WFHS Weekly Sports Recap: Bulldogs Celebrate Homecoming Wins

Volleyball Team Wins Tight Concorde Match-up

The Bulldogs (12-10) rallied hard in the fifth set Wednesday night to edge the Herndon Hornets (4-7) in a crucial district win, 3-2 (25-20, 14-25, 25-21, 22-25, 18-16.)

If suffering three heartbreaking losses in, as many days last week were not enough, Westfield was also forced to play without defensive star Alex Collier since she dislocated her knee against Chantilly on Oct. 3. Morgan Tweddle had been out of the lineup as well due to an illness but Westfield was able to fight through the distractions and defeat a recently hot Herndon team.

“Herndon is a real good team and I think they are going to knock some people off. They have great size and some big power hitters,” said coach Jim Bour. “Moran Tweddle came back and started practicing Friday, so that provided us some blocking and I flip her back and forth from the middle and also the right side.”

Bour said Collier also returned to be with her teammates just 24 hours after the injury and has given the squad an emotional boost, through her perseverance, both in the locker room and on the sidelines. Several Bulldogs have boasted stellar performances in their new positions the past couple games, quickly adapting to the necessary change on defense due to injury and illness.

Westfield plays at home on “Senior Night” at 7:15 p.m. against Oakton on Oct. 25.

Bulldogs Football Still Undefeated with Homecoming win

The Bulldogs’ (7-0) dynamic offense overpowered its opponent for the seventh straight week, keeping Westfield’s undefeated streak alive with a 31-10 victory over West Potomac (4-3) Friday night. Running back Kendell Anderson turned in an outstanding performance with more than 300 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, including one for 70-plus yards. And Matthew Pisarcik passed for 104 yards through the air to keep the Bulldogs’ No.1-seed hopes realistic in the competitive Concorde district.

“He’s a guy that can break the big play, he runs with determination and can grind out four, five yards,” said coach Kyle Simmons of his star running back. “Kendell has really good vision and when he could break through that first layer, then he was hitting for pretty big runs and we did hand it to him quite a bit.”

The Generals started out strong and kept it close, down just four points at the half, 14-10. Westfield struggled on special teams early, allowing a big kick return deep into their own territory which resulted in a West Potomac field goal. But Anderson took control in the third quarter as he plowed through the Wolverine defensive line, scoring on two long runs to extend the Bulldog lead and run away with the win. Next up is a Concorde battle of the undefeated as Westfield travels across Route 28 to face the Oakton Cougars (7-0).

“I’m happy we stepped up and were able to come up with the win, but I wish we would have played a little better and I think that had to do with how we practiced this week,” Simmons said. “It was Homecoming for us, a lot of distractions and we have a couple big district games coming up. You try to keep them focused and on track and I think we faltered and could have done a little better job.”

Westfield plays at Oakton on Oct. 21 at 7:15 p.m.

Field Hockey Finishes Regular Season with Win

Dominance would be a fitting word to describe the Westfield varsity field hockey team’s 2011 season. The Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season at 14-2, with a lopsided victory over Herndon Saturday morning, 5-1 in a make-up game.

Junior mid fielder Meghan Winesett stormed out of the gate, scoring her 18th and 19th goals of the season to give her Bulldogs a 2-0 lead early in the first to put the Hornets in a hole that they would never climb out from.

“If Meghan is playing her game we are going to do well,” said coach Starr Karl. “She distributes the ball very well, is a very unselfish player and has great field vision.”

The offense pushed the attack consistently throughout the first half of play as the youth of the team took control. Sophomores Katie Winesett, Katelyn Rennyson and Rachael Ulsh each scored a goal to round out the 5-1 score. Meghan Winesett and Rennyson each had an assist as well. Karl said she was excited to play everyone on her bench late in the match and felt confident in the talent they showed on the pitch.

Westfield has outscored its opponents 55-7 and shut out 12 teams during the regular season. The Bulldogs earned a first round bye with their second-seed in the Concorde playoffs and an automatic berth in the Northern Regional tournament in late October.

“I’m excited. This year is a learning curve for us and we have four from last year’s team that started,” Karl said. “To be honest I though at the beginning of the season that we weren’t going to be as successful as we are. But we’ve learned from our mistakes and the biggest thing for us is consistency, because we have the skills and knowledge.”

Westfield plays the winner of the quarterfinal of the Concorde tourney at home at 7 p.m. on Oct. 19.