The Cranston East boys volleyball team held on to beat Bishop Hendricken 3-2 (25-23/ 27-25/ 24-26/ 21-25/ 15-11) in a late season Division I battle last week.

After taking a 2-0 lead, the Bolts would surrender the next two sets as the Hawks battled back to force the fifth and final round. East took control early in the fifth and put away the victory to remain in the playoff hunt.

“Coming to Hendricken, you know that they’re always going to play hard and they’re well coached. I just kept telling them, ‘Just win the game. I don’t care how you guys do it, just win the game,’” said East coach Jhamal Diggs.

East would pick up a quick win in the first set to go up 1-0. The Hawks would jump out to big leads in the ensuing three sets, including an 8-2 advantage in the second set before the Bolts battled back to earn the win.

Hendricken would go up 6-0 in the third set and build an 18-9 lead. East would once again go on a big run to even the score at 24-24, but the Hawks would hold on for the win. Hendricken then grabbed a 7-1 lead in the fourth set, but East would once again pull itself back into the game. It would not be enough, though, as Hendricken tied things up before falling in the fifth.

“It was just our mental focus. I felt that we were just as talented as that team but we left a lot of rallies out on the court. We played with more confidence in sets 3 and 4. We wanted to compete knowing that it is best of five, so we just wanted to compete,” said Hendricken coach Mike Harrington. “Each of these teams is prone to go on runs but to give up three or four in a row. Even being up big early in a set, like 7-1, 10-4, it’s never safe and you still have to finish out that set. We struggle to do that.”

Ben Warr led the Hawks with 17 kills and 12 digs on defense. Devin Lynch added 14 kills while Brian Garrepy recorded 14 kills, three aces and 11 digs.

Although the Hawks have struggled this season to gain traction, Harrington has seen improved play as of late.

“We’ve been on this really nice path of improving and getting more competitive. We’re a much better team at this point in the season. We’re just looking to come out and compete hard,” said Harrington.

With the win, the Bolts stayed in position to reach the upcoming playoffs.

Diggs feels that his team’s confidence is peaking at the right time this season after some up and down times.

“We’re young, they’re young, I thought it was a pretty good battle throughout but our guys just executed a little bit better overall. They got their hits in and were able to run away with the win,” said Diggs. “Confidence, confidence building. The guys are seeing that they can pull off those big plays. They’re getting their reps in practice. They just need to play hard and play together. At this point in time that’s all we can really do.”