The Cranston East girls tennis team is enjoying another solid campaign this fall as it entered the week with a 9-3 record, sitting in fourth place in the Division III standings and clinching a playoff spot.

Although the Bolts graduated a number of seniors from last year’s group, this year’s roster has picked up right where it left off and has become one of the top teams in the division. With two matches remaining this week in the regular season, the Bolts are likely locked into fourth seed for the postseason.

“We’re excited especially considering how different our lineup is there year, we lost a lot of great seniors. We’re happy to be able to pull through this year and get it done,” said senior captain Olivia Tomaselli.

Fellow captain Sophie Vorperian, also a senior, credited the young players for stepping up to fill the void as the team settled in on its lineup.

“We are very excited to be going to the playoffs. We are so proud of all of our players, especially the younger ones with how far they’ve come and how far we’ve come as a team,” said Vorperian.

After graduating much of its lineup, it was unclear what the ceiling would be for this group heading into the season. East coach Drew Hochman has been pleased with how fast the team was able to perform and was impressed with its motivation.

“It’s all about the dedication and about them wanting to be there and wanting to improve. They come every day and work hard. We’re happy with where we’re at and this is where we thought we could be,” said Hochman.

As excited as the Bolts are to be returning to the playoffs, they will have their hands full when taking on some of the other top teams. East’s three losses all came to the teams seated ahead of them in the standings, which includes East Providence, Scituate and Providence Country Day.

The Bolts will have to beat these teams in potential rematches to hoist the state championship plaque, and Vorperian believes they’re in a good spot to pull off a future upset.

“We have a solid chance of beating them because we’ve come through and it’s also about the psychological component. As a team we work together to build up each other’s confidence and that will help push us over the edge,” Vorperian said.