LA SALLE – As we enter the halfway point of the fall sports season, our La Salle sports teams are competing very hard to achieve a spot in the playoffs and a trip to the state championship. The girls volleyball team, is a prime example amongst these teams.

On Monday, October 16th 2017, the La Salle Lady Rams won their annual pink-out game defeating the Bay View Bengals in great fashion winning 3 sets to 1. On Wednesday, October 19th 2017, the girls continued their winning ways crushing the Prout Crusaders in 3 sets to 0 on the road. From these two wins, the Girls were able to gain a 4 game winning streak, as extending their record to 7-6. With every win, the Lady Rams look to continue their pursuit to a playoff berth.

The Rams had a great performance at home against the Bengals. La Salle took the first two sets winning with scores of 25-13 in Set 1, and 25-19 in Set 2. La Salle was not able to take Set 3, losing 18-25, but were able to effectively close out the game in Set 4 with a 25-10 win. La Salle’s offense was due in large part to the play of their middle hitters in Kyra Mattera and Adrianna Pugh. They were able to find the floor several times to get kills and earn points for their team. Mattera lead the Rams with 11 kills on the night, followed by Pugh with her total of 8 kills. For outside hitters, Both Lilly Poor and Riana Gagnon had 7 kills each for the team, providing even more points for the Rams offense.

Head coach of the Rams Marcus Jannitto preaches defense and passing equally to getting kills on the offensive end. He gives great credit to the work of Sophie Wilhelm on the defensive end, “Sophie Wilhelm is our anchor in the back row and remains one of the top liberos in SE (Southeast) New England” (Jannitto). His statement was proven in the Bay View match as she led the Rams with 11 digs against swings from Bay View hitters, and passed for a solid average of 2.38/3.00.. Lily Poor also contributed a solid passing game, obtaining 8 digs and the highest passing average for the Rams with a 2.86/3.00.

Despite of the win, The Rams were more focused on the tradition behind their Pink-Out game. As most of you may know, the reason behind the pink-out game is to support and honor all breast cancer patients. Every year, all the girls volleyball teams in Rhode Island have a home game where they wear pink jerseys, shirts, headbands, and a variety of other pink colored clothing to show their spirit. La Salle went above and beyond this status quo. Each player on the Rams team lined up bags near the gym stands, with each bag having the names of people who survived or currently battling against cancer. There names were written on the bags in order to provide a honorable shout out for those who dealing with its horrible conditions. Breast cancer is a very serious situation, and we should all keep victims of this disease in mind and pray that they can overcome it.

The goal for the Rams every year is to make the playoffs. Coach Jannitto explained that the Rams need to win 3 out of the next 6 matches to have the best possible chance to achieve that goal. In an interview with the captains of the volleyball team: Lily Poor and Kat Gannon, they were able to provide further insight on how they can win those 3 matches. Gannon explained how, “We (the Rams) need to beat teams such as Prout and Classical who are on the same level as us. We need to take the games we can win.” The Rams were able to succeed in this goal in their win against Prout on Wednesday, but they have to continue their winning ways in the games to come. Poor would add onto Kat’s comment as the team needs to continue to, “Focus on passing, and run an effective offense from their passing” in every practice and game that they play from here on out. With the season winding down for Rams volleyball, it will be very interesting to see if they can fulfill their goals and make the playoffs this year. Be sure to come to the Athletic center October 23rd 2017, next Monday, to root for the Rams for their Senior night game against Ponaganset High as they look to continue their winning ways.

Published October 19, 2017