Westford Academy Girls’ Volleyball defeated Groton-Dunstable 3-0 at home on Tuesday, Oct. 4, advancing to a record of 4-7.

WA maintained control of the game throughout all three sets, dominating the Crusaders on their road to victory. Impressive play from several seniors, including Mia Rose, Catherine Crane, Courtney Dupre, and Lily DiRico, led the way for the Ghosts. 

Out of the gate, Groton-Dunstable appeared to be the better team, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. However, Crane proved otherwise, spiking multiple consecutive shots for points, and handing WA a 7-6 lead. Crane and Rose led the way for WA throughout the set, helping them gain a 17-12 advantage, and forcing Groton-Dunstable to call a timeout.

After the timeout, Dupre rattled off a multitude of impressive serves, extending WA’s lead to 22-13, and causing Groton-Dunstable to call yet another timeout. The timeout proved to be futile, as WA quickly finished off the first set with a 25-17 win.

WA carried their momentum into the second set, as a strong presence up front by Dupre, DiRico, and junior Jocelyn Vogel led them to a 5-1 lead. However, good serves from junior Svea Sullivan and blocks from senior Isabelle Frazier changed the narrative for Groton-Dunstable as they took an 11-10 lead.

WA regained the upper hand throughout the middle part of the second set, making Groton-Dunstable call a timeout with WA leading 17-14. Out of the timeout, Groton-Dunstable’s freshman, Alexa Gendron, had a stretch of terrific serves, tying the score up at 20-20.

However, WA was able to stop Groton-Dunstable’s momentum. A diving effort by DiRico got the WA bench excited as they got within one point of winning the set, and then a powerful spike by Crane closed it out for WA, giving them a 25-20 win in the second set.

Solid passes from senior Taylor Bourque allowed for WA to have several opportunities to spike the ball onto Groton-Dunstable’s side, as they went up 7-2 to begin the third set. Rose and DiRico then proceeded to display their teamwork as a dynamic duo, with Rose setting it up for DiRico to spike it down, further increasing WA’s lead.

The two teams battled throughout a tight third set, but it was Crane’s spikes that gave WA breathing room with a 16-12 lead. WA held this lead for the remainder of the third set, and they closed it out with a 25-17 win in the third set. WA winning the third set earned them a 3-0 victory.

Head Coach Brandon Eang was pleased with his team’s performance, as they aim to build on this win over the second half of the season.

“We served aggressively and covered well on defense,” Eang said. “We attacked the weak zone and got our opponent out of their system, [allowing us to play the game we wanted to play].”

WA’s next game is at home against Chelmsford on Friday, Oct. 7 at 4 pm.