The first postseason tournament of the 2025 season ended exactly how the Greenwich High School varsity girls tennis team wanted it to conclude: with the FCIAC Tournament championship plaque in their possession.

Capturing the one title that eluded them in 2024, the Cardinals achieved their first postseason goal of the season, winning the FCIAC Tournament championship, while continuing their spring of perfection.

Top-seeded Greenwich is back on top in the FCIAC tennis scene, winning its first tournament title since 2012, with a highly impressive 4-0 victory over second-seeded Fairfield Ludlowe in the championship match on May 29th. The FCIAC final was supposed to be played on May 28th, however inclement weather pushed it back one day, but the return trip to Wilton High School for the title matchup was well worth it for the 18-0 Cardinals.

“It feels amazing, my senior year, it couldn’t be any better,” said Greenwich senior Emme Pecorin, one of the Cardinals’ captains. “Especially with the way that last year turned out, it was really great this year to come back and claim the title.”

Greenwich was edged by New Canaan in the championship match of the FCIAC Tournament in 2024, which turned out to be its lone loss of the season. The Cardinals proceeded to win the CIAC Class LL state tournament title, which they now have their sights set on.

Seeded first, the defending Class LL champion Cardinals begin action in the state tournament tomorrow (May 31st) at 1 p.m. against an opponent yet to be announced.

“The goal is to take it match by match,” Greenwich sophomore Cameron Sowter said of the upcoming state tourney. “We all expect to get to finals, but you never know what’s going to happen. We are going to try our best and hope for the best.”

In the FCIAC final against Fairfield Ludlowe at Wilton, Greenwich was victorious at second and third singles and first and third doubles. The first and fourth singles matches were not completed, since GHS clinched the title match with its fourth victory and the No. 2 doubles match was also halted. Fairfield Ludlowe gave Greenwich one of its toughest matches of the regular season, as the Cards posted a 5-2 win back on April 14th. For the season, Greenwich hasn’t lost a match in 14 out of its 18 matches.

“I knew we were strong coming in, because like last year, we have great depth,” Cardinals coach Jerry Sulli said of his squad. “They are tremendous high school players, they are consistent, that’s their strength.”

In the No. 2 singles match of the FCIAC finals, Greenwich junior Caitlin Mahoney was a 6-3, 6-2 winner against Ludlowe junior Elle Seaver. Mahoney is undefeated at the second singles spot for the Cardinals so far this season.

“Today, I knew coming into it I was going to have a really tough opponent,” Mahoney said. “The first match, it was my closest match all season. It’s always fun and I always look forward to it.”

Mahoney was on target with both her forehand and backhand, while converting several break points.

“Today, I really focused on being consistent with my shots and working through each point one at a time,” Mahoney noted. “My opponent was very consistent, she always gets me with those angled shots side to side, so today I knew I had to be consistent with my plan and do what I always do.”

At No. 1 doubles, the dominant duo of senior captain Yume Inagawa and Sowter were successful again. Inagawa and Sowter registered a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Falcons junior Paige Seaver and senior Ellery Walker at the top doubles position.

“It feels amazing, it feels great,” Inagawa said of winning the FCIAC title. “Honestly, it was a big roller coaster for us this season. “We had a couple of matches where we didn’t play together, because she was sick and I didn’t feel well, but overall, it was amazing,” Inagawa said of their success at first doubles.

Inagawa and Sowter also have lost a match this spring in sparking the Cardinals in doubles action.

“We came off the first set super strong,” Sowter said of their championship victory versus Ludlowe. “In the second, we started to get too laid back a little bit, we were down 3-1. But we ended up bringing it back.”

“Winning the title feels great, last year, we fell short, but this year we brought it,” Sowter continued. “We came here with all our best energy and we succeeded.”

Third singles saw senior captain Izzy Everett earn another clutch win for the Cards. Everett was victorious against Falcons senior Lucy Day, 6-2, 6-1. Everett eagerly anticipated her matchup against Day.

“I’m really happy that I got through the match, because the first time I played her lost in a third set tiebreaker, so it was super close and it was the only match I lost the whole season,” Everett said. “The two of us talked before the match, we’ve been thinking about playing each other for a while.”

Indeed, Everett showed her experience and confidence in the high-pressured matchup.

“It was so close and we were definitely good opponents for each other, because she’s also left-handed,” Everett noted. “Today, I wanted to put my best foot forward and focus and I’m really happy that not only did I win, I was one of the four to win.”

Junior Shining Sun competed at No. 1 singles, as she had successfully done all season for GHS. However, her match at the top singles match was not completed, since Greenwich clinched the match with four victories before her match against Ludlowe was finished.

“It feels really good, it feels like over the past three years we kept redeeming ourselves,” Sun said of the Cardinals’ championship win. “The first year we were semifinalists at FCIAC, last year, we were finalists and then lost and this year, we finally got it. Each we made progress.”

Avery Li played at fourth singles for Greenwich versus Ludlowe and her matchup was also not completed. Li has also helped ignite the team’s formidable singles lineup.

“It’s been really fun, everyone on the team is so nice,” Li said. “Everyone motivates each other on the court. “It feels really nice, especially since last year we were really close, so it’s nice to win this year. I think everyone was playing really good. I had a tough opponent today and I was really glad everyone was super focused and played their best.”

At third doubles, Greenwich received another convincing win from juniors Bella Barban and Olivia Popp. The Cardinals’ experienced tandem won in straight sets against Lizzy Meyers/Blakely LaGreca, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 3. They have won all their matches at the No. 3 spot in the doubles lineup for the Cardinals this spring.

“I thought it went really well, we started off really strong with the 6-0, but we had a little bit of a rocky battle in the second set, but we pulled it out,” Barban said of their FCIAC title match.

“We’ve been partners since freshman year, so our communication skills have been top notch,” Popp added. “We just keep on improving and improving. Our volleys have improved by a lot. I feel like this partnership have become so strong.”

Pecorin and junior Maddy Wilber, played at second doubles for the Cardinals versus the Falcons in a match that was not completed. The Cardinals’ duo have also enjoyed an exceptional doubles season.

“I definitely think that this year we tried to work on teamwork and communication,” Wilber said. “I think that the doubles teams have been working amazing this year.”

Pecorin noted how efficient the Cardinals doubles teams have been throughout the season.

“Overall, all of us have learned how to communicate and click with one another,” she said. “It’s been good, everyone is improving.”

The victory gave Greenwich its 13th FCIAC Tournament championship. Now Greenwich will seek to claim another state title. The Cardinals have captured the CIAC Class LL title 11 times.

“I can’t wait to see what we’ll do in the state tournament,” Mahoney said. “I know everyone is going to try their hardest, so I’m looking forward to continuing this streak.”

Said Everett: “What’s funny is that right after we celebrated winning this, we were talking about ‘now we’ve got to do states.’ “We are excited to do the next thing, especially because these last two years, we’ve either won one or the other, so our goal has been to win both. We’re really excited to take on that challenge.”

“We are ready to continue our streak,” Barban said. “We haven’t lost yet, we hope to keep that going.”