EAST PROVIDENCE — As the 2023 regular season began two weeks ago, the East Providence High School boys' volleyball team took to the court with a near entirely new starting lineup and cast of contributors from last spring, one which saw the Townies enjoy a resurgence while vying for a second year in the Division II ranks.

East Providence graduated nine seniors off of last year's club that went 15-3 in the regular season to place second before being upended by third-seeded Westerly, 3-2, in the league playoff semifinals. The Bulldogs lost in the final to the Mount St. Charles/North Smithfield co-op, which has been realigned up into D-I this spring.

Opposite side Xavier Graca is the lone member of the two-person senior class with significant varsity experience. Classmate Noah Aguiar is a defensive specialist. Setter and opposite side hitter Damien "DJ" Lepine is the sole junior and starter back who saw meaningful time a year ago.

"I think any time you have a returning starter you always look to that person as being a leader. And DJ has the most volleyball experience on the team, both in-season and out," EPHS head coach Dan Cabral said of Lepine, who competes in the year-round at the club level. "We have so many new pieces, I've had the conversation with him that we want to run sets through him, have him touch the ball, be involved as much as possible."

The other juniors on the roster include defensive specialists Trent DeCosta and Nicholas Capobianco, opposite side hitter/setting Loden Broe, setter Jason Leite, middle hitters Pedro Medeiros, Trey DeCosta and Joshua Jean-Louis and right side hitter Andrew Espada. Two sophomores have made varsity: middle hitter Samuel Howard and libero (back-row defensive specialist) Jordan Rodrigues.

After beating Mount and St. Raphael in non-league outings, EPHS opened its 2023 Division II regular season slate with a 3-0 loss on the road against Westerly on April 4. The host Bulldogs won by the scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-14. Lepine led the Townies with 15 assists and four digs. East Providence was swept in its next league contest by visiting Cranston West. The Falcons won by the scores of 25-14, 25-7 and 25-19. Lepine paced the Townies with five kills and six assists. Rodrigues had 10 digs.  EPHS got into the win column during its third match, a 3-0 win on the road in Warwick against Pilgrim earlier this week. The Townies were victorious by the scores of 25-17, 25-27 and 25-21. Lepine had 11 kills and Broe 18 assists.

"At this point, we're still just trying to find the right mix," said Cabral, who has a new aide this year in Amelia Murphy. "We've run a similar lineup the first few matches, but nothing it set in stone. I expect the lineup to be fluid for most of the season. We're just trying to find a rhythm."

As for expectations, Cabral said even though the Townies are in a bit of retooling mode the goal, as always, is to qualify for the postseason.

"I don't really know yet what the rest of the league has. There's some teams who have moved down from D-I (Cranston West) and another who has moved up from III (Lincoln)," Cabral added. "For us, though, the playoffs are always the goal. But right now we just need to get more consistent, get better every day. With a new group, it's what we're really focusing on."