Girls Volleyball: Central Falls Sweeps the Villa Novans 3-0

The Villa Novans could not get a handle on Central Falls's big serves Monday night, and the Warriors got a Division II girls volleyball win in Woonsocket.

It was evident from the start that the Villa Novans would struggle against powerful serves from the Warriors, as Anjelique Cooley started the match off with two aces. The Villa Novans battled back and secured a four point lead with some good serving of their own from Captain Bianca Rivera.

The game would tighten up in the middle and was tied at 12. Sasha Gonzalez made a diving play to save a ball for the Warriors, and the resulting point win fired up her teammates. This spurred the Warriors on and got their fans excited. It also seemed to make the Villa Novans tighten up as play from Woonsocket became at some points nervous, and at others lackadaisical.

This resulted in numerous unforced errors and and unreturned serves, resulting in an 8-point lead for Central Falls. Cooley put game one away on a spike and the Warriors took it, 25-13.

Woonsocket continued to have trouble returning Central Falls's serves and fell into an early 6-1 hole in game two. The Warriors went on a seven-point run on Kayla Camara's serve, and Central Falls ran away with game two, 25-8.

The third game was much more competitive, and Woonsocket seemed more engaged, with increased pressure from their offense. The Villa Novans got off to an early 3-point lead, which was quickly erased, and then got a big block from Kaylin Pitts to regain a two-point lead at 11-9. 

Woonsocket would hang in until the end, but Cooley's hitting and serving stifled the Villa Novans, and Roniza Fortes put one down to give the Warriors a 25-22 game three win.

Although they didn't play a great all-around game, Central Falls's serving played a huge role in their win.

"They served strong, but that was the only thing we really did well," Central Falls Head Coach Richard Sousa said after the game.

"Not a great game overall, but it was a big win on the road," he added.

Woonsocket Coach Stephanie Kociuba was overjoyed with the way her team fought back in the third game. She attributes the difficulties receiving serves to a lack of communication, something she believes can be fixed in practice. Kociuba was most pleased with the effort her team showed and their aggressive play.

"Tonight was probably the first night that they actually played, and they played right up until the end," Kociuba said. "Now atleast we have something to build on."