WESTFIELD – Westfield High took a small step forward in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 boys’ volleyball tournament thanks to several giant leaps from Manny Golob and his fellow high-flying teammates.
Golob recorded a career best 13 kills as Westfield manhandled Belchertown 3-0 Tuesday night at home. The Bombers posted a 25-9, 25-22, 25-17 victory to advance to Thursday’s semifinal against top-seeded Agawam (16-2).
“It’s the playoffs so we were a bit more enthusiastic and hyped up for the game,” Golob said. “We were just trying to get past the first round.”
Golob’s teammate, Ryan Bucko (10 kills, 5 blocks), landed the first blow, a teeth-rattling kill in the opening set. The Bombers then converged for a block, proving they meant business.
It took a well-placed, two-handed tapper to the far corner from Belchertown to stop Westfield’s 6-0 run to open the game. The Orioles never threatened, and the Bombers finished off the first set with an ace from Ivan Zuev (22 digs, 3 aces) and kills from Bucko and Golob for three of the set’s final six points.
The middle frame turned into more a dogfight.
Belchertown opened with a 4-0 run, and led by as many as six points before Westfield surged ahead late.
Eric Shilyuk (7 kills, 12 assists, 6 digs) made a leaping kill to tie the second game for the first time, 17-all. The game was tied again at 18-18. Westfield led briefly 19-18 before another tie at 20-20. The Bombers scored five of the last seven points (including a Bucko kill for the exclamation) to seize a 2 sets-to-none lead and sap all emotion from Belchertown.
“We kind of eased down … but we got everything going again,” Golob said.
Westfield took command of the third set from the outset, only losing grasp of the controls with an overenthusiastic spike that sailed out of bounds.
The 75th Westfield point, another Golob kill, completed the tournament victory.
“We developed a great rhythm with our setters Chris Paradis and Eric Shilyuk,” Bombers coach Tyler Wingate said.
Westfield knows Agawam will look to disrupt that harmony later this week. The Brownies swept the season series 2-0 with a pair of 3-0 victories.
“We’re going to fine tune a couple of things,” Wingate said.
