Westfield was hungry, really hungry. After dominating their last four matches with 2-0 wins, the Blue Devils were ready to smash their way through the rest of the North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament, starting with this semifinal round against Bayonne.
Despite the Blue Devils’ astonishing 21-1 record and reputation as one of the most scary, commanding teams in the state, Bayonne brought hopeful energy. The Bayonne fans’ cheers echoed throughout the WHS gym, but the Blue Devils were quick to extinguish this energy.
Junior Abby Pevzner came out firing with big kills that put quick points on the board for the Blue Devils. With this early momentum established, junior Caitlin Cabrales followed up with big serves that stunned Bayonne.
Pevzner took complete control over the Blue Devil offense as she pushed Westfield ahead in the first set, 21-10, behind big kills and high energy. However, Pevzner wasn’t the only leader that gave Westfield such a lead over Bayonne, as senior Ally Muller constantly blocked Bayonne’s offensive chances.
“When it came to my blocks, I think just timing it gave me an advantage,” said Muller. “Also, I was always watching what the opposing team was doing.”
Senior Allie DiFalco backed up Westfield’s dominating first set start with brilliant serves combined with Pevzner’s powerful kills. Soon after the match even started, Westfield won the first set, 25-11.
The Blue Devils were ready to shift into drive and completely wipe Bayonne from any chance at possibly coming back to win. With the Bayonne crowd silenced, Westfield’s own fans showed why the Blue Devils are known for having such high energy as cheers rang through the gym.
The second set started off extremely strong for Westfield with beautiful kills made by Jessica Currie, who recently announced her commitment to Dickinson College. As the match continued, Cabrales did what she does, firing serves that Bayonne could only watch pass by and giving Westfield a 4-2 lead in the second set.
Throughout the second set, the powerful three were clearly Cabrales, Pevzner and Muller. They worked together to make Westfield so dominant on offense as well as racked up many important points.
On the other side, Bayonne struggled to put even a point on the board due to Westfield’s blocking and hard serves. It wasn’t long before Westfield pushed ahead yet again taking an early 10-4 lead in the second set. Under Mueller’s and Pevzner’s lead, the Blue Devils surged on offense with head coach Beverly Torok shouting helpful advice as Westfield marched up, 13-6.
Bayonne tried to light a fire by forcing the score to 13-10, but this flame was quickly extinguished by Westfield as their blocking was just unmatched. The Blue Devils continued their success as they boosted the score all the way to a comfortable 16-10 lead.
Sophomore Catie Carayannopoulos’ light kills were so deadly to the Bayonne defense forcing the Blue Devils to a 20-11 lead in the second set. At this point, Bayonne was extremely exhausted and accepted defeat as Westfield finished out a smooth 25-12 second-set victory, winning the match, 2-0.
When asked about the offensive strategy the Blue Devils use to be so dominant in their matches, Pevzner said, “We are all really confident. We go into the game, and we just try to play our best, and we communicate really well on the court.”
The Blue Devil look to continue their historic season as they host Watchung Hills in the North 2, Group 4 sectional championship on Tuesday.
