The Cranston East girls volleyball team is searching for its first win of the season as it sat at 0-8 on Tuesday after falling in three sets to La Salle on Monday night.

Sophia Kaba led East with five kills on offense while Angellina Saing recorded seven assists and seven digs. Jessica Tran also had a solid defensive outing, fishing with eight digs.

The Bolts have had some tough sledding in the Division I group this fall, but East coach McKenzie Richards feels that her team is not far from getting back on track and has been pleased with the effort both on and off the court.

“It’s tough having this record because I don’t think it reflects the effort and preparation we’ve put forth. It’s about finding the consistency with energy and making the smart play rather than the safe play,” said Richards. “I’ve been happy with the effort but we need to get the first win out of the way, that’d be the big momentum shift that we need.”

Although the team is made up primarily of upperclassmen, Richards has also thrust a pair of sophomores into the starting lineup in libero Jayla Ou and Saing, a setter. Richards’ aim was to give the young players varsity experience as they are on track to be core pieces moving forward and she has seen them make a positive impact from the jump.

“The speed is a bit different at the varsity level but they’ve done well. There hasn’t been a big learning curve and they belong where they are,” Richards said.

The road will not get easier on paper for the Bolts, who still have to face some of the top teams in the state throughout the second half of the regular season. Richards hopes that the team will tap into its aggression and continue to find ways to apply pressure on the opposition.

“There have been some situations where we have just pushed the ball over to get it over the net instead of swinging away at it. I’d like us to have a more attack style which is what we have been working on at practice,” Richards said. “We got a taste of it against La Salle. In the second set we got some momentum, we started attacking and it took some of the pressure off us, forcing the other team to make the play. It was a crazy lift of energy and excitement. I hope that taste leads into the next one.”