All of a sudden, the Warwick Vets girls’ volleyball team has some work to do if it wants to salvage its season.

After a 3-1 start to the year, the ’Canes lost their fifth consecutive match on Monday in brutal fashion, falling 3-0 to Cranston West by scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 26-24.

Though it was a sweep, Vets had chances to win each game at the end and came up short all three times. The loss moved the ’Canes to 3-6, and their promising start seems like it was a long time ago. They’re tied for sixth in Division II-South with Toll Gate, with almost the entire second half of the season to go. Monday’s match with the Falcons was the first game after the halfway point.

Vets will play the rest of the season without middle hitter Mariana Brawn, who fractured her ankle in the match against West Warwick last Tuesday.

“Honestly right now, I think my team is having a little trouble staying focused,” said Vets head coach Jean McGarry. “On the outside it looks like they just don’t want it badly enough to finish it.”

West is going through some troubles of its own, as it snapped a three-game skid with the victory, improving to 6-3 in the process.

“I just think that we need to play better,” said West head coach Tom Ferri. “When you’re playing the better competition then the stakes get magnified. For us, we’re getting better serving the ball. We need more consistent back row play and we need some stronger hitting.”

But the Falcons at least were able to close out the games on Monday, something Vets could not find a way to do. The ’Canes led as late as 24-23 in a first game in which they actually led by as much as 17-10 earlier. In fact, after falling behind 8-7, West didn’t tie the score until 18-18, and didn’t take the lead again until 25-24.

The ’Canes had the game point at 24-23, and also led 23-20 before letting it slip away. Lauren Salisbury helped West stave off game point with a long push to an open spot in the back, and a net violation on Vets gave West the lead. When the ’Canes couldn’t return Alexis Tella’s serve on the next point, somehow the Falcons had escaped with the win.

“We’re going to have to get in the gym and start working on getting that desire to put the game in your favor,” McGarry said. “And work hard enough to do it. It’s funny, because they work hard enough to get the game back within their reach, and then don’t work hard enough to finish.”

In game two, McGarry had the same complaints, while West once again felt fortunate to earn the win. The Falcons were steadier throughout that game, taking a 13-12 lead and never giving it up, but they also blew a late 20-15 lead, as Vets came all the way back to tie the score at 23.

Yet, the Falcons buckled down a second straight time. The ’Canes made an error on the next point to set up game point, and Alexis Mirabile tipped a ball over the net to the middle of the court to put West up 2-0.

The third game played out like a mirror image of the second game. West took a 15-10 lead thanks to a hit by Brianna Caputo and two kills in a row by Mirabile, giving it its biggest lead of the game.

But Vets came right back with Jess Tyree serving, getting to within 15-13.

The Falcons pulled further away from there, getting a kill from Eden Anthony and Mirabile on its way to a 19-14 lead.

But the ’Canes came back, earning the next four points, with middle hitter Shannon McCarthy registering a block and a two-handed kill.

West was still in control at 22-18, though, until Vets won four more in a row to tie the score. The teams traded points to tie it at 23, until a net violation gave West match point. Vets fought it off thanks to a serving error, but then, tied at 24, the ’Canes fired a serve into the net.

“When you’ve got game point in your hands and you serve the ball in the net, do I attribute that to the fact that those are two of my sophomores?” McGarry said. “No I don’t, because they are players. It’s not about being young or inexperienced at this point in the season.”

Up 25-24, Mirabile delivered a kill for West to finish the game. On paper, a 3-0 sweep looks dominant, but it was far from that for the Falcons.

“If you don’t play the game to win, and they did,” McGarry said. “They showed that they’re competitive and they have the skills. They just didn’t play to win.”

Vets will have some good opportunities to get back on track coming up, as it was scheduled to take on one-win Narragansett Wednesday, with results unavailable at press time. It hosts Division III Juanita Sanchez for a non-league game Friday at 6 p.m. before traveling to one-win Westerly on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.