West nets tourney win

Posted 4/17/14

Cranston West opened the Little Rhody Invitational on Saturday morning with a loss to Westfield, Mass. It was a match that highlighted the Falcons’ nagging issues – blocking, defense and a …

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West nets tourney win

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Cranston West opened the Little Rhody Invitational on Saturday morning with a loss to Westfield, Mass. It was a match that highlighted the Falcons’ nagging issues – blocking, defense and a general lack of aggressiveness.

When the day ended, West was a different team.

And a champion.

The Falcons rebounded from a 1-3 start in pool play to win their next four games and move into the gold bracket for the playoff round. Picking up more and more confidence every step of the way, West then beat East Greenwich, Westfield and Pilgrim to win the tournament.

Nareg Mkrtschjan was named tournament MVP while Ryan Murphy and Jake Abrams earned spots on the all-tournament team.

“We definitely took a step forward,” said head coach Roger Tow. “It was a pretty good feeling.”

West was already off to a solid start in league play, with three wins in its first four matches, but Tow felt the team could stand to make a jump.

The Little Rhody Invitational – a new tandem event with the long-running Rhody Invitational – was the perfect opportunity. Eleven Rhode Island teams, including five Division I programs, and four Massachusetts teams would compete.

For West, the tournament would at least provide good experience against strong competition. After the rough start, it looked like West would have to settle for that.

“We lost both games against Westfield,” Tow said. “We were a little tight, playing in our first tournament. We had issues with blocking and we had defensive issues. We weren’t aggressive enough on offense.”

As it turned out, the quick loss provided a blueprint for what the Falcons needed to improve. Slowly but surely, they did, and when they won their last four pool play matches, they clinched the last spot in the gold bracket.

Then they went to work.

Facing East Greenwich – the only team they’ve lost to in league play – West came through with a victory. Then, it matched up with Westfield in the semifinals and continued the revenge tour.

“We made some adjustments against East Greenwich and we did the same against Westfield,” Tow said. “We blocked their 6-5 middle a lot better and kind of shut him down.”

In the championship, West matched up with Pilgrim, the 2012 Division II champion and now a D-I team that’s angling for a playoff spot.

The Falcons’ ride continued. They won the best-of-three match in thrilling fashion to capture the title.

“It was an all-out war,” Tow said.

Mkrtschjan made the difference, earning every bit of his MVP award with an impressive championship performance.

“He was a force,” Tow said. “He was pretty much unstoppable. Any pass that was good, our setter Ryan Murphy tried to get it to Nareg. He really stepped up his game.”

The same could be said for all the Falcons.

They were coming off a 3-0 sweep of Lincoln on Friday, but it was far from a perfect victory.

“We weren’t playing our A game but we played well enough to win,” Tow said.

The A game was on full display Saturday and it led to one of the best moments the program has experienced in the last few years.

Tow hopes it’s a springboard, too.

“I think with some of the pressure points we’ve had, the mental toughness issues have gone away now,” Tow said. “We’ve been a little tentative but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem anymore. I hope they have confidence to turn it on now and keep it going.”

West was set to return to league play on Wednesday against Scituate. On Thursday, the Falcons will visit Mt. Pleasant.

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