The Cumberland High School girls volleyball team did not let one lost set define its Tuesday night. After taking the opener against Prout, the Clippers saw the Crusaders answer in the second. The match then tightened to its smallest margin of the night. Cumberland took that third set 26–24 and finished the job in the fourth for a 3–1 home victory on September 22.
The set scores were 25–18, 19–25, 26–24 and 25–21. Cumberland established control in the first, but Prout made clear in the second that it would not go away quietly. That made the third set the hinge of the match: at 24–24, neither team had room for a mistake, and the Clippers found the two points they needed to move back in front. They still had to earn the match in the fourth, holding Prout to 21 to close it out.
There is a difference between starting well and responding well. Cumberland had to do both. The Clippers did not sweep Prout, and the final score should not make this sound easier than the set scores show. What stands out is the answer after the 25–19 second-set loss, followed by the ability to finish a close fourth set with the match on the line.
The victory builds on a strong stretch for Cumberland. The Clippers beat Portsmouth in five sets on September 17, then rallied after dropping the opener to beat East Greenwich 3–1 on September 18. Against East Greenwich, they won the final three sets 25–14, 25–17 and 25–17. Tuesday’s result gives Cumberland three consecutive wins, with each of the last three requiring a different kind of finish.
Prout came in with momentum of its own after a 3–1 win over Cranston West. Cumberland entered Tuesday at 4–3 according to MaxPreps; adding the Prout result puts the Clippers at 5–3 based on the results currently listed. Earlier close five-set losses to East Providence and La Salle and a straight-set loss to North Kingstown remain part of the season’s picture. This stretch of three wins shows how the team has responded rather than letting those results define its direction.
Next on the schedule is a home match against Barrington on Thursday, September 24. The Clippers can take the result from Prout with them: a first-set lead, a second-set setback, a third-set test and, ultimately, a finish. That is the kind of complete match experience a team can build on as the season moves forward.
Set scores: Cumberland 25–18, Prout 25–19, Cumberland 26–24, Cumberland 25–21.
Match score and sets supplied to Cumberland Sideline. Earlier results and schedule: MaxPreps Cumberland volleyball and team schedule.