By ALEX SPONSELLER The Cranston East girls volleyball team got off to a nice start this year, coming from behind to beat visiting Coventry 3-1 in the season opener.

The Oakers would get the better of the first set, cruising to the 25-17 victory. However, the Bolts would outpace them the rest of the way to win three straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-20.

“We’re still trying to figure out things. We dropped the first set, but we weren’t really far behind. We just working out some kinks, it was just a slower start to this game. I definitely think it’s important to be able to keep your calm, cool and keep your head straight while being down,” said East coach Meg McGonagle. “We fell down early in the first set and battled back later which gave us some momentum heading into the second. So it was good to know that (battling back) is a possibility with this team.”

Although the Bolts played a solid first set, things had to be tweaked heading into the second to close the gap.

“There weren’t too many changes, we made a few flips to combat their offense. We were there in the right position, but our mechanics were just off. Our players were there to block shots but they would use it against us, hitting it off our fingers, bouncing it off of us, so it was really just making small adjustments in our defense,” said McGonagle.

East will now be looking to make some noise and compete for a playoff spot down the stretch. The Bolts have plenty of experience with five seniors in house, which has also helped them hit the ground running after the shortened preseason.

“We are an experienced group with five seniors, including Lauren (Milani), Soraya Bussatti, Ella Glantz, who have all been on the varsity team since their freshman year. This is a big year for them, we have a big group coming back who have seen a lot of varsity time. It was a quick coming season, but they were prepared and ready,” said McGonagle.

East looks to be a contender in Division I and has the pieces in place to make a run, but overall, the Bolts are looking forward to just being on the floor and getting one last ride in with the large senior core.

“We talked about this being a bonus season. The boys lost their season and for a while it didn’t look like the girls would have a season. We all agreed that this would be a pressure-off season and we’re in it so the seniors get to have some gameplay and we get that camaraderie,” said McGonagle. “We’re just trying to have fun for one last season.”

The Bolts took on South Kingstown on Wednesday, but the results were not available at press time.