The varsity volleyball team powered past Scotch Plains-Fanwood in the seventh annual Pink Out at WHS last Friday night with a two-set victory of 25–23 and 25–16, respectively.
Both SPF and WHS fans fiercely cheered on their respective teams during the match, which featured an extremely close first set.
Despite WHS’ early lead in the first set, SPF soon caught up, leading to a series of intensely fought rallies. With WHS leading 17–16, Westfield began to pull ahead, culminating with a light but effective spike by junior Olivia Meyer to put WHS on top, 23–17.
However, SPF refused to give up and narrowed the score to 24–22. The fans were left in suspense during the next few points until Westfield finally took the first set 25–23 to thunderous applause.
“We got off to a really good start and then we struggled a little bit as time went on, and to their credit, their serve was strong and we struggled a little. They really forced us to move and made us pass poorly and our attack went downhill,” said Head Coach Beverly Torok.
The second set went more smoothly for WHS. Westfield took over with numerous kills and two consecutive blocks by senior Rachel Mattessich to push WHS ahead, 20–13. Westfield held onto this lead, securing the set 25–16.
Meyer attributed the win to “coming back strong.” She said, “We remained focused and did what we had to. Our aggressive attacks and blocks definitely played a huge part in our victory. We came out swinging and our defense was ready to pick things up.”
The varsity win was not the only success of the night. WHS completely swept the event, with freshman and JV team triumphs against Scotch Plains, winning 2–0 and 2–1, respectively.
Said senior Co-Captain Gabby Cofone: “The highlight was definitely…hearing the crowd cheer for us. It was really special to see everyone wearing pink and supporting our team.” She added, “There is a lot of work that goes into the night behind the scenes…. It feels great to honor all the breast cancer survivors here in Westfield, especially our coach.”