five sets played while the four seed Cougars are coming off a quarterfinal victory against Elizabeth.
