Momentum can change at any given moment in sports. The Cranston West girls volleyball team learned the hard way on Tuesday night.
LaSalle traveled to Cranston West to battle the Falcons in a Division I volleyball match. West seemed to be cruising to a victory, after winning the first two games. The Rams charged back, winning the final three games and the match.
LaSalle started out strong, as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first game. A 10-4 run by the Falcons trimmed their deficit to 14-13.
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After scoring two consecutive points, LaSalle led 16-13. West took control with a 7-0 run. Junior Courtney Salisbury had four aces during the streak. Falcons senior Ashley Waterman's kill ended the first game, with West winning it 25-22.
The beginning of the second game was the opposite of the first. The Falcons had leads of 3-0, 6-2, and 9-4 in the early stages of the second game.
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After the Rams cut their deficit to 10-8, Cranston West responded with six points in a row. The Falcons never trailed and held the lead the entire second game. They won the game 25-17.
In order to come away with the road victory, the Rams needed to regroup. Continuing the theme of one team starting strong, LaSalle led 6-2 early in the third game.
They controlled the entire game, as their lead was a minimum of four points throughout. They won it 25-15, getting themselves back into the match.
LaSalle led for the majority of the fourth game, after trailing 4-1. They won the fourth game by double digits, taking it 25-14.
At this point, the Rams had all of the momentum and West would have to dig deep to take control of the match again. They were unable to do so, as LaSalle won the decisive fifth game 15-4.
After dropping the first two games, the Rams impressively won the final three games by 10 or more points, a total of 32. In comparison, West won their two games by a total of 11 points.
Salisbury led the Falcons with 15 digs and 5 aces, junior Ailis Hanley had 7 blocks and 4 kills and Carlotta Trapassi had 5 aces.
"We just let down and did not keep up the intensity," Falcons coach Tom Ferri said, "The serving and setting broke down and we need to be more consistent."
Ferri was pleased with the team's play in the first two games. "The first two games we limited our mistakes and played well," he said.
