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EAST GREENWICH – The job is far from over.

After beating yet another one of Division II’s best teams Thursday, the undefeated East Greenwich boys tennis team has put itself in the drivers’ seat for the top seed and appears to be the favorite to win its first division title since 2019.

But the Avengers aren’t planning their trophy celebration quite yet.

EG’s 5-2 win over East Providence was impressive, but was hardly the runaway the final score indicates. The Avengers grinded out two three-set wins – with junior Duncan Kling’s win at No. 4 earning the clinching point – and in a season filled with tough victories, EG is battled-tested and ready to keep fighting as it chases the program’s first title since 2019.

“If I was playing for me, maybe I would have given up, I don’t know,” said Kling after his 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 win. “It’s really impactful to play for your team and know when you win you’re doing something for everyone.”

“I’m proud of the team. We lost a few seniors last year so we were skeptical at the start about how everything was going to turn out,” said EG captain Ben Neimark after he put the finishing touches on the win with his 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-4 win at No. 2. “I think we’re all doing an amazing job and I’m happy with how it’s played out so far.”

East Greenwich is undefeated at 9-0, but getting there hasn’t been easy.

The Avengers have had their fair share of easy matches – five wins have been clean sweeps – but the matches against Division II’s top teams have been earned. In the last two weeks EG has played three of the top five teams in the division, earning 4-3 wins over Rogers/Middletown (7-3 D-II) and defending D-II champ North Kingstown (6-2) before Thursday’s win over now 8-2 East Providence.

Finding the resolve isn’t easy either, but the Avengers learned from last year, when North Kingstown ending their perfect season with a 4-3 win in the regular-season finale EG lost to NK, 4-3, in the D-II final.

“It definitely motivated us to continue to win our matches,” Neimark said. “There’s more aggression, more of a drive to win given that we lost the finals last year. I think we can really see that with the off-court support from all the players that are done playing and an overall good team spirit.”

Thursday was intense and seemingly everyone was on edge. Players went back and forth about calls, coaches went back and forth about the length of timeouts during changeovers and matches swung back and forth with every point.  

East Providence won the first point of the day as Justin Petion and Brayden Rouette grabbed a win at No. 2 doubles, but East Greenwich’s depth at doubles showed up in a hurry. David Levy and Liam Levy soon found themselves walking off with a win at No. 1 and, following Aristo Liu’s win at No. 3, the No. 3 doubles team of Aanand Arora and Arya Gaind won in straight sets before the rest of the singles matches could finish.

Kling took the pressure off everyone. After dropping a tiebreaker in the first set to East Providence’s Jaydon Amaral, Kling relaxed and went out and does what he does best. He turned his match into a battle of wills, playing the roll of human backboard. Every point was a marathon and as the match got longer, Kling got stronger.

“When I start losing, that’s when I get in my head a little bit and start looking around and I’m going ‘what can I do to get my mind off of this,’” Kling said. “When I’m winning, I’m fully locked in and I don’t know what’s going on outside of me.

Kling wasn’t aware what was going on at the adjacent set of courts. East Greenwich won the first sets in Nos. 1 and 2 singles, only to see East Providence force third sets in both matches. Kling was rooting for his teammates, but his concern was finishing off his match, which he did brilliantly in the final two sets.

“I have the endurance in me and I know that. … I can go for a while,” Kling said. “It was just a mental thing of ‘you’ve got to keep going, just two more sets.

“I don’t even consider the possibility of me losing until I’ve already lost, so I just had to keep going.”

The loss was a shock to the system for the Townies, who hadn’t dropped a match since falling to North Kingstown on April 11. With two losses, East Providence will have to win out and need some help to earn the No. 2 seed but has to be careful with matches left against RM and Classical.

“These guys are the real deal. It’s definitely a learning lesson,” EP’s James McShane said after his comeback win at No. 1. “It doesn’t mean anything. It’s like when we lost to St. Raphael when we were sophomores.

“We’re going to learn from this and it will only make us work harder.”

East Greenwich is also moving forward.

The Avengers know they have the talent. They’ve all come up clutch. Now it’s about finishing things off the right way.

If East Greenwich beats Classical on Tuesday, it will need one win in its remaining matches to clinch the No. 1 seed for the D-II tournament. The Avengers aren’t thinking about winning just one the rest of the way – they want to win them all.

“We can’t let these wins get to our heads,” Neimark said. “As long as we stay level headed … and stay motivated we’ll take the victory.

“We know that its possible to make it that far and not take home the trophy, so I think that reminder of last year keeps us focused.”

“My freshman year we went 0-14 and last year we got second place,” Kling said. “I’ve seen both highs and lows and I guess what we learned is its better to be winning.

SINGLES: James McShane, EP, def. Henry Seeley, EG, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 10-5; Ben Neimark, EG, def. Abigail Ellison, 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Aristo Liu, EG, def. John Vaughn, EP, 6-3, 7-5. Duncan Kling, EG, def. Jaydon Amaral, EP, 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-3.

DOUBLES: David Levy/Liam Levy, EG, def. Jordan O’Hara/Nathan Thurber, EP, 6-2, 6-1; Justin Petion/Brayden Rouette, EP, def. Rajeev Sen/Ravi Vishnu, EG, 6-3, 6-3; Arya Gaind/Aanand Arora, EG, def. Joseph Kramer/Jaydon Massa, EP, 6-1, 6-1.