Lincoln swept by Wizards
WEST WARWICK — The scene at Dan Sylvester Gymnasium on Thursday night was long overdue. Volleyball, after a 16-month absence in the Ocean State, made its official return as part of the RIIL’s Fall II phase of the 2020/21season.
For the hometown Wizards, that return included a 3-0 sweep over visiting Lincoln (25-21, 2517, 25-17), jump starting their shortened season on a positive note.
Mae D’Ambra picked up where she left off, resuming her role as one of the Wizards’ primary contributors. She led the way with ten kills, ten digs and four aces in the winning effort.
Libero Brea Alves netted 20 assists to go along with seven aces for the home team, one of which clinched the second set for them, putting them in the driver’s seat for good.
Aliyah Naseer rounded out the Wizards’ strong showing with seven digs and five aces, all part of a promising start to the 2021 campaign, one that Malloy hopes will only continue to get better.
“I feel like our communication still isn’t all there and we could be getting our bigger attacks at the net right now. Overall, we had stretches where I thought we played pretty clean and then you could see where communication breakdowns led to rallies on the other side of the net, but that’s to be expected when you haven’t played in a year and a half,” Molley said.
While many players from the 2019 team are back in uniform, the Wizards are without several key members, which could prove costly in the long run. Among those absent right now is outside hitter Teagan Pacheco who is currently sporting a cast on one of her arms. She is expected to miss most, if not the entire season, which would deal a significant blow to a West Warwick team searching for veteran leadership.
West Warwick was not the only team on Thursday faced with the reality of having to work with a limited roster. Their opponents found themselves in the same boat as well.
Lincoln coach Lyndsey Sweeney, credited her team for their effort despite coming up short in the end.
“I’m really impressed with how our girls have played. We’ve only had about ten practices (so far),” she said, noting that one senior and one junior opted to sit out the year due to the virus.
Sweeney herself had recently undergone quarantine protocol after one of her students had tested positive, meaning that she has only had limited time up to this point to spend working with her team and getting them ready for the season.
“We have a few new firstyear players among the freshmen,” she said, touching on the youth and inexperience of the roster. “We have three first-year juniors on varsity, so it’s definitely a learning year for us. In a short amount of time, we have a lot to learn, but I was very impressed with how we played today,” she said.
The Lions looked strongest in the opening set, leading at one point 11-7 and then later, 21-20 before West Warwick closed on a 5-0 run. The ensuing two sets ended in the same 25-17 score, but Lincoln can take pride in the way they fought back in the third, trailing at one point, 16-6.