Volleyball Game Preview: Cranston East Thunderbolts vs. Cranston West Falcons

An exciting East v. West battle is about to be fought. The Cranston East Thunderbolts will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cranston West Falcons at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Cranston East is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: North Kingstown, who was ranked first at the time (Cranston East was ranked fourth). The Thunderbolts fell 3-1 to the Skippers on Tuesday. The defeat continues a trend for the Thunderbolts in their meetings with the Skippers: they've now lost six in a row.

Cranston East was was forced to take the loss, but they sure made North Kingstown work for it, especially in the second set. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 25-18.

Meanwhile, Cranston West was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They lost 3-0 to La Salle Academy.

While Cranston West was not able to make it on the board, they still kept things close, especially in the first set. The match finished with set scores of 25-23, 25-18, 25-19.

Cranston West's defeat dropped their record down to 5-7. As for Cranston East, their loss dropped their record down to 5-4.

Cranston East was able to grind out a solid victory over Cranston West in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, winning 3-1. Will the Thunderbolts repeat their success, or do the Falcons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.