The Cranston East boys volleyball team has emerged as a threat in Division I, shaking off an 0-2 start to rattle off six straight wins including five league victories.

The Bolts had the toughest opening draw in the state, taking on La Salle and North Kingstown, who currently sit in first and second place. The Bolts’ recent surge has placed them just one game behind in third place.

East’s most recent win came against North Smithfield in a 3-1 decision. Charles Pincince led the way with 20 kills on offense while Caleb Xum racked up 45 assists. Larry Yin shined on defense with 19 digs.

“Right out the gate we played the top teams in the state back to back. That hit us pretty hard, we weren’t really able to get our feet off the ground. I knew what would happen in the long run, it took a few weeks, a few games to gain our confidence and understand what kind of team we wanted to be,” said East coach Jhamal Diggs of the team’s turnaround.

The East lineup is young on paper, but most of the players are multi-year contributors. Along with Pincince, Xum and Yin, the Bolts have been getting steady production from Dennis Dixon and Carlos Lora to solidify the rotation and provide versatility.

“We’ve been able to regain our balance and get back to playing volleyball. A lot of our guys have been playing since (their first year). A lot of them are returning, but it’s a young core group and a very talented core group,” Diggs said.

The DI standings are crowded at the top, as North Smithfield and Classical share the same record as the Bolts. East beat both the Northmen and Purple to gain the tiebreaker and occupy third place.

East will be playing each opponent twice in the regular season which will set up some huge matchups down the stretch, including rematches against the Rams and Skippers. Diggs and company look forward to the eventual chance for redemption, but are not looking beyond the game ahead.

“I told the boys, ‘When we see these teams again, it’s going to be a different story.’ We want to take it one game at a time and keep building, though. We want to get better every practice and every game. If we do that, the rest will take are of itself,” Diggs said. “It’s human nature, you want to look ahead, but you need to focus on today.”