Westfield leans on experienced scoring core entering 2026 girls volleyball season

Overview

• Westfield enters the 2026 season after going 15-3 in 2025-26.
• Avery Smith gives Westfield a major returning attacking presence after posting 164 kills, 59 digs, 30 aces and eight blocks as a junior.
• Nahlia Douglas adds another established option after a 2025-26 season with 128 kills, 69 digs, 43 aces and nine blocks.
• Molly Burgess brings back-row production after recording 148 digs and 36 aces in 2025-26, while Shelby Begier returns after 65 digs.
• Westfield opens Sept. 2 at Sherman and Sept. 8 at Clymer before hosting Brocton on Sept. 14 and Panama on Sept. 16.

Westfield enters the 2026 girls volleyball season with a clear place to start: a senior-heavy group that already owns meaningful varsity production.

Westfield went 15-3 in 2025-26, and several of the players tied to that run are back on the roster for Greg Birner's team. Senior outside hitter Avery Smith returns after a junior season with 164 kills, 59 digs, 30 aces and eight blocks. That followed a sophomore year with 121 kills, giving Westfield a proven pin option entering the fall.

Nahlia Douglas also returns after a productive 2025-26 season, when she finished with 128 kills, 69 digs, 43 aces and nine blocks. With Smith and Douglas both listed as outside hitters, Westfield has two established attackers who have already carried volume across a full season.

There is experience in other parts of the rotation, too. Isabella Sorrento, a middle/outside hitter, had 30 kills, 14 digs, 11 aces and 18 blocks last season. Ava Babcock adds another senior option at outside hitter/middle hitter, while Shelby Begier is listed as a setter/defensive specialist after collecting 65 digs in 2025-26.

The back row also has a tested junior in Molly Burgess, who produced 148 digs and 36 aces as a sophomore. Her defensive and serving production gives Westfield another experienced returner around its senior attacking group.

Westfield's schedule opens with road matches at Sherman on Sept. 2 and Clymer on Sept. 8 before the first home matches against Brocton on Sept. 14 and Panama on Sept. 16. The regular-season finish is busy, with Silver Creek, Sherman, Chautauqua Lake and Forestville all listed across the final week of the schedule.