Girls tennis wins FCIAC and State Title

Cameron Armstrong
Reporter

On Wednesday, May 26, the girls tennis team clinched their first FCIAC championship since 2006. The girls faced the Greenwich Cardinals, who they previously beat 4-3 earlier in the season. Their regular season victory broke the Cardinals’ three year, 83-match undefeated record. Confidence from that match fueled the Rams to beat Greenwich in the FCIAC final, 5-2. “I was very confident with our team coming into this match,” Head Coach Gail Overbeck said. “With the way our singles players have been playing in addition to our first doubles, I would be surprised if they didn’t win their matches.”

The lineup for the FCIAC final included co-captain senior Tina Tehrani in the first singles spot. Although Tehrani had missed a handful of games in the Rams’ regular season due to USTA tournaments, she beat her opponent Jen DeLuca in two straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. The other three single spots, junior Kate Mannelly, junior Caitlin Gallagher and sophomore Courtney Gallagher all won their respective matches. In the first doubles spot, co-captain senior Alyssa Baker and junior Kimmy Glerum also won in their match, 6-1, 6-0. “We lost the first game out of the shoot in our match due to nerves, but then turned it on and won the next 12 games,” Baker said.

New Canaan’s two losses came from the second and third doubles teams. Junior Emily Greene and freshman Sara Greene lost 6-4, 6-0 in the number two spot, while sophomore Phoebe Wilks and freshman Amanda Merjian lost 6-4, 6-2, in the third doubles position.

For the seniors leaving the team, the championship was a memorable moment. “As a senior, this is my first FCIAC title and it was so rewarding to finally win my final year, especially against Greenwich,” Baker said. Baker and Glerum were also named League MVPs for doubles for the second consecutive year.

After the FCIAC final match, Coach Overbeck had a positive outlook for states. “This year’s team is loaded with talent from top to bottom, and what’s great is that many of our underclassmen are getting experience at the highest level in high school competition at such a young age,” she said.

The week after FCIACs, the girls clinched their 7th consecutive state title and their 10th since 2000. On Friday, June 4, the girls swept the Wilton Warriors, 7-0, at Yale to win the Class M State Title.