Following an undefeated regular season and a stellar run in the FCIAC Tournament that ended in the semifinals, Greenwich High School’s girls tennis team is determined to make a trip to Wesleyan University’s tennis courts on Thursday.

The courts at Wesleyan is the venue for all of the state championship matches and the Cardinals are eager to earn a berth in the CIAC Class LL Tournament final.

Second-seeded host Greenwich took an impressive first step toward their ultimate goal on Saturday, sweeping 18th-seeded Westhill in the first round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament.

The Cardinals (18-1) advanced to Tuesday’s Class LL quarterfinals-round, where they will host 10th-seeded Glastonbury at 3 p.m. Greenwich last played Glastonbury in 2021, when they posted a 6-1 road win in the opening round of the Class LL tourney.

“Our team is playing really well,” Greenwich coach Julie Shropshire said. “They came in very positive. It will be a good match, we played them two years ago up there, so it’s nice to have them come here and be on our turf. I think the girls look like they are ready. They are fighting hard and they want this.”

The most competitive match in Saturday’s opening-round matchup took place at first singles, where Greenwich junior Kyra Dybas tested her skills against Westhill’s Isabel Jakes.

Dybas lost the first set, 6-4, but took the second set, 6-4, then won the pro set tiebreaker, 10-3 to claim the match for the Cardinals. Dybas has been sensational at No. 1 singles throughout the season for GHS, which defeated Westhill during the regular season, 7-0.

At No. 1 doubles, senior Julia Tamis and junior Emily Weinstein teamed up for another victory. The duo topped Sarah Kapken and Allison Lopez, 6-0, 6-1, continuing their standout season at the top doubles spot.

“I think we played really strong today,” Tamis said. “Our volleys were both really good and our serves were good – I think we only double faulted twice. We were strong overall.”

Said Weinstein: “We came up with good strategies. We came to the net a lot, stayed consistent and it worked really well.”

Should Greenwich beat Glastonbury on Tuesday, it will host the Ridgefield-Wilton winner in the Class LL semifinals on Wednesday.

“One of our goals is to keep working hard and our whole team is really strong this year, there is a lot of depth,” Tamis noted. “I think we can make it far in states if we stay positive and keep working hard in practice.”

“I think with positivity and hard work we’ll do great,” Weinstein added.

Second singles saw sophomore Shining Sun post a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Westhill’s Sophia Alexander. Sun was consistent with all her shots on her way to the victory. At. No. 3, GHS junior Lilly Foley was a 6-0, 6-0 winner against Keily Ortiz.

“It feels really good, considering our loss to Darien last week, so it’s nice to have a fresh start and I’m excited for the next match,” Foley said, referencing Greenwich’s 4-3 loss to Darien in last week’s FCIAC Tournament semifinals. “Today, I was practicing on being consistent. I’m feeling really good about our team and I’m ready for our next match, everyone is doing really well.”

Junior Malena Schraa gave Greenwich a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles against Westhill. Schraa dictated the points, while earning another highly impressive victory.

“I was really trying to be consistent, I lost a game to her before, so I wanted to focus on the points and try to not lose a single point,” Schraa said. “I did that, so I’m really happy with myself. The second set, I tried to keep the pace. She changed her pace a little more, to try to be more consistent and a little slower.”

“So, I tried to keep the pace the same and tried to hit a little more spin on the ball, which normally I’m not very good at, I like to hit it flat,” Schraa continued. “I tried to keep spin on it and at a certain point, she couldn’t get it back. I was focusing more on her making errors than me hitting winners.”

Shropshire liked what she saw from everyone who was in action for the opening-round match.

“Shining has really stepped up and has played great in the lineup, along with Lilly and Malena and Kyra is doing a great job as usual,” Shropshire said of her singles players. “The doubles did a great job. I saw a lot of communication.”

The Cardinals’ No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Yume Inagawa and freshman Caitlin Mahoney defeated their Westhill counterparts, 6-0, 6-1, displaying effective teamwork and communication throughout the matchup.

“It’s different than FCIACs, because we have new opponents and territory to cover, but we started off very well,” Inagawa said of competing in the state tournament.

“We’ve had a really strong season so far and I can’t wait to do well at states as well,” Mahoney said.

This marks the first season Inagawa and Mahoney have played together in doubles competition. Their skill sets have meshed, as they’ve won the majority of their matches for the Cards.

“I loved my partner last year and I love my partner this year and playing with different people is fun,” Inagawa noted.

This is my first year on the team and I am really enjoying playing with Yume,” Mahoney added. “Experiencing the team and getting to play doubles is a lot of fun.”

At third doubles, Greenwich sophomore Emme Pecorin and freshman Maddy Wilber swept to a 6-0, 6-0 win over their Westhill foes.

“We’ve played them twice before, so we kind of knew what to expect, coming into this round,” Wilber said. “We don’t know who we are playing next, but I don’t think we’ve played them before, so that will be interesting.”

“The season has been going great everyone is working really hard and it’s clearly paid off,” Pecorin noted. “We’ve had a really fantastic season.”

Indeed, it has been an enjoyable season for the Cardinals duo.

“Playing with Maddy has been a great experience and we’ve worked really well together,” Pecorin said.

Playing with Emme has been fun, it’s fun to play with new people,” Wilber added. “Our playing skills work well together and our personalities work well together too.”

Greenwich’s opponent in the upcoming state quarterfinals, Glastonbury, advanced by beating Hall, 5-2, in the first round. FCIAC teams, Darien, New Canaan, Fairfield Ludlowe, Wilton and Ridgefield also won their respective Class LL Tournament opening round matches and will compete in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

“I’m really confident that we can make it to the finals,” Schraa said. “We have a really good team and the semifinals were so close against Darien. I want to go to the final and hopefully, win, that would be awesome.”

Inagawa discussed the mindset she will focus on, the remainder of the tournament.

“We need to expect the unexpected, especially for states,” she said. So, we have to be open with our mindset in each match and not be thinking one way. We have to be thinking about everything.”