Westfield girls volleyball captures first North 2 Group 4 sectional title
WESTFIELD – Westfield High School’s girls volleyball team won their first-ever North 2 Group 4 title Tuesday and ended a hex doing it.
The Blue Devils lost in the section final the last two seasons to Skyland Conference heavyweights Ridge and North Hunterdon. In fact, the Blue Devils had their season ended in the tournament by Skyland Conference clubs the last seven seasons – before Tuesday.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (22-1) played the part with a 2-0 (25-14, 25-18) win over No. 11 Watchung Hills (10-13). Westfield will play North 1 winner Livingston in Thursday’s state semifinals.
“We’ve been close before, but now that we’ve done it … it’s so exciting,” said junior Guilana Gallo. “This team has a lot of volleyball knowledge.”
Gallo had 11 digs and eight service points among her stat line. Sophomore middle blocker Caterina Carayannopoulos was also among the keys for Westfield, finishing with five kills and four digs.
“It’s a long time coming. For the team it shows the growth we have had since the beginning of the season,” said Westfield Beth Torok, who’s been coach since 1994. “We are really passing well. This is a real competitive group. Our motivation is from within. I haven’t had to offer a lot, a few tidbits here and there, but they are doing it.”
By the numbers
Watchung Hills came into the sectionals having lost seven of nine. But the 11th seed beat No. 6 Elizabeth, No. 3 Columbia and No. 7 Union to reach the final.
Westfield’s losses to Skyland Conference teams were to Ridge and North Hunterdon in the previous two sectional finals, Hillsborough (2nd round 2019), North Hunterdon (semifinal in 2018), Ridge (semifinal in 2017), Hunterdon Central (quarterfinal in 2016) and Ridge (second round in 2015).
Game balls
Westfield senior Carly Rodrigues had 11 assists, eight service points, four digs and two kills.
Westfield senior Olivia Calandra had six assists, four service points, a block, kill and dig.
They said it
Westfield’s Guilana Gallo said, “We had a little bit of a slow start in both the first and second set with our service and our serving, but once we got our rhythm we took off.”
Watchung Hills coach Jens Madsen said, “We were able to hang with them until it was probably 12-12, 13-13. It was back and forth at the beginning in both games, but Westfield is just a great team. I’m really happy with my girls being the 11th seed they really took it personally. They knew they we were better than the 11th seed and wanted to go out and prove it in each and every match. Unfortunately, we fell one match short, but it was to a great Westfield team.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ high school volleyball: Westfield girls capture sectional title
