Lions suffer 1st loss

EAST GREENWICH — After falling in the Division II final last season, the veteran Lincoln’s boys tennis team is ready to get back to the Division II title match in 2019. Tuesday afternoon, the Lions ran into East Greenwich and the Avengers handed the Lions their first lost of the campaign, 5-2.

Defending champion Prout is rebuilding, after graduating a large senior class, but the road is far from easy for the Lions with a few former D-I teams now in the mix. Both teams came in as the last two undefeated teams in DII, as EG moved to 7-0 and Lincoln fell to 5-1.

“I knew they were a really good team,” Lion head coach Matt Pavao said. “I told my kids, this team can beat you, and you’re going to really have to work to beat them. Some of the things I know we needed to work on, we still need to work on them. Which gives us motivation in practice and hopefully we’ll see them again.

“Sometimes you see a team and say: we can’t compete with them. [EG] is a team that we can compete with, and we’d have to play well to beat.”

At No. 1 singles, EG’s Troy Caron beat senior Dylan Katz, 6-1, 6-1. Avenger No. 2 singles player, Alexander Sack beat senior Dalia Suslovich, 6-4, 6-3. Lincoln junior Ryan Fish won at No. 3 singles, beating Avenger Nils Fimmer 6-3, 6-1. At No. 4 singles, Avenger John Lange beat senior Stefan Minyayluk, 7-5, 6-3.

At No. 1 doubles, EG’s Alan Zhang and James Harwood beat senior Kevin Rao and freshman Tom Corcoran, 6-3, 6-4. At. No. 2, senior Evan Voyer and freshman Sam Zhong beat EG’s Jake Shunney and Jake Lehoullier, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4). At No. 3, EG’s Anthony Morganti and Jonathan Yao defeated sophomores Ben Konicov and Evan Suslovich.

“We have a deeper team than last year,” Pavao said. “We still have the same expectations. Like I told the kids, we made the championship last year, and that’s where I expect to be again this year.”

“Any time you see that a team came down from D-I. You figure it’s going to be a quality team: we saw Mount [St. Charles] (5-1), and played NK ([2-4), they were a quality team. Last year, Cumberland and Ponaganset were good. I feel confident that we can compete with any team, but it’s not going to be a cake walk. We’re going to have to practice hard and play hard to beat these teams.”

The Lions are currently one of four one-loss teams in the division. Lincoln will look to get back in the win column tomorrow afternoon when Middletown (2-3) comes to town.

MIDDLETOWN – Anuj Swaminathan and Dan Corrao both came up with a crucial singles victories to help Mount St. Charles clinch a wild, thrilling 4-3 Division I triumph over Middletown on Tuesday afternoon.

The No. 2 doubles tandem of Dustin Danneker and Matt Rodrigues-Peris also snared a marathon 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision, while the third duo of Ethan Salley and Brian Zhang captured a straight-set win.

Singles: Alex Pratt (M) def. Tristan Cox, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Anuj Swaminathan (MSC) def. Alex McGuire, 6-3, 6-3; Charlie Moy (M) def. Shaan Arora, 7-5, 7-6 (3); Dan Corrao (MSC) def. Jason Nguyen, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4. Doubles: Joe Johnson-Ian Klanian (M) def. Tarra Albergo-Mike Burke, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Matt Rodrigues-Peris-Dustin Danneker (MSC) def. Jake Hallett- Colin Sullivan, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Ethan Salley-Brian Zhang (MSC) def. Max Silveira- Colin Smith, 6-0, 6-4.

PAWTUCKET – Woonsocket High captured three of the four singles matches, but St. Raphael’s depth keyed its 4-3 Division III triumph on Tuesday.

The Novans’ Khameron Savatdy and Xavier Denis both captured straight-set singles wins at Nos. 1 and 2, and Justin Berard added a third at fourth singles with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 verdict.

But a doubles sweep and Jakob Gries’ 6-3, 6-3 win over Kyle Roberts sealed the team victory.

The Saints improved to 4-1, while the Novans fell to 1-4.

Singles: Khameron Savatdy ( W) def. Ben Dube, 6-1, 6-1; Xavier Denis (W) def. Ben Senra, 6-3, 6-1; Jakob Gries (SRA) def. Kyle Roberts, 6-3, 6-3; Justin Berard (W) def. Sam DaCunha, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Doubles: Brendan Kinch-Jake Parente (SRA) def. Nathaly Phrasavath-Keith Roberts, 6-0, 6-4; Ryan Colson-Kyle Peters (SRA) def. Alexia Lescarbeau-Eric Lu, 7-6 (4), 6-4; Harry Zeng-Simon Treanor (SRA) won by forfeit.