Sports
Fairfield Warde Girls Tennis Dethrones Greenwich
Dramatic 4-3 win over Cardinals gives the Mustangs the Class L state title
Thanks to a dramatic victory by Maggie Giambalvo and Lauren Wroblewski in the deciding third doubles match, the Fairfield Warde girls' tennis team brought down an FCIAC giant Friday afternoon at the Yale University courts.
The Mustangs' duo posted a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Katey Hopper and Lauren Daccache to give Warde a 4-3 triumph over No. 1 seed Greenwich in the CIAC Class L finals and the end the Cardinals' four-year reign as state champions.
Warde (20-3), the No. 10 seed, claimed its second state title in school history, having won its initial crown in 2005.
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Giambalvo and Wroblewski broke at 4-4 in the ultimate set, then held serve at 40-30 to close out the match.
Greenwich (20-3) won the first two singles matches, as Jenn DeLuca defeated Christie Schneider, 6-2, 6-3, and Danielle Cepelewicz got past Haley Wolf, 7-5, 6-4.
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
But Warde took the other two singles matches, as Marysa Walsh toppled Samantha Stone, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, and Caroline Gallucci prevailed in a close second-set tiebreak to best Andrea Carlsson 6-1, 7-6 (6).
The teams split the other two doubles matches. Warde's Tara Babushkin/Haley Smola defeated Leah Tagliarino and Jordana Cepelewicz, 6-1, 6-2, in the first doubles, and the Greenwich duo of Anna Sweeney and Michelle Vogt took down Emily Weiner and Jen Weiss, 6-2, 6-1, in the No. 2 doubles.
During the regular season, Greenwich handled Warde with ease, posting a 6-1 victory on April 8.
Both teams posted 4-3 wins in the semifinals. The Cardinals defeated FCIAC rival and No.5 seed Staples and Warde knocked off No. 6 seed Amity.
