The Cranston West Falcons were swept by the Mount St. Charles Mounties, 3-0, on Monday night at Cranston West High School.

Cranston West head coach Tom Ferri said it’s not always about the wins and losses.

“I thought they did a good job, but what we talked about was the little things that hurt us against the better teams that we need to execute better,” Ferri said. “Some of those things, like covering off the block, serving the ball in at crucial times out of a timeout, making sure that they get back and make their approach because we don’t have a lot of players that drive the ball down. Those types of things.”

West junior Marissa Cushman had two aces and five kills while Emilia Vaziri chipped in three aces and six kills.

Cushman launched the opening serve before her teammate Fallon Plociak scored, putting it past Mount St. Charles’ Maggie Bouckaert and Isabella Miller, giving West an early 1-0 lead. Seconds later, Mount St. Charles’ Paige Fitzpatrick returned Cushman’s next serve with a thunderous blast to even the set at 1. On serve, Mount’s Julia Champagne put her squad up 3-1 after a service winner and a penalty against West.

Mount St. Charles then increased its lead to 6-2 on a point from Haley McCreight and back-to-back aces from Alexandra Miller. West earned its third point when Miller committed a service error.

Moments later, McCreight batted one past Cushman to extend the Mount St. Charles advantage to 8-3. On serve, Bouckaert knocked in a point before Miller set up Fitzpatrick for the kill, increasing the Mount lead to 12-4 before West used its first timeout.

The teams went back-and-forth before Miller passed to Riley Mulligan for the attack and Mount St. Charles increased its lead to 15-6. Later in the set, Cushman used a dime to set up Vaziri for the kill and Lauren Plociak followed it with a return, pulling West within 18-10.

Shortly after, Mount St. Charles’ Jillian Parker assisted to Fitzpatrick for a kill and a 20-10 advantage. West scored four straight times to cut it to 20-14. The rally featured Cushman assisting to Keara Pedroso for a point before Parker was double blocked by Fallon Plociak and Katie Sleboda. Cushman ended the resurgence with a shot into the campfire.

However, a West penalty would kill its momentum until an ace from Sleboda made it 22-16. After an ace by sophomore Isabella Miller, Mount St. Charles had a game-point opportunity. However, Miller’s next serve was returned by Cushman, cutting the West deficit to 24-17. Nevertheless, Cushman’s next serve was returned by Mount St. Charles when Alexandra Miller set up Fitzpatrick, who crushed the ball for the set-winner, giving Mount a 25-17 win of the set and a 1-0 lead in the match.

West jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set when Cushman assisted to Vaziri for an attack before Cushman served back-to-back aces. However, after a service error on Cushman, Mount St. Charles would climb back and tie it at 4. Moments later, a service winner by Aris Degaitas gave West a 6-4 edge. Then, Mulligan would hit a blast past West, eventually tying it at 6 on a service-winner.

Sleboda put West up 8-7 before Mount St. Charles’ Alexandra Miller and Arley Imbimbo combined for a double block on Pedroso to tie the set at 8. Shortly after, West scored three straight points, including a service winner from Pedroso to give West an 11-8 edge. Seconds later, Vaziri had a kill, increasing the West lead to 12-10. On serve, Mount St. Charles’ Champagne scored four straight times, putting Mount up, 17-15, before Lauren Plociak got a kill for the Falcons.

Soon after, Parker used her left hand to hit a blast into the campfire, giving her squad a 23-16 lead. After back-to-back aces from West’s Vaziri made it 23-19, a Vaziri service error gave Mount St. Charles game point. However, Mulligan’s serve was returned by Vaziri to pull West within 24-20. But, Mount St. Charles would take the set 25-21 on a West return error on the next play, giving it a 2-0 lead in the match.

On serve, Champagne put Mount St. Charles up 2-0 in the third set. Cushman returned Champagne’s next serve to put West on the board and Degaitas tied it at 2. Then, Pedroso and Degaitas scored to give West a 4-2 lead. After Mount St. Charles’ Alexandra Miller assisted to Parker for the kill, the game was tied at 4. On serve, Cushman scored three straight times for West, giving the Falcons an 8-5 lead.

Later in the set, Mount St. Charles’ Bouckaert pulled her team within 11-10. Mount St. Charles pulled ahead on a slam from Isabella Miller, making it 13-11. Cushman tied the set at 14 before Mount St. Charles went up 16-14 because of return errors on West. Seconds later, Mount St. Charles’ Alexandra Miller and McCreight combined for a double block on Mia James to go up 17-14. Then, Pedroso scored for West, pulling it within 20-16.

Alexandra Miller set up Parker for the kill, putting Mount St. Charles up 21-16. After a West penalty, Mount St. Charles’ Bouckaert scored back-to-back points on serve to give it game point at 24-17. After an ace by Pedroso got West within 24-19, Pedroso’s next serve sailed out of bounds, giving Mount St. Charles a 25-19 win of the set and a 3-0 sweep of the match.

Ferri explained that because a large quantity of his girls play multiple positions, they get fatigued.

“A lot of my players play all the way around,” Ferri said. “So, that takes a lot out of a player – especially a team like this where there’s long volleys.”