EAST PROVIDENCE — The top-seeded and undefeated East Providence High School girls' tennis team advanced to the Division III championship match following a very tight, 4-3 win over visiting Cranston East in a semifinal outing Thursday afternoon, Nov. 2, at the Townie Tennis Center.

East Providence's revamped No. 3 doubles tandem of Ava Domingues and Isabella Periquito secured the decisive point for the Townies with their 6-2, 6-4 win over the Thunderbolts Nadia Shaw and Madelyn Hart.

"I think it was the stress having everyone around us knowing this was the point to win the match, but we pulled through. We've worked together before, at least one or two matches. We work well together. I'm happy to have her as my partner," said Domingues, referring to her previous outings with Periquito in wins against Shea and Exeter-West Greenwich earlier in the season.

Added Periquito of entering the lineup for a playoff match, "It was a little stressful, but I knew I had my teammates behind me and it would be OK in the end.

EP's lineup differed than usual due to the absence of its usual No. 3 singles player Megha Tenneti, who missed the match for excessive tardiness to school.

In her stead stepped senior Caroline Haggerty who moved up to the third spot from fourth singles to claim a resounding 0-and-0 win over East's Amaya Cabral, the first overall point of the day.

A few minutes later, EP's two other reconfigured doubles duos were both off with similar one-sided wins to give the Townies a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead.

Holdover Madison Luu and Tianna Brierly, up a position, teamed to win their outing at one dubs 6-1, 6-2 over East's Mariah Means-Waldorf and Olivia Tomaselli.

Brierly's usual partner at two, Maggie Robinson, paired with Rylee Thurber, up from the three tandem where she regularly teams with Domingues, to win their contest 6-1 and 7-5.

Things got a bit tighter from there for the locals, who saw their two players atop the ladder fall and give the Thunderbolts some life.

East's Helena Fisher beat the Townies' Hope Moran 6-4 and 6-2 at No. 1 to cut the visitors' deficit to two. About 20 minutes later, the 'Bolts' Thora Corcoran bettered EP's Lena Shanty 4-and-3.

The most competitive match of the afternoon took place at fourth singles, where the Townies' Isabella Hurley, usually Luu's partner at first dubs, and East's Kiara McGarty dueled for three sets.

The first went the way of Hurley in a tiebreaker, 7-5, but the next two went to McGarty 2-and-1 almost simultaneous to the Domingues-Periquito triumph.

East Providence, which handily beat Cranston East 6-1 during the regular season, improved to 17-0 with the win.

The Townies will face a very familiar foe in the championship match Saturday, Nov. 4, at Pawtucket's Slater Park — third-seeded Providence Country Day. The match is scheduled to begin at approximately 3:30 p.m.

"It's David meets Goliath. I expect it to be close and may the best team win," PCD head coach Mike Silva said, referring to the vast difference in enrollment between his small private school and East Providence.

Silva is an EPHS alum and former player who now serves as general manager of Tennis Rhode Island-East Bay in city where many past and current Townies work on their games.

East Providence's next-door neighbors upset second-seeded and host Scituate by a 4-1 score in their semi played Wednesday, Nov. 1.

The PCD points came from wins by Emma DiPardo at first singles (0-and-1), Claire Xie at second (6-4, 1-6, 6-4), Marguerite Cuzzone at third (4-and-4) and the No. 1 doubles team of Eloise Wetherby-Mays Miller (6-3, 6-4).

"I know coach Mike Silva really well. He gave me lessons when I was in high school. It's kind of like master versus student, but it's not about us. We don't play anymore. It's about the girls and their ability to go at each other," EPHS head coach Slade Sharma said, reflecting on his playing career as a Townie about a half-dozen years ago.

The Townies defeated the Knights in their only meeting to date this spring, 5-2, back on September 19. The match was the second of the fall for EP and first for PCD due to several days of rain at the start of the 2023 season.

"The first time we played by third doubles wasn't here (Nora Calhoun and Hannah Eno) and it was windy. And first doubles only loss was to EP and my fourth singles (Iris Petrillo) only loss during the regular season was to EP, so hopefully it's not windy and hopefully those kids can turn it around Saturday," Silva said.

Sharma added, "PCD got it together and they set out to go against us. They called that shot a while ago and we know they want to put an end to our success. They're a good team and if a team is going to do it, I think they have the best chance. But I'm riding with East Providence. I think we'll get the job done. I believe in our kids."