Playing the first of two matches over a week's time that will determined its playoff seeding, the East Providence High School boys' tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to host East Greenwich in a key, late-season Division II outing played Thursday, May 2.

James McShane, at No. 1 singles, and the tandem of Justin Petion-Brayden Rouette, at second doubles, accounted for the Townies' two points. The Avengers won two of their matches in three sets, improving to 10-0 at the time. East Providence dropped to 8-2.

"We felt like we left a few wins on the table. Five of the seven matches were really close. Two of those were wins in our favor. East Greenwich is loaded," said EPHS head coach Slade Sharma. "The team feels optimistic about our chances if we have to see them again. We knew what we were up against heading into the match and we’re not broken up about the outcome."

McShane, who has become one of the top singles players in the division, went the three-set distance to dispatch his East Greenwich counterpart Henry Seeley by the scores of 6-7 (5-7), 7-6, (7-1) and 10-5 in a pro-set tiebreaker. Petion and Rouette were 3-and-3 winners in the middle doubles outing.

East Greenwich picked up a three-set wins at second singles where Ben Neimark edged EP's Abigail Ellison, 6-0, 6-7 (5-7) and 6-4 and fourth singles where Duncan Kling slipped past the Townies/ Jaydon Amaral 6-7 (6-8), 6-2 and 6-3. Third singles was also an extremely competitive contest with the Avs' Aristo Liu beating EP's John Vaughan 6-3 and 7-5.

EG got the better of the doubles outings at one and three where the team of David Levy/Liam Levy beat EP's Jordan O’Hara/Nathan Thurber 2-and-1 and Arya Gaind/Aanand Arora bettered the Townies' Joe Kramer/Jaydon Massa 1-and-1.

The Avengers actually entered the match in a share of first place atop the D-II standings with fellow 9-0 side Classical. The next run of matches for the locals also includes an outing against the Purple in East Providence on Thursday, May 9.

"I’m really happy with where the team is right now. We had a difficult schedule to start the season," Sharma said when asked for his thoughts on the Townies in general as the regular season winds down. "I think it was important for us to have some challenges early on to keep us focused on our big picture goal of playing in the last match of the season."

PCD sweep
In between, the Townies hosted next-door neighbor Providence Country Day on Tuesday, May 7, sweeping the Knights by a 7-0 count.

McShane (1-and-0), Ellison (4-6, 6-3, 10-8), Vaughan (1-and-0) and Amaral (4-and-1) were winners in singles while the teams of O'Hara-Thurber (3-and-1), Petion-Rouette (0-and-0) and Kramer-Massa (0-and-0) were also victorious.

Singles/Doubles Tourney
McShane was the lone Townie to advance deeper into the 2024 Singles/Doubles Tournament that started last weekend with the Division II sectionals at Lincoln High School.

McShane, who had a bye in the opening round, won his first match over Cumberland's Jacob Deacon by an 8-0 score then followed up with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Classical's Nathaniel Johnson.

McShane advances into the main draw of the event, which begins Friday afternoon, May 10, and continues throughout the weekend at Slater Park in Pawtucket.