WESTFIELD – The two-time defending champion Westfield Bombers trailed the East Longmeadow Spartans 6-3 in the opening set of the West Sectional Division 1 boys’ volleyball tournament on Wednesday. They wouldn’t be behind for very long.
Top-seeded Westfield swept No. 8 East Longmeadow 25-15, 25-10, 25-18 to begin their quest for a third straight Western Massachusetts championship crown.
“We didn’t play a game since last Monday versus Belchertown,” said Westfield coach Tyler Wingate, whose team enjoyed an eight-day layoff. “We finished the end of our first set (today) pretty well. That second set start helped us settle in.”
Westfield’s Ryan Murray records a kill on a quick set from fellow setter Scott Walsh. (Photo by Bill Deren)
Westfield rallied from a 6-3 deficit with a 6-0 run to take a 9-6 lead in the first set. From that point on, the Bombers never trailed. They went on a 5-0 run late in the to go up 23-14 before scoring two of the next three points to end it.
In the middle frame, Westfield took control from the outset. Noah Kappel (12 kills) served up a 5-0 lead. The Bombers cruised from there, taking an 11-2 advantage on a Vlad Burnusuz ace and a 13-2 lead with an Eddie Loboda block. They went on to win the set easily by 15 points.
It was more of the same for Westfield in the third and final set.
Kappel delivered a kill for the first point of the set. An early John Danahey ace helped Westfield start off 4-0. Loboda (10 kills, unleashed a viscous string of kills to pile up more points on East Longmeadow, and the rest was history.
Walsh finished with 30 assists and eight digs, and, Tyler Stanton had 15 digs.
