Tennis was the star of the show Sunday. Here's who won the singles and doubles championships

PAWTUCKET – Andrew Smith was excited about winning his first RIIL Boys Tennis State Singles Tournament title. He just felt bad about who he had to beat to do it.

After semifinal appearances in first two seasons at La Salle, Smith was expected to reach Sunday’s championship match. His teammate Joe Cavanagh wasn’t, but earned the spot after a thrilling three-set win in the semifinals.

There would be no upset in the final. Smith used his height – 6-foot-5 – wingspan – infinite – and power to take control of the match in the first set. Cavanagh tried to battle through an injury and battle back, but Smith was just too powerful in the 6-2, 6-1 win.

“For a couple of hours today, he wasn’t my teammate,” said Smith, who became La Salle’s first single champion since Jared Dorfman in 2004. “He was my opponent for a little bit, but I’m glad to be going back to having him as my teammate.”

“He came out serving big and hitting everything in,” Cavanagh said. “I got a lot of balls back in the first set but he had a lot of answers.”

Smith wasn’t the only one at Slater Park who did.

Barrington’s Henry Birbiglia and Connor Meehan found themselves down a set and two games away from being swept off the court by Hendricken’s Patrick Cavanagh and Shane Ciunci. The Eagles’ duo re-strategized, found a second wind and after coming back to win the second set, carried that momentum in the third for the 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 win.

“Not to say we thought we were out, but it was feeling kind of hopeless at that point,” said Birbiglia about being down a set and 4-2 in the second before winning the final 10 games. “We never lost hope and that’s why we ended up coming back.”

“We stayed positive,” said Meehan said after becoming Barrington’s third straight doubles champion. “We made adjustments and we got out of it.”

Smith didn’t need an escape plan on Sunday.

He looked like a future state champ when his started his career at La Salle and after two semifinal appearances, Smith entered this season as one of the favorites to reach Sunday’s final.

Smith breezed through the first two rounds on May 10 and while his Saturday quarterfinal started with a gritty 7-6 win over Lincoln freshman Braden Lynch, he didn’t drop a game in the second before beating East Greenwich freshman Tate Coker-Dodman, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals.

It was supposed to set up a glorious rubber match with Barrington’s Luke Sapolsky, the overall No. 1 seed. Cavanagh got in the way of that, coming out hot in the first set and after losing the second – where he had match point – he found his game again to win the third and earn the surprise spot.

The good news was the win meant La Salle would have its first singles champion in over 20 years. The bad news was the title would come at the expense of a teammate.

Smith and Cavanagh handled the match professionally. There was no need for strategizing or intricate game plans. When you’ve practiced and played against your opponent for the better part of the last three seasons, there are no secrets. Whoever played better would win.

Sunday, that was Smith. He simply overpowered Cavanagh, a scrappy baseline player who wins with his ability to get to every ball and pass opponents when the come to the net.

Cavanagh showed as much in his win against Sapolsky. Smith never gave him a chance to do it again. Smith wowed with his powerful serve and groundstrokes, but his ability to seemingly cover every inch of the net made it impossible for Cavanagh to string together points.

“I was looking for weaknesses in this match that I could exploit and play my own game,” Smith said. “Coming to the net, hit some good volleys and serve well was very important. Definitely having a good baseline game to fall back on really helped.”

“My game complements playing against smaller players without the wingspan of Andrew,” Cavanagh said. “I’m a little intimidated by the serve and it’s easier to hit passing shots and play defense against a guy like Sapolsky.

“Andrew Smith is really solid on all his volleys, overheads and serves. There’s not a lot to attack.”

Cavanagh was injured late in the first set diving for a ball and played the second set with his right hand heavily taped up, leaving him defenseless against Smith. The final point was anticlimactic, as Cavanagh’s tried to sneak a quick under-arm serve, only to double fault and give Smith his first – and maybe not last – singles title.

“I definitely felt pressure not having won this before,” Smith said. “I had to have confidence in my ability because I’ve been playing tennis a long time. I was very happy to be on the court; I had a good time and above all, it was a fun time.”

Two courts down, Birbiglia and Meehan were not having the same type of experience.

You didn’t need to watch to know which doubles team was winning. The Hendricken duo of Patrick Cavanagh and Ciunci were incredibly vocal on every point, whether it was calling balls deep or after a winning shot.

After dropping the first set and down 4-2 in the second, Birbiglia and Meehan decided to be a little more passive and keep points alive instead of going for kill shots.

If you kept your eyes closed, you could tell it was working. Meehan – who said he’s “the guy who yells” – started getting increasingly louder with each point. The Barrington duo played with precision and stole the momentum it needed, winning four straight games to force a third set.

Then a funny thing happened – they didn’t lose another.

Birbiglia and Meehan rode the wave of energy and never let an ounce of it slip to the other side of the net. Point after point, game after game, it wasn’t hard to figure out where the match was headed. Patrick Cavanagh and Ciunci tried to string points together, but Birbiglia and Meehan were relentless and practically perfect right up until they won the final point on an unforced error.

“It’s really important to get the energy, maybe get in their heads a little bit,” Meehan said. “We’re so upbeat, even when we’re losing … it was really important to stay positive.”

In addition to the pressure from the match itself, there was also some internal pressure on Birbiglia and Meehan. Barrington’s Bryce Kupperman and Gabe Anderson – who currently play Nos. 2 and 3 on the team – won the last two doubles crowns and the win makes the Eagles the first program to win three straight since South Kingstown won its seventh straight in 2015.

“Our teammates expected us to win,” Meehan said. “So we were doing it for them.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Results from 2025 RIIL Boys Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships

* This article was originally published here