Westwood Spears Jaguars For 3-1 Bi-District Champion Win

Prakrit Sinha, Reporter| November 6, 2022

  • The Warriors pose after winning the bi-district championship game. The team will be moving on to the area championship game.

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  • Allie Shepherd ’23 hits the ball over the net. She got back onto defense to prepare for the next rally.

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  • Julia Hopkins ’24 and Allie Shepherd ’23 block an attempted tip from the Jaguars. After, Hopkins and Shepherd prepared to face off against the next hit from their opponents.

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  • Alex Kriz ’23 spikes the ball over the net. After, she prepared for her next opportunity to strike.

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  • Trinity Woods ’23 and Rachel Cai ’24 jump to block the incoming hit from the Jaguars. They quickly got back on defense for the next rally.

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  • The Warriors run towards Julia Hopkins ’24 after she scored the game-winning point. The team celebrated winning the second-round of the playoffs.

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  • The Warriors scores another point and the crowd cheers. They continued standing and cheering their team.

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The Warriors claimed their bi-district 3-1 win on Tuesday, Nov. 2, against the Johnson High School Jaguars. The volleyball team played rigorously in each set, and the crowd cheered passionately during the duration of the game. 

In the first set, Westwood quickly took a 6-2 lead over the Jaguars with solid blocks and hits. With the help of dives from Lola Fernandez ‘23 and back-to-back hits from Trinity Woods ‘23, the Warriors took the score to 8-6. However, the Jaguars soon took the lead at 13-12. Rachel Cai ‘24 dumped a pass, making the score 19-18 Warriors, leading to a timeout from the Jaguars. To wrap the first set, Allie Shepherd ‘23 blocked a Jaguar spike and followed with one of her own, which was the set-winning point.

Although the Warriors had won the first set, the second set ended in another close finish, with the Jaguars pulling through with 25-21. Woods and Shepherd kept the game close with their blocks and hits, and when the game was tied, Julia Hopkins ‘24 scored numerous points, causing the Jaguars’ to take several timeouts to re-talk strategy.

“The second set we kind of let ourselves go a little but we came back during the third set,” Woods said. “We really showed who we were as we took control of our own destiny because we didn’t want this to be our last game.”

After a hard-fought second set, the Warriors took back the game and shut the Jaguars down by winning the third set 25-9. The set was filled with several blocks by Woods, hits through the Jaguars blocks by Hopkins, and various hits from Alex Kriz ‘23. Hopkins helped the Warriors win the set through several kills. 

The fourth set was close until the Jaguars took their first timeout with the score tied at 17-17. When the game resumed, Hopkins immediately took the lead with her two back-to-back kills, putting the Warriors ahead 19-17. Following that, Shepherd’s hit gave the Warriors a 20-17 lead, forcing another timeout from the Jaguars. Hopkins scored the match-winning point, putting the Warriors ahead at 25-21, resulting in a win for the Warriors.

“The third set was great, and we really pulled it together and we really demolished, which was really exciting,” Shepherd ‘23 said. “The fourth set was also super exciting because we won which means we’re going to the next round of playoffs.”

Now bi-district champions, the Warriors will compete against Reagan High School for their next game on Friday, Nov. 4.