WESTFIELD – The season is now truly under way for the Westfield High School boys volleyball team.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that one of the region’s strongest annual postseason tournament teams took the court for its first tournament game of the 2025 season and took care of business against a worthy contender.
Despite fighting off several ties, No. 2 Westfield came away with a 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 sweep of No. 3 West Springfield in the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class A boys volleyball semifinals Tuesday night at home.
“I’m just pleased for [our players] to have a good performance against a team that we might see for a fourth time and just a really good opponent that I have a lot of respect for,” Westfield boys volleyball coach Tyler Wingate said. “They were tough to stop. Their setter distributes the ball really well, gets everybody involved, and they brought the defense too.”
West Springfield had Westfield playing on their heels at various times throughout each of the three sets but the Bombers responded every time.
“They didn’t give us many easy opportunities,” coach Wingate said. “We had to play a lot of long rallies. It was a great match and a great prep for not only the final but the state tournament as well.”
Westfield rose above the ropes several times and came through with soaring results. Midway through the final set, Gio Gonzalez (five kills, four assists, two aces, eight digs, two blocks) and Andrew Yerak (five kills, two digs, ½ block) landed smashing kills and Jake Satkowski (three kills, assist, dig, 2 ½ blocks) recorded a block to help the Bombers rally from a small deficit.
Westfield went ahead briefly, 16-15, before ties of 17-17 and 18-18. West Side recaptured the lead until the Bombers knotted the set again at 21-all.
Westfield took the lead for good with an ace from Gonzalez. A second straight ace from Gonzalez gave the Bombers a 23-21 advantage.
West Side stopped Westfield’s run briefly before a kill from Bogdan Kuzin (five kills, three digs, 2 ½ blocks) and a Mark Chyruk ace secured the victory.
“I was pleased with my team,” said senior Zach Kukharchuk, who finished with a solid stat line of 10 kills, two aces, 12 digs, and ½ block. “They came strong; they came to play. Our mentality was keep them down while we can, try to get those big plays in and just always play on our side of the net and just focus on ourselves.”
Max Yurtuc (kill, 16 assists, ace, five digs), Nolan Rodgers (assist, nine digs), and Arlen Messier (two aces, five digs) also contributed for the Bombers.
Westfield advances to play top-seeded Agawam, a 3-1 winner over No. 4 Springfield Central, in the PVIAC Class A championship Saturday at Chicopee Comprehensive High School at 2 p.m.
“We might not get to exactly where we need to because [our players] are still developing as volleyball players,” coach Wingate said, “but they’ve really impressed me over the second half of the season by being coachable and making some adjustments against teams.”
“This group, more than any that I can remember, is very into this stuff. They love to understand the game and understand what the other team is trying to do and how to get better,” he continued. “That’s been the fun part of coaching them. There’s another level this team has. I hope we can get to it because we’ll need it. It’s exciting because I think we’re trending in the right direction at the right point in the season.”
