The FCIAC is annually very strong in girls’ tennis in terms of the vast number of very good players along with many achievements from individuals and teams.
Such was the case once again this year in which team championships, individual championships and more achievements highlighted another exceptional season.
Greenwich had a second straight great season by going undefeated while defending its FCIAC and state team titles, the New Canaan Rams won a third consecutive state championship, and their superb sophomore Leah Zheng finished with an unbeaten 22-0 record as the best singles player in the state.
Coach Jerry Sulli’s Greenwich Cardinals also finished with a perfect 22-0 season, culminating with their 4-0 victory over Staples in the 2025 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class LL Girls Tennis Tournament final, seven days after they defended their FCIAC championship with a 4-0 victory over Fairfield Ludlowe.
Coach Catherine Walker’s New Canaan’s Rams won all four matches in the CIAC Class L Girls Tennis Tournament by the identical score of 6-1 to win their third consecutive state championship.
They defeated Cheshire in this year’s final to defend their Class L state title. Two years ago, they won the Class LL state championship with a 4-2 victory over Greenwich.
After Zheng helped New Canan win this year’s state Class L title on June 4, eight days later she was the girls’ singles champion at the CIAC High School Tennis Championships Invitational with her 6-3, 6-3 victory over Amity senior Soumya Wijesekera in the championship showdown of two unbeaten players who both stepped onto the court with 21-0 records.
Zheng now has a 43-1 record after her first two years with that only loss last year coming in a great CIAC Invitational semifinal match when eventual champion Alexandra Orlins of Cheshire won by a 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 margin.
The three players who were the singles and doubles state champions at this season’s CIAC Invitational were all from the FCIAC.
In addition to Zheng being the singles champ, Greenwich’s senior captain Yume Inagawa and sophomore Cameron Sowter defended their girls’ doubles title.
Their championship match underlined just how strong coach Sulli’s Greenwich team was this year as it was an all-Greenwich doubles final of four Cardinals.
The CIAC Invitational format has 16 doubles teams in the full bracket, so victories in the first four rounds are required to advance to the final. The top eight doubles teams are seeded as there are four seeded teams and four unseeded teams each in the upper and lower brackets.
Last year Inagawa and Sowter were unseeded, and they defeated two seeded teams en route to capturing their first championship. This year Inagawa and Sowter were seeded No. 1 and once again another unseeded Greenwich team – the duo of senior captain Emme Pecorin and junior Madeline Wilber – advanced to the final.
Pecorin and Wilber beat three seeded doubles teams to get there and challenge their Greenwich teammates. Inagawa and Sowter defended their championship with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Inagawa and Sowter were the Cardinals’ No. 1 doubles team and Pecorin and Wilber formed the No. 2 doubles team during the regular season and in the FCIAC and state Class LL postseason tournament matches.
The Cardinals defeated Fairfield Ludlowe in the FCIAC tournament final and Staples in the CIAC Class LL final by the identical scores of 4-0. As soon as they got the clinching fourth victory in both of those finals, the other three matches which were still being played were halted at that point.
It was the second straight year that FCIAC member Staples advanced to the Class LL final and lost to Greenwich, 4-0.
In the FCIAC final: Greenwich junior Caitlin Mahoney won her No. 2 singles match, 6-3, 6-2, while Greenwich’s other winners were senior captain Izzy Everett (6-2, 6-1) at No. 3 singles, Inagawa and Sowter (6-2, 6-4) at No. 1 doubles, and the No. 3 doubles duo of juniors Bella Barban and OIivia Popp (6-0, 6-4).
Mahoney’s 6-0, 6-1 victory was the clinching fourth victory in the Class LL final and Greenwich’s other winners were Everett (6-1, 6-1), and the Pecorin-Wilber (6-0, 6-1) and Barban-Popp (6-1, 6-0) doubles teams.
Postseason awards also highlighted just how strong and deep the Cardinals were this year as six of them got some form of All-FCIAC and All-State recognition – their top two singles players and the four players on their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams.
Greenwich’s No. 1 singles player, junior Shining Sun, was one of the four players selected to the 2025 All-FCIAC Girls Tennis First Team Singles and among the 12 players selected to the 2025 GametimeCT All-State Girls Tennis First Team.
Inagawa and Sowter were among the four doubles teams on the All-FCIAC First Team Doubles, and they also were picked to the GametimeCT All-State First Team. Last year they were on the All-FCIAC Second Team and all-state second team.
Mahoney was selected to the All-FCIAC Second Team Singles and GametimeCT All-State Second Team. Pecorin and Wilber both made GametimeCT All-State Second Team and All-FCIAC Second Team Doubles.
Zheng was the Player of the Year to lead the GametimeCT All-State First Team. She was selected to that all-state first team and to the All-FCIAC First Team Singles for the second consecutive year.
Last year Zheng had a 21-1 overall record, including 14-1 at No. 1 singles, while helping lead New Canaan to the FCIAC championship and she was the only freshman chosen to the2024 GameTimeCT All-State First Team which also included six seniors, four juniors and one sophomore.
In this year’s 2025 CIAC High School Tennis Championships Invitational, Zheng won all six of her matches in straight sets and ended up with a combined 72-12 advantage in games won.
Fairfield Warde senior Elisa Tunaru ascended to being on both the All-FCIAC First Team Singles and the GametimeCT All-State First Team after having made All-FCIAC second team and all-state second team last year in singles.
Sydney Radachowsky of Danbury has already had a phenomenal start to her career as an underclassman. Last year she and Zheng both burst onto the FCIAC scene as fabulous freshmen, and they were two of the four players selected to the 2024 All-FCIAC First Team Singles.
Radachowsky followed that up with a great sophomore season. She was among the seven FCIAC players chosen to this year’s GametimeCT All-State First Team a year after she made all-state second team, and Radachowsky was on this year’s All-FCIAC Second Team Singles.
The FCIAC had four of the eight singles quarterfinalists in this year’s CIAC Invitational as Radachowsky, Zheng, Tunaru, and Sun all won their first three matches to advance to the quarterfinals.
Fairfield Ludlowe junior Mairead Kelly was selected to this year’s All-FCIAC First Team Singles and GametimeCT All-State First Team as she was one of six Falcons who received all-conference honors this year.
Also, for Ludlowe: Elle Seaver made All-FCIAC Second Team Singles and GametimeCT All-State Honorable Mention, Paige Seaver and Ellery Walker made All-FCIAC First Team Doubles, and Caitlin Smith and Allegra Early made All-FCIAC Second Team Doubles. Smith and Early won three matches to advance to the semifinals of the CIAC Invitational.
Those top two Fairfield Ludlowe doubles teams and singles players Lucy Day and Coco Biggs all had key victories when the Falcons advanced to the FCIAC tournament championship match with a 4-3 semifinal victory over Staples.
Darien sophomore Julia Glowania made All-FCIAC Second Team Singles and GametimeCT All-State Honorable Mention.
For New Canaan: Christina Carr and Camryn Lee were selected to the All-FCIAC First Team Doubles, while the tandem of Sophie Adamczyk and Bella Calaba made All-FCIAC Second Team Doubles.
Rhiya Anand and Lola Lamensdorft of Staples were selected to the All-FCIAC First Team Doubles, and Wilton’s Abby Byrnes and Gabby Torres made All-FCIAC Second Team Doubles.