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PROVIDENCE – If you want to know how the East Greenwich boys tennis team went from winning a Division II title two years ago to becoming the undefeated state champs, they showed everyone at Slater Park on Sunday afternoon.
Superstars are terrific and the Avengers have them. Tate Coker-Dodman and Henry Seeley are two of the best players in Rhode Island and the brotherly tandem of David and Liam Levy won the state doubles crown.
Sunday against Barrington, it was East Greenwich’s other players who stole the spotlight. Senior Aristo Liu earned one of the most valuable points in the match with his three-set win at No. 3, setting the stage for freshmen Andrew Katz and Floyd Kelly to pick up the clinching point with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win that gave the Avengers a 4-1 win over Barrington and the program’s first state title.
“It’s pretty would for sure,” Kelly said. “After we won, it was a rush of relief. It was awesome.”
“It feels great,” Liu said. “East Greenwich, I’ve been lucky to have had a great four years. We’ve had a strong team all four years.
“We started in D-II, moved to D-I and now we’re [state] champions – the first time for the school.”
East Greenwich’s program has had success at lower divisions, but hadn’t quite made the leap when it came time to play with the state’s best. In 2019 the Avengers won the Division II title, move to D-I and promptly went 2-7 in 2021 and 0-13 in 2022.
A drop to D-II followed and so did the best four seasons in program history. The Avengers went 12-1 and lost in the D-II title match in 2023 before completing an undefeated run to the title in 2024. Last spring EG moved to D-I and went 13-1 before falling to Barrington in the state title match, the first in program history.
With most of the roster back, the Avengers set sights on making more.
It’s easy to point to two First Team All-State picks and a doubles state champion as the reason for success, but East Greenwich was built on depth – and Sunday showed why.
The Avengers beat Barrington – the two-time defending state champs – by a 4-3 score earlier this season and knew how important every match was. EG was counting on points from its two singles stars – and Seeley delivered the first – and getting a win from the Levys was also important.
Points came from elsewhere. Seeley earned the first one with his 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 2, but Barrington tied the match shortly after when Henry Stockwell – the All-State track star – won at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-4.
With matches tightening up on the rest of the courts, East Greenwich’s No. 3 team of Kevin Chen and Luke Mendes picked up an important victory, 7-5, 6-4.
Liu’s point didn’t look likely early after he dropped the first set to Barrington’s Connor Meehan, but he continued to battle and took the second set. While players on other courts celebrate with shouts of “come on” or “let’s go,” Liu quietly went about his business.
With the match at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles in a third set and the match at No. 1 singles about to start their third set, Liu put the finishing touches on his 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory with little fanfare.
“I know I’m doing it not for myself, but for the team,” Liu said. “That’s really it. It’s just for the team.
“I don’t like to celebrate too early, sometimes it doesn’t go well.”
He walked off the court victorious, went to get a drink and then had to rush over to the second doubles court so he didn't miss the big celebration.
Katz and Kelly dropped a tough first set, but found rhythm and confidence in the second. Instead of worrying about winning their match, the worried about winning that particular point. Once they went up 3-2 in the third, they never lost control – until the final point was recorded, when Katz spiked his racket and let out a scream to celebrate the win.
“I was very excited,” said Katz, who apologized and shook his opponents’ hands before being mobbed by his teammates. “I don’t usually do that ever, but the excitement takes over me sometimes.”
“It’s a blur at this point,” said Kelly of the final point. “We had some good momentum going into the last game and we didn’t realize what the score was. That’s what helped us get through it.”
Barrington took the loss in stride. The Eagles have played for state championships in six of the last seven seasons, winning three times. After massive graduation losses from last year’s undefeated title team, a run to Slater Park didn’t seem in the cards, but Barrington made it happen.
“I’m proud of all of us,” Barrington No. 1 Gabe Anderson said. “… I’ll definitely remember this season. It was really fun, we had a lot of chemistry on this team and I couldn’t ask for a better way to end, other than a win of course.”
After the initial celebration ended, East Greenwich huddled up and ended with the message that’s been their rallying cry since Liam Levy came up with during the first match of the season.“Our courts. Our time.”
It certainly was, and the Avengers knew what the secret was all along.
“We have good people in all positions, even if someone falls behind or is out, we have people to replace them and back them up,” Lius said. “We have an awesome team spirit. We have a great community and it’s our community outside of school.
“It’s our own little community and we have a bunch of great supporters and we just know it’s a great feeling."
Singles: 2, Henry Seeley, EG, def. Justin Kuo, B, 6-0, 6-4; 3, Aristo Liu, EG, def. Connor Meehan, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; 4, Henry Stockwell, B, def. Ravi Vishnu, EG, 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles: 2, Andrew Katz/Floyd Kelly, EG, def. Wrigley Crocker/Andrew Goblick, B, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. 3, Kevin Chen/Luke Mendes, EG, def. Merritt Birbiglia/Ethan Lepine, B, 7-5, 6-4.
Did Not Finish: 1, Tate Coker Dodman, EG, did not finish with Gabe Anderson, B, 7-5, 5-7; 1, David Levy/Liam Levy, EG, did not finish with Carlo Flores/Jason Lu, B, 2-6, 6-2.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score from 2026 RIIL Boys Tennis State Championship with EG and Barrington
Continue reading...
