EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School boys' volleyball team pretty much went to the limit to get past visiting Central 3-2 Thursday night, May 30, on Carvalho Court in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Division II championship tournament.

The Townies rallied after dropping the opening set 27-25 to win the next two by the scores of 25-11 and 25-20. The Knights, however, wouldn't go back to Providence quietly, taking the fourth game 25-21 before the hosts eeked out the fifth and final set by a slim 15-13 margin.

"I thought they played really well, played a really good game. I thought they did a good job of passing the ball. They made it hard for us defensively. They mixed up their offense," EPHS head coach Dan Cabral said of sixth-seeded Central, which saw its 2024 campaign come to a close with a 7-10 overall league record.

Of the Townies' performance, Cabral added, "When we were on, we were on. But we also struggled with our passing and serving. We gave them some points. It's been the message all year, serving and passing."

The third-seeded Townies, who beat the Knights twice earlier in the spring by the same 3-1 scores, improved to 13-4 in league games this spring.

(Updated, corrected Friday, May 31, 9 a.m.) More importantly, though, the locals advanced to the semifinals opposite second-seeded Barrington on the road Wednesday night, June 5, at 6 p.m. East Providence split two regular season contests with the 13-3 Eagles. Each team won at home, Barrington 3-0 and the Townies 3-2.

"I think we've got to play cleaner than this," Cabral said of the matchup with the Eagles in the semis. "We have to play like we did here when we beat them. We were locked in playing here. We wanted to win. We did a really good job. But they're a tough team. They're a veteran team."

Both teams showed some nerves in the early going last Thursday night. The first game went back-and-forth throughout. It was tied all the way to 25-25 when the Townies made a pair of miscues to drop the set by two points.

East Providence appeared to find their form in Game 2, going on a 12-2 run to break open the contest. A combination of better passing and hitting by the Townies left little doubt which side would win the game. A kill by Pedro Medeiros off a Central block attempt ended the 14-point win for the locals.

Game 3 began a bit like the opener, but unlike the first the Townies were able to eventually build a working margin. EP's lead grew to 10 for the first time, 22-12, on a ripping service ace by DJ Lepine. The Knights did make things a bit too close for comfort for the Townies, before the locals sealed the five-point win on Jordan Rodrigues's kill.

Another set win and the overall victory appeared soon in the offing after East Providence got off to its best start of the night in Game 4. That early lead, however, evaporated as the Townies again made too many unforced errors.

Despite Rodrigues's best efforts, the Knights answered every EP question. The game was last tied at 20 when the Townies' Brandon Mimande served an ace. Central tallied five of the next six points, including an ace and kill by Knights' star Jet Nascimento, to take the 25-21 decision.

Considering the significance, Game 5 was extremely close. The set stayed within a point most of the way and was last tied at 13 before the Townies were able to put Central away. Mimande had a late kill then a Lepine kill accounted for the penultimate point of the match and a Knights' hitting error ended it.

"I thought we came out a bit slow, but as the match progressed we picked up our game. And then the energy, once we have the energy we just keep stacking and stacking. We fell a little, but in the end we won," said Rodrigues. 

About the Townies' match-clinching effort in Game 5, Rodrigues said, "We just said to each other give it everything you can. We're not going to let the season end here. We played our hearts out right there, flew around, did everything."