The Greenwich Academy and Sacred Heart Greenwich varsity volleyball teams are known for consistently having successful seasons in the FAA and this season should be no different for the traditionally strong Gators and Tigers.

Both teams possess skill, depth and experience at each position and on Sept, 16, the Tigers and Gators faced each other for the first time this fall. Could another matchup be in the future? That was certainly the scenario in past seasons, as GA and SHG met in the FAA Tournament semifinals in 2024, after testing their skills against each other in the regular season and back in 2023, they took the court versus each other in the NEPSAC Tournament.

In their match on Sept. 16, host Greenwich Academy swept to an impressive 3-0 win over Sacred Heart, winning the match by set scores of 25-20, 25-20, 25-14. Coached by Bryan Coloma, Greenwich Academy is enjoying an excellent start to its season, having defeated St. Luke’s, Masters and Sacred Heart. Issy Fottrell and Devon Mahaffy are captains of the Greenwich Academy squad. As always both teams were amped up to compete against each other.

“They are always such a fun team to play, so we always have so much fun playing them,” Fottrell said. “It’s our second home game and coming out with a three-set win is always great.”

Fottrell, an outside hitter, helped power GA’s offense, posting 11 kills. She added three digs and one service ace for the Gators, who showed stellar chemistry throughout this FAA matchup.

“I think we really click in a lot of things,” Fottrell noted. “Our passing was good, our hitting was good – I think we came together as a team and figured out to put it together.”

Mahaffy registered 10 kills, five digs and one block to also spark Greenwich Academy’s offense.

“Sacred Heart is such a great team, every year we have such a great game against them,” Mahaffy said. “It’s always a rivalry and they always give us such a great game.”

Last season saw Greenwich Academy win the regular season match versus Sacred Heart Greenwich, then the Tigers were victorious against the Gators in the FAA Tournament quarterfinals. Also for GA against Sacred Heart on Sept. 16, Gioa Brown was one of the standouts, notching nine kills and was ace. Caroline Brower, a freshman, provided strong setting throughout for the victors.

“I think really not letting them take any runs was one of the keys to keeping the momentum,” Mahaffy said. “When they got down, we just came back stronger and we listened to each other.”

Coached by Beth Wilson Jordan, SHG was paced by eight kills, 10 digs and one ace from junior captain Ana Pizzimbono, 11 digs, six aces and four kills by sophomore setter Julianna Luzzi and six kills and eight digs from senior captain Mackenna Kelly.

“I think that we’re definitely a stronger team than we were last year,” Pizzimbono said. “We’re coming back with some new hitting. We definitely still need to work on some things, but overall, it’s just the little things – getting our serve receive right and defense and I think we’ll be there.”

An ace by Tinsley Tarifi gave GA a 24-20 lead on SHG in the first set and the hosts won the ensuing point to close out the opening set. In the second game, the Tigers seized their biggest lead at 17-10 behind an ace by Luzzi, who went on a strong serving run, enabling Sacred Heart to open a sizeable advantage.

Freshman Anabella Pike added two kills and two blocks, sophomore Grace Im had a pair of blocks, while senior Lily Fitzpatrick had one block for the Tigers.

“We definitely played better the last few matches than we did this match,” Pizzimbono noted. “I think our momentum was just a little low. “We’re going to come back stronger next time.”

Later in the second set, an ace by Mairin Butler brought the Gators to within 18-16, prompting a Sacred Heart timeout. Trailing 20-18, GA won seven consecutive points to win the second game, 25-20.

Two straight kills by Fottrell tied the score at 20-20 in the second set. A kill, this time by Brown, put the hosts ahead, 21-20.

“High energy – just keeping our energy high is what we want to do and taking one point at a time got us through,” Fottrell said.

In the third set, stellar serving by Mahaffy sparked GA to a 7-0 edge and the home team led thereafter.

Mahaffy appreciated GA’s overall defensive effort.

“Our defense has always been one of our things we are working on,” Mahaffy said. “We scrambled for a lot of points, got balls up that we needed to get up to stay in the game, so I was really proud of everyone.”

“This is my fourth year and watching all these players get better over the years – I love stepping into this role and playing with the team,” Mahaffy said of being one of the Gators’ captains.

Sacred Heart travels to Deerfield Academy (Sept. 20), then plays host to FAA rival King School on Sept. 24, before Kent pays a visit to them on Sept. 27.

“We want to improve further on, get to FAAs and advance,” Kelly noted. “Right now, we want to work on the little things. Everyone plays a really important role. Although we’re (she and Pizzimbono) are the captains I think everybody plays a key role on this team.”

Greenwich Academy is in action again when it hosts Hopkins School on Sept. 25. They will then travel to Milton Academy on Sept. 27 for matches versus Milton and Deerfield Academy.

“Obviously, we want to go as far as we can,” Fottrell noted. “We want to each have our own role to make the team successful.”