Westfield entered the 2024 North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament hungry and determined as they defeated Union 2-0 on Thursday. Coming into this quarterfinal bout, the Blue Devils were awarded the one seed, while they faced the eighth seed Farmers.
This season, the Blue Devils hope to be sectional champions for the third consecutive year. Despite the devastating loss earlier this year in the county tournament, breaking a two-year county championship streak, they plan to bounce back in this tournament and bring home another trophy to add to the case. This dominant win against the Farmers may be the beginning of their comeback story.
The Blue Devils plan to build off of their past games and improve both physically and mentally in order to win the sectional tournament and move onto the group tournament.
Physically, head coach Beverly Torok said, “We started working on specific things that we were failing at. So, we were working on passing, serve receive and running a quicker offense. We concentrated on our serve placement and having fun on the court.” These little things ultimately led to their success in their first game of the tournament.
Mentally, the team has put a heavy emphasis on team chemistry and communication throughout this season. Junior Audrey Stack said, “I think this game showed us that we have to work as a team in order to win. This has been a big struggle throughout our season where we haven’t really been connected on that level. After this game we know this is what we have to work on for Saturday.”
The game began as an assumed blowout. The Blue Devils dominated the first set creating a quick 19-9 lead, including a remarkable setting performance by junior Emelia Dengler. By the end of the game, Dengler racked up 24 assists, further proving herself as an important asset to this team’s playoff run.
Despite the deflating score gap as Westfield tried to reach that 25th point, they came out on top and won the first set 25-16. Momentum wavered in the second set. Union came out hot and ready, Torok said, “We relaxed a little bit after the first set. We needed to go more for the jugular than we did.”
Union kept the score closer than the Blue Devils anticipated. The Farmers came firing out of their first timeout, catching Westfield off guard and tying the set, 13-13. Despite a moment of hope for Union, the Blue Devils regrouped and overcame the Farmers’ comeback effort.
A key player for the Blue Devils, junior Ava Gaspard, saved the team with her impressive offensive ability. She totaled 9 kills to conclude the game, coming through when the team needed her most.
After winning the second set 25-18 and securing their semifinal spot in the tournament, senior captain Catie Carayannopoulos said, “We were really aggressive today and we were trying to run faster hits and faster plays, so I think if we take that against any team we will just dominate them.”
The Blue Devils are back in action this Saturday, where they will compete in the sectional semifinal round. They will face the No. 12 seed Phillipsburg at WHS in hopes to get one step closer to repeating history.
