The Westfield Bombers storm the court after winning their opening round girls volleyball tournament game 3-0 over the host Chicopee Pacers Friday night, their first postseason victory in recent memory. (Photo by BIll Deren)
CHICOPEE – Westfield High School girls volleyball has returned to prominence with a vengeance.
Westfield junior Madison Robitaille hammered 11 kills, fueling a dominating effort as the ninth-seeded Bombers pummeled the No. 8 Chicopee Pacers on the road in a West Division 2 opening round tournament game Friday night, 25-15, 25-22, 25-17.
“It’s just awesome to be able to do this for this team,” said Robitaille, who tallied 11 kills. “It’s been so long for the Westfield program.”
It has been quite some time since Westfield girls volleyball has posted a meaningful victory in the month of November, and it showed as the Bombers stormed the court in celebration after netting the final point.
“We had a rough start to the season, but really came together,” said Robitaille. “We started practicing like a team and we just got some more experience that we needed.”
Westfield (7-12), which entered the postseason having won four straight Western Division matchups to finish second in the league at 5-3 to qualify for the tourney, looked poised and prepared to take down Chicopee. The Bombers set the tone from the outset.
Westfield’s Isabella Kozciak (5 aces, 5 kills) landed an ace for the first point of the game. Chicopee led briefly early in the set by one point twice, but Robitaille doled out some kills, including one ferocious smack down that put Chicopee on notice.
Chicopee hung around for a short time until Kozciak served up an 8-0 run to take a commanding lead. Kozciak landed two aces during that stretch, and the Pacers failed to recover.
The second frame played a bit closer.
The largest lead for either side was five until Kozciak served five straight points, including another ace for a 21-13 advantage.
Fueled by a late 4-0 run, Chicopee hung around late in the set. Westfield did enough to shake off the Pacers for a narrow 3-point margin-of-victory.
In the final set, Chicopee led early 3-1, 5-4, and managed to tie the game at 7-all before fading down the stretch.
“Coach (Tyler) Wingate deserves all the credit, but this group of girls just work together so well,” Robitaille said.
Wingate deflected all the accolades, pointing to the players’ willingness to improve for the dramatic postseason improvement.
“I didn’t even talk about the postseason,” Wingate said. “I just wanted us to get better every day. I said (to our players), ‘Stick to the process and the results will come.’”
Everyone contributed with others like Julia Golob (22 assists), Maddy LeBlanc (6 kills) and libero Stephanie Sgueglia (10 digs) leading the way.
Said Wingate: “I’m glad they took advantage of the opportunity.”
Westfield’s next chance to advance will come on Monday when the Bombers travel to Longmeadow to take on the top-seeded Lancers (14-4) at 6:30 p.m.
FOOTBALL
Collier, Bombers soar to #1
Westfield 50, Commerce 14
Westfield’s Baley Collier had an interception return for touchdown, a punt return for touchdown, and caught a touchdown pass as the steadily improving Bombers (1-7) got off the schneid with an impressive victory Friday night at Bullens Field.
Mike Nihill was on the passing end of the Collier score. He also ran one two others. Dakotah Moynihan and Trot Gosselin also each had a rushing TD.
Commerce scored its only points of the game with the help of two kickoff return for touchdowns. Westfield’s defense has now allowed no touchdown through six quarters of football, including a second-half shutout of Longmeadow a week ago.
BOYS SOCCER
Saints eliminated
WEST D4 OPENING ROUND
No. 6 Pioneer Valley Regional 8, No. 11 Saint Mary’s 0
Jordan Loughman led Pioneer with four goals and one assist, Dana McRae finished with two goals and two assists, Jack Loud had three assists, and Nate Mousseau and Gabe Martinez each had a score.
