A victory against longtime rival Staples propelled the Greenwich High School varsity boys tennis team into a match it’s certainly accustomed to competing in – the FCIAC Tournament final.

The three-time defending FCIAC champion Cardinals reached their final destination once again, reaching the championship match of the FCIAC Tournament with an impressive 4-0 win over visiting Staples in the tournament’s semifinal-round match on May 18th.

Second-seeded Greenwich plays top-seeded New Canaan in today’s 2 p.m. FCIAC Tournament final at Wilton High School. New Canaan, which has handed Greenwich its only loss this season, moved on to the championship match by topping Darien, 4-1, in the other FCIAC semifinal.

Greenwich’s win against Staples in the FCIAC semifinals marked yet another chapter in the squad’s tennis rivalry. The Cardinals defeated Staples for the FCIAC Tournament title in 2025 and the two teams have faced each other in the conference tourney final 14 times, with Greenwich winning on 11 of those occasions.

The Cardinals and Wreckers have also met numerous times in the championship match of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, most recently when GHS won in 2024.

In Monday’s FCIAC semifinals, the Cardinals received a win at No. 1 singles from senior captain Elias Orrell and swept the three doubles matches. The other three singles matches were all highly competitive and were not completed since Greenwich clinched its fourth win of the match.

Orrell earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles against senior Aleko Vergakis of Staples. With the win, Orrell avenged his regular season loss to Vergakis at the top singles spot.

“These past two weeks I’ve been working really hard at fixing aspects of my game,” Orrell said following his win. “I lost to him in the regular season in three sets. It was motivation for me to get it going. Today was a good result.”

“It was the combination of working on working on my serve and groundstrokes, I’m really happy with the result,” Orrell continued.

“Elias rises up in the biggest moments,”: GHS first-season coach Michael Racanelli said. “What a leader he’s been.”

At second singles, senior captain Owen Kwon of Greenwich dropped the first set to Staples’ Robert Jacob, 6-2, then rebounded to win the second set, 6-3. The third set had Kwon ahead, 1-0, when the Cards clinched the overall match.

“I just started to lock in on my first serve and I started to play with more energy and confidence and that helped me play better,” said Kwon, who also mentioned how impressed he was with the team’s performance against the formidable Wreckers.

“It feels great, a 4-0 win is pretty convincing and we just played really focused and relaxed,” Kwon noted. “I have trust in my teammates 100 percent.”

Sophomore Francesco Lindia was edged in the first set of his match against Sebastian Elizondo at third singles, 7-5, then topped Elizondo, 6-0, in the second set before their match was stopped. At fourth singles, Greenwich’s Zack Schwartz was also involved in a tight match. Schwartz was edged in the first set versus Staples’ Ander Ridloff, 7-6, then was leading in the second set, 5-3.

In doubles action, junior Jake Orbanowski and sophomore Ryan Stanton were outstanding for Greenwich in defeating Kieran Anani/Jonny Greenspan, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 1 spot.

The No. 2 doubles match saw junior Will Neuenfeldt and sophomore Milo Russo of the Cardinals post a 6-0, 6-1 win over Reid O’Brien and Aaron Fortunoff.

Liam McGovern, a freshman and sophomore Zach Roth teamed up for the first time this season at third doubles for GHS and were a winning combination at No. 3 in this significant match. The duo were victorious against Jack McCauley/Micah Turner, 6-3, 6-4.

“A lot of it was coordination and teamwork,” McGovern said of the victory at No. 1. :I felt like we were very supportive of one another. It made us stay mentally focused when we lost a point or got down.”

“We were able to bring each other back up,” O’Brien continued. “We were very motivated and that was the key to our success. I think we complemented each other very well.”

Roth has given the Cardinals a versatile presence in their lineup all season.

“I’ve been playing all over all season three singles, four singles, two doubles, three doubles – I’m starting to like the doubles game, I’m getting more comfortable at the net,” said Roth, who also noted that playing singles matches have aided his doubles game.

“I feel like that big serve, big forehand I’ve developed from singles is really useful in the doubles game for setting up my partner for some good finishes,” he said. “I feel like with his net skills and my big serve game, we’re doing well together.”

Cardinals coach Michael Racanelli is pleased with the development of his squad’s doubles players.

“We’ve been pouring it in on doubles, grinding and trying to teach the guys the proper way to play doubles,” Racanelli said. “I’m proud to see the guys step up today.”

“We really practiced in between the time the regular season ended and we knew we were going to the playoffs,” Racanelli continued. “One of the points we stressed was trying to figure out partnerships and playing the right way.”

Greenwich, which has a record of 16-1 and is an incredible 82-1 dating back to the 2023 season heading into today’s FCIAC final, hopes to win its fourth consecutive FCIAC Tournament title.

“The last time we played New Canaan it was a gut-wrenching loss, but I feel really confident in our team this year and I think we can go all the way,” Kwon said.

“It’s really exciting and it’s a testament to how much we work and how much we support each other,” Orrell said of making it back to the championship match.