EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School girls’ tennis team’s rebuild into relevance under the coaching duo of Cory Duquette and Slade Sharma continued last year as a relatively young group of Townies remained in the Division III playoff hunt all the way into the final few weeks of the 2021 season before ending a few wins shy of a bid.

With the 2022 campaign beginning this week, Duquette, a teacher at Martin Middle School and an aspiring administrator, has stepped aside for the fall in pursuit of professional requirements, leaving Sharma, an EPHS alum and former boys’ team player, at the helm with the locals looking to earn those couple more victories likely required to maybe reach the postseason.

The Townies finished with a 5-9 league record in 2021. This fall, they welcome seven of 10 starters back into the fold, including a number of now upperclasswomen who have steadily improved during their high school careers. In total, 32 players came out for the team and most remain actively involved.

“I think the people we’ve added to singles, especially, make us a lot better,” Sharma said of the 2022 roster. “They really want to win, the want to put their best foot forward,” said Sharma, who is a Social Studies teacher this fall at Riverside Middle School and who was the assistant coach to Paul Amaral for the EPHS boys’ team that won the D-III championship last spring.

He continued, “We have some great experience, some great leadership from the returning players. With a team like ours that’s mixing in some younger players, having that leadership is big.”

Jaelyn Dasilva, a senior, is returns to the lineup at the top of the EPHS ladder this fall, playing from the No. 1 singles spot after again edging out junior Lena Shanty, who will hold the two singles slot and who likewise played from the same position in 2021.

“We have some great leaders, who set a great example. They wear the program on their sleeve so to speak. They’re proud to be on the tennis team and that stems from our captain Jaelyn,” Sharma added. “Jaelyn is our one. She’s steady. Her and Lena are very competitive. There’s not much between them. They’re really pushing each other.”

Newcomer freshman Hope Moran has earned the three singles spot to open the season and Santana Pannone, a senior though not a contributor to the Townies previously, has played her way into the four position.

“I think we have a very competitive group of singles players,” Sharma said of his singles group. “I think adding Hope, even though she’s only a freshman and really doesn’t have a lot match experience, but she lit things on fire. She plays loose. She’s not afraid to play with pace, which is something we’re always trying to get the girls to do.”

As for doubles, the Townies’ No. 1 team is composed of returnees Katelyn Furtado, a senior, and Isabella Hurley, a junior. Two more returning players, junior Caroline Haggerty and senior Paris Martin, make up the second duo. The third pairing is Tianna Brierly, a junior and another of the first year players, and sophomore returnee Margaret Robinson.

“I’m very, very confident in those teams,” Sharma said of his doubles pairings. “The process to figure them out was very thorough.”

Three more players at the back end of the ladder who are expected to see time due to illness or injury are returning seniors Emma Gillheeney and Natalie Hughes along with freshman Rylee Thurber.

Another addition to this year’s squad is on the sideline. Junior Jaydon Massa, who played third doubles on the EPHS boys’ squad this past spring, is aiding the Townies as the team manager and quasi assistant coach, according to Sharma, who added, “He’s a thoughtful and thorough person. He gets along well with the girls. He was part of our boys’ championship team, so he knows what they’re going through. He’s already helped me out a ton. With 31, 32 kids out, it’s not easy.”

The Townies were scheduled to open their 2022 Division III regular season September 7 in West Warwick. They then were set to host Toll Gate in their first match in city Friday afternoon, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m. at their temporary home of the KendBrin Swim & Tennis Club. Sharma said the Townies will continue to use KendBrin for at least a few more weeks until the six-court tennis complex on the new EPHS grounds is completed sometime in September.

Of his team’s prospects in general for the fall, Sharma added, “I feel like at the end of it all we have some very talented players and a lot players with experience. If we communicate and operate as a team, I think there’s enough skill there to go out and compete.

"What will make me most happy is that we’re competitive and that the seniors on the team put together a season they can proud of. If they can do that, I think it will rub off on the freshman, that going forward they’ll want to have a season even better in the future.”