Greenwich High

Greenwich High girls tennis team sweeps past Danbury, continues unbeaten season

Photo by David Fierro: Kyra Dybas won her match at first singles in a recent match against Danbury.

The impressive pattern continued for Greenwich High School’s girls tennis team when Danbury came to town on Wednesday.

The Cardinals swept Danbury, 7-0, marking their third consecutive win by a score of 7-0. They then topped Westhill on Thursday, by the same score, continuing that success streak.

For the season, Greenwich sports a record of 12-0 and is in first place in the FCIAC. The Cardinals are currently on pace to earn the No. 1 seed in the FCIAC Tournament and get one of the top seeds in the state tourney.

Photo by David Fierro: Ivanna Diez de Bonilla kept her dominant season at second singles going for the Cardinals.

At first singles against Danbury, junior Kyra Dybas of Greenwich swept Tess Treglia in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.

“I was just trying to focus on my serve placement and that’s what set me up for success,” said Dybas, who is pleased with the pace the Cardinals are on at this point of the season.

“We have had some good wins,” she said. “We are working hard in practice and that’s translated into our matches. I really hope that we get a good seed to make it smoother and I think we’ll do well.

Photo by David Fierro: Malena Schraa won another match in singles competition for Greenwich against Danbury.

Second singles saw Ivanna Diez de Bonilla cruise to a 6-0, 6-0 victory versus her Danbury opponent.

Greenwich has three more regular season matches, with their final home match taking place Monday against Wilton. The FCIAC Tournament is rapidly approaching, followed by the CIAC State tournament.

“I’m really excited for the postseason,” Diez de Bonilla said. “Everyone is doing so well. We’ve kept our spirits high and everyone is doing really good. I’m happy to say that we have a championship dynamic going this season. Everyone is really positive and we have really pulled it together.”

Greenwich’s Yume Inagawa in doubles action during a match versus Danbury at Greenwich High School.

“Everyone on our team has been so supportive and have been great teammates,” Diez de Bonilla continued. “We have all been great cheerleaders on the sideline when everyone was playing. We are more experienced this year and better prepared.”

Rivals Darien, New Canaan and Fairfield Ludlowe are opponents the Cardinals may meet in the postseason.

“We are trying to stay humble, because we know we are going to go up against some tough competitors,” Diez de Bonilla said. “We’re all very excited and we’re very positive going into the postseason.”

Greenwich’s girls tennis team has excelled in both singles and doubles competition throughout the season.

At third singles, freshman Shining Sun was victorious for the Cardinals against Mia Pineault of the Hatters, 6-0, 6-0. She has helped GHS in both singles and doubles competition.

“I usually play singles in the offseason, but playing doubles is really fun, especially with my partner,” Sun said. “Today was fun, I got to practice my swing and volleys a lot. I felt like my serve was good today.”

“My first season on the team is really fun,” she continued. “I’m having a lot of fun right now and I am happy with where we are and how everyone is working.”

Julia Tamis, left and Emily Weinsten have enjoyed a sensational season at first doubles for the Cardinals.

Junior Malena Schraa was also dominant at No. 4 singles for GHS, topping Danbury’s Emilia Schweitzer, 6-1, 6-0. Schraa is in her third season on the varsity squad.

“We are all having a lot better performances this year and we came back with everyone trying their best, which is nice to see,” Schraa said. I’m really excited about the postseason, I think we’ll do well. To come back into the season and be an underdog and be winning like this is nice.”

Senior Julia Tamis and junior Emily Weinstein have been a model of consistency at No. 1 doubles for the Cards. They teamed up for a 6-0, 6-0 triumph versus Danbury.

“We’ve been working a lot on coming up to net and being really aggressive and trying to put the ball away as soon as possible,” Tamis noted. “I think it’s working for us, because we have really strong net games and this is also a team goal – improve our net game and all of us are succeeding at that.”

Said Weinstein: “We’ve been working on our communication skills a lot, because we used to not really communicate as well on the court. Now that we have a better connection on the court, it’s helped with our game.”

Indeed, the Cardinals’ No. 1 doubles team should be tough to contend with during the tournament portion of the season.

“Consistency is a big thing,” Weinstein said. “We’ve been working on playing really long points and switching things up a little bit – not just going for big shots. Consistency has really helped our game a lot.”

“Our goals are to improve our communication in order to improve as a doubles team, because we think that we and our team can make it far in states,” Tamis added.

Against Danbury, Yume Inagawa/Caitlin Mahoney gave Greenwich a 6-2, 6-1 win at the No. 2 spot, while Emme Pecorin/Izzy Everett won another match at third doubles, posting a 6-0, 6-0 triumph.

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