Falcons earn trip to semis with sweep of Lions

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 11/18/15

By RYAN D. MURRAY

For the Herald

The Cranston West Falcons cruised past the Lincoln Lions, 3-0, in the Division II girls’ volleyball quarterfinals last Thursday night at Lincoln High School. …

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Falcons earn trip to semis with sweep of Lions

Posted

By RYAN D. MURRAY

For the Herald

The Cranston West Falcons cruised past the Lincoln Lions, 3-0, in the Division II girls’ volleyball quarterfinals last Thursday night at Lincoln High School.

West came into the match prepared according to Cranston West head coach Thomas Ferri.

“It feels great,” said Ferri. “The girls worked hard. We had a game plan coming in…We blocked well. We picked up a lot of loose balls. We covered the short stuff and we served really well. We knew coming in that they were well balanced and consistent in all phases of the game, and if we were going to beat them that we would have to do those things. And they did. They played well. They played with intensity.”

Lincoln jumped out to a 2-0 lead to begin the first set. Captain Alexandra Fish started with a slam and then Nicole Lezon added a kill. West tied the set at 2, after junior Keara Pedroso put them on the board and Lezon hit it into the net. Then, West junior Emilia Vaziri dropped a point in front of the net to put her team up 3-2. After a serve by West sophomore Marissa Cushman, Lincoln’s Dana Navilliat slammed home a point to tie it at 3. Senior Kathryn Sleboda then dumped a point in front, putting West up 9-6. Lincoln cut it to 10-9 after two fouls against West and a point from Brierly. West increased its lead to 13-9 after Vaziri took a pass and spiked it past Lincoln. The Lions cut the lead in half when Fish scored and West hit a return out of bounds, pulling Lincoln to 13-11. Then, West struck fire, scoring seven straight points. Cushman set up senior captain Eden Anthony for the kill, followed by an assist from Cushman to Vaziri for a point. Cushman followed with back-to-back aces, giving West a commanding 20-13 advantage. After a Lincoln return went out of bounds, increasing the West lead to 23-14, Vaziri served an ace to set up the game point opportunity. Vaziri’s next serve led to a score, giving West the set, 25-14, and a 1-0 advantage in the match.

Lincoln took an early 1-0 lead in the second set when a serve from Brianna Walters was returned into the net by West. However, West came back to take a 2-1 lead, when Lincoln’s Molly Pincince failed to finish off an assist from Fish. The teams got even at 4, before Fish’s next shot was double-blocked by Vaziri and Anthony and went for a point. The teams went back and forth. Lezon scored past West senior Alexis Tella to tie the set, but Vaziri responded with a score of her own. Then, Vaziri assisted to Anthony for the kill to go up 7-5. Soon after, Fish slammed an ace into the campfire to tie it at 9, before giving Lincoln a 10-9 lead on her next serve.

Lincoln committed a foul on the next possession and Sleboda dumped it in front to give West back the lead. However, Lincoln would tie it again when Trapassi’s next serve hit the net. Lincoln took a 12-11 advantage when Pincince set up Fish for the kill. Brierly hit an ace to extend the Lincoln lead to 14-11, before West scored on her next serve. Navilliat made a big play on the next volley to put Lincoln back up by three, but West would rally back to tie the set at 15. West took the lead after Walters and Fish struggled to return Tella’s serve. With both teams tied, Cushman punched down a point for an 18-17 West advantage. Next, Cushman served an ace to put West up 19-17. With West leading 20-17, Cushman made a spectacular diving play to score and increase the West lead to 21-17. Then, Fish spiked a pass from freshman Laila Mostello-Wethurbee, to pull Lincoln to 22-18. Two plays later, Cushman assisted to Anthony for the kill for West, going up 24-18. Vaziri’s attempt at a game point serve sailed out of bounds, giving Lincoln another chance. Moments later, Lincoln’s Brierly served into the net, giving West the second set, 25-20, as West took a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Fish returned Tella’s first serve of the third set for a point to give Lincoln an early 1-0 lead. Vaziri didn’t take long to tie it at 1, off Lincoln’s first serve. Then, Lincoln scored four straight points to go up 5-1. Nevertheless, West rallied back to tie, scoring four straight points of its own. Cushman set up Vaziri for the kill to cut the lead to three. Then, Lincoln failed to return three consecutive Vaziri serves and the score was locked at 5. West took a 9-7 lead on a spike from Anthony and a point from junior Brinley Foley. Lincoln clawed its way back to take a 10-9 lead. West tied it when Vaziri set up Cushman, who dug it high into the air, hitting the roof, before falling for a West point. Soon after, Walters came up big for Lincoln, scoring to give her team a 16-15 advantage.

Once again, West came back to tie the set at 17, when Tella came through in the clutch. Then, Lincoln scored three straight points to go up 20-17. However, West rallied back to tie the set at 20, with the help of an ace from Cushman and a point from Anthony. Vaziri, who was the star on this night, came through again in the clutch with a big return, putting West up 21-20. Walters would come up with a huge play to even the set at 21. Next, Pedroso assisted to Cushman for the kill and a 22-21 West advantage. A couple plays later, Vaziri slammed an ace into the campfire to put West up 24-22, before her next serve was returned for a kill by Fish. Lincoln cut the lead to 24-23, before Cushman punched home the match winner, giving West a 25-23 win in the set and a 3-0 win in the match.

Vaziri was pleased with the way that her team played.

“It felt good to win and to play intense,” Vaziri said. “It was a good game. We all played hard.” 

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