Saints fall in 4

EAST GREENWICH – The undefeated East Grreenwich volleyball team stumbled in the first game Friday night against visiting St. Raphael Academy, but the Avengers made some changes and dominated the next three sets, winning in four to move to 5-0 in Division II.

The rebuilding Saints (1-5) held their own in the first game, winning 25-22 after going down early, but the Avengers rallied off of the sting from the loss, taking the next three, 25-5, 25-14 and 25-18.

“We switched some things up,” Avenger coach Justin Amaral said of the first game. “We tried a different rotation, and the guys aren't used to change yet. We are still a young team, and throwing a curveball like that at them, and they weren't ready for it. I still think that game was ours to win.”

“I thought we could handle it,” Amaral said. “They're not there yet, so we went back to basics, and we went back to our normal rotation for the last three games.”

After losing the first game and looking a bit lost, EG stormed out of the set break and went on a quick 15-0 run to begin the second game.

“Losing that game was a wake-up call for them,” Amaral said. “They realized that teams aren't going to come into our gym and roll over. St. Rays is a good team; they've been improving year after year, and they deserve a lot of respect for that. We were coming in with a big head, and it came back to bite us a bit.”

“Anytime we lose,” Amaral said. “We learn something from it. I don't like to lose, but every time you do lose you learn from it. It points out some weaknesses.”

The only other game EG lost came against Scituate, in a 3-1 EG match victory.

The Saints play next on Tuesday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m. at North Smithfield.