Greenwich girls tennis team tops Glastonbury, moves on to state semifinals

By David Fierro on May 31, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Contributed photo: Greenwich High School’s girls tennis team gathers at its match against Glastonbury in the quarterfinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament. The Cardinals won to advance to the semifinals.

Sweeping its way into the semifinals.

That’s exactly what the second-seeded Greenwich High School girls tennis team did Tuesday, when it faced 10th-seeded Glastonbury in the quarterfinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament.

Looking like a team on a mission, the Cardinals won each match in straight sets in both singles and doubles competition to earn a spot in the final four – the Class LL Tournament semifinals.

Win No. 19 on the season saw Greenwich register a 7-0 win over visiting Glastonbury and move on to today’s 1:30 p.m. semifinals against visiting 14th-seeded Wilton.

Photo by David Fierro: Kyra Dybas of Greenwich hits a shot from the baseline against Glastonbury in the Class LL Tournament quarterfinals. Dybas won her match at first singles for the Cardinals.

The 19-1 Cardinals defeated Wilton during the regular season. Their lone loss of the spring came against rival Darien in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals.

“The girls played well today and they are excited about it,” Greenwich coach Julie Shropshire said. “This is their first time going to the semifinals, so they are ready to go. Both singles and doubles are doing great and it’s so much fun right now.”

Junior Kyra Dybas continued her outstanding season at No. 1 singles for GHS, topping Glastonbury’s Nora Anersson-Orth, 6-3, 6-2.

“I’m excited for our team to see what we can do,” Dybas said. “We’ve worked really hard. I’m happy to represent my school in the semifinals. It’s always hard at first singles, but I tried to focus on my serve and it worked.”

Photo by David Fierro: Greenwich junior Lilly Foley won her match at third singles in straight sets versus Glastonbury.

Freshman Shining Sun of Greenwich swept another opponent at second singles. Consistent throughout, Sun posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Emma Miller at the No. 2 singles spot.

At third singles, junior Lilly Foley gave Greenwich a highly impressive 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Glastonbury’s Zoe Fideles.

“I just stayed consistent and the strategy of my match was to wait for her to miss pretty much,” Foley said. “I’m really excited for the semifinals, because last year, we got out in the first round, so I’m happy that we made it to this match.”

Photo by David Fierro: Malena Schraa waits to return a serve during her singles match against Glastonbury in the CIAC Class LL Tournament quarterfinals at Greenwich High School on May 30, 2023.

Malena Schraa, also a junior, was in strong form again at fourth singles. Schraa was victorious, 6-0, 6-1 against Rhoebe Chin in her quarterfinal-round matchup.

Schraa is impressed with the successful path the Cardinals are on.

“It was definitely a really good match,” Schraa said. “I feel like we’re keeping our energy level up at states and we really want to win. We are going into each match with a lot of confidence and we’re keeping the energy up. I’m being consistent and waiting for an easier shot to hit a winner, which is helping me hit more accurate winners.”

Greenwich’s Malena Schraa gets ready to return a shot during her No. 4 singles match against Glastonbury.

In doubles action, the Cards continued to flourish. Senior Julia Tamis and Emily Weinstein displayed the chemistry that has made them tough to top all season. They took a 6-1, 6-2 decision against their Glastonbury foes, dictating the majority of the match’s points.

“We tried to stay consistent and use our serves to our advantage and stay consistent with our serves,” Tamis said. “We wanted to take deep cross court balls and wait for the right poach and that really worked for us today.”

Julia Tamis, left and Emily Weinstein congratulate each other after winning a point during their No. 1 doubles match for Greenwich against Glastonbury in the Class LL quarterfinal-round.

“Communication was key,” Weinstein noted. “Obviously, when you don’t communicate on the court you don’t play well, so when we communicated more it was easier to poach and set up and it worked out really well for us.”

As for advancing to the tournament’s semifinals?

“It’s thrilling, we’re just trying to stay positive and uplifting everyone on the team,” Tamis noted. “We have so much power on our team this year and it’s showing in all of our matches.”

Greenwich’s Emily Weinstein returns a shot from the baseline at No. 1 doubles for Greenwich against Glastonbury.

Said Weinstein: “Going into the semifinals, we need to keep the same energy, if not more. Supporting one another and keeping high energy has really helped us.”

Second doubles saw sophomore Yume Inagawa and freshman Caitlin Mahoney successfully team up for another triumph for the semifinal-round-bound Cardinals.

The duo defeated Jasleen Kaur/Sydney Walz, 6-2, 6-2, keeping their stellar season going.

Julia Tamis hits a forehand for Greenwich in doubles play against Glastonbury at the state tournament.

In the No. 3 doubles match, sophomore Emme Pecorin and freshman Maddy Wilber were on top of their respective games. The Cardinals’ duo were 6-1, 7-5 winners, using their teamwork and communication to take key points along the way.

If Greenwich defeats Wilton today, it advances to the CIAC Class LL Tournament final at Wesleyan University in Middletown.

Greenwich’s Yume Inagawa serves at No. 2 doubles vs. Glastonbury in the state quarterfinals.

Darien and New Canaan are playing in today’s other CIAC Class LL Tournament semifinal. The last time Greenwich captured the state tournament title was the 2009 season.

Since then, the Cardinals have appeared in the state tournament final three times – 2010, 2012, 2016.

“We’re all really excited to reach the semifinals,” Schraa said. “We’re confident and we’re going to keep the energy up.”