By ALEX SPONSELLER The Cranston West girls volleyball team dropped its season opener to defending champion North Kingstown 3-0 last week on the road.

Despite a competitive first game in which the Skippers won 25-17, NK would cruise in the final two by scores of 25-6 and 25-9 to take home the victory.

“They’re three-time defending champs. They run a good program over there, great coaching, they’re a well-run organization. It was a tough draw to start with, but we played well the first game once we got over the jitters a bit,” said West coach Tom Ferri.

Serving woes dug the Falcons in an early hole which set the tone for the rest of the match. West finished with seven serving errors in the first game.

“I told the girls they played well but one of the things that we didn’t do well was serve. We had too many serving errors in that first game and that was the difference in the match. I don’t think they outplayed us in the first game,” said Ferri.

Despite the loss, NK figures to be the Falcons’ toughest opponent on the schedule. Ferri and company took on Prout on Tuesday evening hoping to get back on track. The results were not available at press time.

“You don’t want to start off with a loss but the reality of it is that we know that they are a very good team and are usually one of the best teams in Division I. We knew that going in, it wasn’t tough to take knowing that you’re going up against probably the best team in the division. We just have to bounce back, I look forward to seeing what this team can do,” said Ferri.

Looking ahead, West is eyeing a successful 2021 with a very experienced roster. Most of its players are turning from its last season prior to the pandemic and have had substantial varsity minutes.

“We had five sophomores on the roster last year. A few of them didn’t start until the middle part of the year, but we have them coming back which is good because they played at that level last year,” said Ferri. “We just want to be competitive. No matter who you’re playing each night, they’ll always have the potential to beat you. I go into it with that mindset. The goal is just to be competitive in Division I and that has always been the goal since moving up from Division II.”