Two months later, Westfield will be hosting a semifinal contest with the winner advancing to the sectional final.

“It feels great,” Smith said after a win Thursday. “It’s amazing.”

The second-seeded Wolverines faced the same seventh-seeded Wildcats team they swept 3-0 to claim their first home win of the year, and the same result came in their latest meeting Thursday, a 25-10, 25-18, 25-19 victory to earn a spot in Monday’s Section VI Class D semifinal against No. 6 Ellicottville.

“The girls showed up today,” Westfield head coach Greg Birner said. “I’m just so proud of my girls. It was a complete fight from beginning to end.”

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Westfield’s Avery Smith serves during a Section VI Class D quarterfinal against Sherman on Thursday at Westfield Academy & Central School.

“That’s what we’re trying to preach right now — every point has to be earned, nothing is given, and that’s how we play like champions,” Birner added.

Westfield started off on fire Thursday, with the first four points of the contest, and seven of the first eight, including a pair of kills by Mackenzie Schumaker. After Smith had two kills of her own, Westfield led 10-2, prompting Sherman to call an early timeout.

Things didn’t slow down much from there, as Westfield continued putting the pressure on with eight of the next 10 points. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the Wolverines led 18-4. Westfield outscored Sherman 7-6 the rest of the way to claim the opening set 25-10.

“I think the first set was about nerves, coming into Westfield and playing over here,” said Sherman head coach Jason Yohe.

The Westfield gym was loud with every point as the Wolverines pulled away early on. The crowd was part of the equation, but Smith felt that the home-court advantage played into the momentum her team had on Thursday because of the team’s familiarity with the court.

“I think having home-court advantage overall is a plus for us, because we’ve played here our entire volleyball career, and we know the gym,” Smith said.

Sherman scored six of the first nine points in a much more competitive second set for an early lead in the frame, but Westfield battled back with seven straight points, nearly all with Schumaker on serve, for a 10-6 advantage. Sherman called timeout to break the momentum.

The Wildcats scored three straight after the timeout, but could not get over the hump. Westfield responded with the next three points and maintained the lead the rest of the set for a 25-18 win of the second game.

Even down two sets to none, Sherman would not quit. Westfield called a timeout after Sherman jumped ahead 5-1 in the third set. A few moments later, the score was deadlocked at 8-8, and the two teams went back and forth for the majority of the set.

“I’m proud of my girls for the way they battled. They hung in there and just tried chipping away, but Westfield is a top-notch team. It’s tough to go against them,” said Yohe.

Neither side led by more than two points from 8-8 through the next 22 points on the way to another deadlock at 19-19. But after Westfield pulled even one final time, the Wolverines pounced on the opportunity to close out the contest with the final seven points of the night to finish off the sweep with a 25-19 third set.

“Hats off to Westfield. They were top-notch serving, the best I’ve seen in the league all year,” said Yohe. “They can spot it anywhere they want. We really struggled with that.”

Schumaker and Smith finished with matching team highs for the Wolverines with six kills and four aces apiece. Maddie Burgess facilitated the Westfield offense with 15 assists. Westfield had 12 aces as a team, along with 21 kills.

“We have been talking about trying to go for a Section VI championship this year, and even states, and I said if they want that, it can’t just be serve and serve-receive,” Birner said. “You have to take it to the other team. You can’t be patient with it. We have really worked on attacking from all over the court, all season long.”

Sherman was led by Caylee Pinzok with six of her team’s 10 aces on the night, as well as a team-high five assists. Carlie Gable had a team-high eight digs, while Tayler Pinzok and Natalie Kranz each had four digs. The team had 21 digs overall.

Westfield had a layoff from the end of the regular season until Thursday’s contest because of a first-round bye. Rather than opting for extra rest, Westfield scrimmaged Fredonia, the Class B sectional champion a year ago, which also earned a first-round bye. Birner felt his team’s preparation led into the strong start to Thursday’s game.

“We wanted to play a really good squad and go toe to toe with them. I think that really prepared us, then we had two strong practices right into this,” Birner said.

Sherman’s season was put to bed Thursday, but Yohe felt it was a successful first year as the varsity coach. The team did not have a senior on the roster this year, so Yohe hopes to build upon the growth he saw this year moving forward.

“I’m proud of my girls. They’ve come a long way since the start of this season. I look forward to next year,” said Yohe. “They just didn’t give up.”

The Wolverines will be playing for revenge Monday at 6 p.m., as Ellicottville ended Westfield’s season in the playoffs a year ago.

“Teams are only going to get better from this point forward,” Birner said. “We need to see more of that transition offense, a quick defense to offense. … If we can keep the pressure on the other team, that’s our game.”

Last year, Westfield had several errors while serving in the postseason, which led to the early exit. Smith and Birner both said after Thursday’s contest that Westfield serving has improved significantly since last season.

“It’s going to be a fun fight, that’s for sure,” Birner said. “We’ve knocked them out twice before, they knocked us out, so it’s a battle. Everybody wants it.”