Despite a loss to Goffstown, the Manchester West girls volleyball team looks to take momentum into a matchup with Central and grab its first victory of the season.

Although the Blue Knights dropped the match to the Grizzlies on Friday, Sept. 26, West’s head coach, Connie Kyriakopoulos, said she thought her team played as well as they have all season.

“They were consistent in serves and did a good job covering the court and getting some digs,” said Kyriakopoulos. “I was proud of the team.”

Goffstown won the match, taking the first game, 25-15, and the next two, 25-17, to improve to 7-1. The loss dropped West to 0-8, but the Blue Knights face a Manchester Central Little Green squad that entered the Wednesday, Oct. 1, match with the same record.

“We’re really gearing up for city play,” said Kyriakopoulos. “They’re coming in at 0-8 as well, so it’s going to be mentally who plays better that will come out with the win.”

Offensively, Bedford resident Jen Gabriel led the charge for West with five serving points and eight digs, while Kimmi Joback chipped in three blocks. Kyriakopoulos said she was short multiple players due to sickness heading into the Goffstown game.

“We didn’t have our whole team, but we played really well with what we had,” she said. “I thought despite being without those players, we came in with a positive attitude and were ready.”

Abby Johnson also performed well offensively for the Blue Knights, as she added four serving points.

For Goffstown, it was the first match in town after flooding forced the team to play its home games in surrounding towns. The high school’s gym is still unusable, so the match took place at Mountain View Middle School.

West plays back-to-back contests against city rivals; the Blue Knights travel a short distance to face Trinity on Friday, Oct. 3.