On Tuesday, Oct. 26 varsity volleyball swept the Cedar Ridge Raiders 3-0 at the Westwood gym. This was the last home game of their district season, ending it on a successful note. The Warriors came into the game bringing energy and connection to the court, allowing them to dominate, completing the sweep. Julia Hopkins ’24 led the Warriors both offensively and defensively with 17 kills and 21 digs. Grace McCluskey ‘25 also facilitated the defensive half of the game with 4 blocks.

“We played amazing and I’m so happy that we got to finish our last home game by winning in 3,” Tate McCarthy ‘25 said. “This win makes our season end on a really good note.”

The first set began with the Raiders taking a quick lead, as Westwood struggled defensively. Although the Warriors earned a steady flow of points, their simple defensive mistakes caused them to remain slightly behind through the first half of the set. Westwood managed to eventually even out the score through a series of well placed hits. While Cedar Ridge was able to easily anticipate the placement of Westwood’s hits, however Hopkins and Olivia Hendricks ’24 began finding holes at the back of the court, earning them points. The Warriors pulled ahead, and won the set 26-24 when they blocked the Raider’s spike. 

The Warriors started off the second set of the match in the lead, as Hopkins sent in multiple formidable attacks. Westwood’s defense began cleaning up their gameplay, as they were quick to every ball and gave their setter crisp passes to play off of. The Warrior defense cleaned up its gameplay as well, initiating effective blocks. The second half of the set consisted of long, intense rallies, however Westwood managed to secure the point for the majority of them with well orchestrated attacks. The Warriors won the set 20-11 with an ace by Phoebe Wooster ‘24, putting them in a good position to sweep Cedar Ridge.

The final set of the match started slow. Both teams were making simple defensive errors, causing the score to remain somewhat even for the first half of the set. The Warriors were slow to intercept attacks, and offensively struggled with hitting the ball out of bounds. Eventually, Westwood began aiming the ball through the Raider’s failed blocks, earning them multiple points. These successes propelled Westwood to begin sending in multiple attacks exploiting Cedar Ridge’s weak points, earning them a substantial lead. The Warriors won the final set 26-24 with a kill by Hopkins, winning them the match in a sweep. 

“I thought overall it was a good game, and a good somewhat rewarding end to the season,” Ava Moncada ‘25 said. “I think our team has grown tremendously from the beginning of the season to now. Our communication was better than what it has been in the past. Our blocking was also on tonight which helped us, and Rachel did a great job at running fast tempo plays.”

The Warriors will play their final game of the season versus the Stony Point Tigers on Friday, Oct. 27.