The Cranston West girls volleyball team is looking to get back on track after dropping its third straight match on Monday when visiting Barrington picked up the 3-0 (25-21/ 25-18/ 25-10) sweep.
The Eagles served the ball well from start to finish and wore the Falcons down each passing game. Although West managed to dig its way out of early holes in the first two sets, it ran out of steam in the third as Barrington pulled off the upset win. Brooke Menna led West with five kills in the loss.
“They’re very disciplined, served the ball well and they’re well-coached. They do a lot of things well,” said West coach Tom Ferri of Barrington.
The Falcons have been dealing with sickness and injury in the early going this season. West played an earlier match without five of its six starting players and was also without last year’s all-division standout Olivia Venagro in the first few matches as well. West’s starting setter Sarah Crowley was out on Monday as well.
“We missed (Sarah) tonight, not saying that would have been the difference, but we missed her. We put Tori (Bramble) in there and she played well,” said Ferri.
Although the Falcons dropped to 3-5 with the loss, brighter days should be ahead as they are hoping to get back to full strength in the coming days. West is an experienced group and has been led by Venagro and Mia Crudale.
“(Venagro’s) become a well-rounded player, she does everything. She serves well, she sets from the back, hits from the front. A be try smart player that’s experienced. She picks her spots and scores a lot of points for us even though she’s only a part-time hitter,” said Ferri of Venagro’s impact.
As West enters the middle of its regular season schedule, Ferri hopes the team bounced back and plays its best against some of the other top teams in the state.
“We don’t know what each game is going to bring. We’re in games, (the injuries) gives other kids a chance to play so that’ll help down the road. I hope that we get our team at full strength because we haven’t played some of the best teams in DI and we’ll be playing them in the next few weeks,” Ferri said.