Superstars are terrific and the Avengers have them. Tate Coker-Dodman and Henry Seeley are two of the best players in Rhode Island and the brotherly tandem of David and Liam Levy won the state doubles crown.
Sunday against Barrington, it was East Greenwich’s other players who stole the spotlight. Senior Aristo Liu earned one of the most valuable points in the match with his three-set win at No. 3, setting the stage for freshmen Andrew Katz and Floyd Kelly to pick up the clinching point with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win that gave the Avengers a 4-1 win over Barrington and the program’s first state title.
“It’s pretty would for sure,” Kelly said. “After we won, it was a rush of relief. It was awesome.”
“It feels great,” Liu said. “East Greenwich, I’ve been lucky to have had a great four years. We’ve had a strong team all four years.
“We started in D-II, moved to D-I and now we’re [state] champions – the first time for the school.”
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East Greenwich’s program has had success at lower divisions, but hadn’t quite made the leap when it came time to play with the state’s best. In 2019 the Avengers won the Division II title, move to D-I and promptly went 2-7 in 2021 and 0-13 in 2022.
A drop to D-II followed and so did the best four seasons in program history. The Avengers went 12-1 and lost in the D-II title match in 2023 before completing an undefeated run to the title in 2024. Last spring EG moved to D-I and went 13-1 before falling to Barrington in the state title match, the first in program history.
With most of the roster back, the Avengers set sights on making more.
It’s easy to point to two First Team All-State picks and a doubles state champion as the reason for success, but East Greenwich was built on depth – and Sunday showed why.
The Avengers beat Barrington – the two-time defending state champs – by a 4-3 score earlier this season and knew how important every match was. EG was counting on points from its two singles stars – and Seeley delivered the first – and getting a win from the Levys was also important.
Points came from elsewhere. Seeley earned the first one with his 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 2, but Barrington tied the match shortly after when Henry Stockwell – the All-State track star – won at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-4.
With matches tightening up on the rest of the courts, East Greenwich’s No. 3 team of Kevin Chen and Luke Mendes picked up an important victory, 7-5, 6-4.
You must be registered for see images attach
Liu’s point didn’t look likely early after he dropped the first set to Barrington’s Connor Meehan, but he continued to battle and took the second set. While players on other courts celebrate with shouts of “come on” or “let’s go,” Liu quietly went about his business.
With the match at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles in a third set and the match at No. 1 singles about to start their third set, Liu put the finishing touches on his 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory with little fanfare.
“I know I’m doing it not for myself, but for the team,” Liu said. “That’s really it. It’s just for the team.
“I don’t like to celebrate too early, sometimes it doesn’t go well.”
He walked off the court victorious, went to get a drink and then had to rush over to the second doubles court so he didn't miss the big celebration.
You must be registered for see images attach
Katz and Kelly dropped a tough first set, but found rhythm and confidence in the second. Instead of worrying about winning their match, the worried about winning that particular point. Once they went up 3-2 in the third, they never lost control – until the final point was recorded, when Katz spiked his racket and let out a scream to celebrate the win.
“I was very excited,” said Katz, who apologized and shook his opponents’ hands before being mobbed by his teammates. “I don’t usually do that ever, but the excitement takes over me sometimes.”
“It’s a blur at this point,” said Kelly of the final point. “We had some good momentum going into the last game and we didn’t realize what the score was. That’s what helped us get through it.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Barrington took the loss in stride. The Eagles have played for state championships in six of the last seven seasons, winning three times. After massive graduation losses from last year’s undefeated title team, a run to Slater Park didn’t seem in the cards, but Barrington made it happen.
“I’m proud of all of us,” Barrington No. 1 Gabe Anderson said. “… I’ll definitely remember this season. It was really fun, we had a lot of chemistry on this team and I couldn’t ask for a better way to end, other than a win of course.”
You must be registered for see images attach
After the initial celebration ended, East Greenwich huddled up and ended with the message that’s been their rallying cry since Liam Levy came up with during the first match of the season.“Our courts. Our time.”
It certainly was, and the Avengers knew what the secret was all along.
“We have good people in all positions, even if someone falls behind or is out, we have people to replace them and back them up,” Lius said. “We have an awesome team spirit. We have a great community and it’s our community outside of school.
“It’s our own little community and we have a bunch of great supporters and we just know it’s a great feeling."
2026 RIIL State Championship
East Greenwich 4, Barrington 1
Singles: 2, Henry Seeley, EG, def. Justin Kuo, B, 6-0, 6-4; 3, Aristo Liu, EG, def. Connor Meehan, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; 4, Henry Stockwell, B, def. Ravi Vishnu, EG, 6-1, 6-3.
Doubles: 2, Andrew Katz/Floyd Kelly, EG, def. Wrigley Crocker/Andrew Goblick, B, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. 3, Kevin Chen/Luke Mendes, EG, def. Merritt Birbiglia/Ethan Lepine, B, 7-5, 6-4.
Did Not Finish: 1, Tate Coker Dodman, EG, did not finish with Gabe Anderson, B, 7-5, 5-7; 1, David Levy/Liam Levy, EG, did not finish with Carlo Flores/Jason Lu, B, 2-6, 6-2.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score from 2026 RIIL Boys Tennis State Championship with EG and Barrington
Continue reading...
