Greenwich tops Darien again
STAMFORD — The Greenwich and Darien girls volleyball teams have gotten to know each other extremely well while playing six times during the past two seasons.
And while the Cardinals have had the better of the rivalry during that span, nothing has come easily.
With a trip to the state final on the line, secondseeded Greenwich held off a comeback bid by No. 3 Darien and won 3-1 in the CIAC Class LL semifinals Wednesday night at Stamford.
As was the case in the FCIAC final, Greenwich won the first two sets, Darien rebounded to take the third, and the Cards finished it off in a tight fourth set. The final scores were 25-12, 25-20, 24-26, and 2522, as Greenwich earned its seventh straight win against Darien.
The Cardinals (25-1), the top-ranked team in the state coaches poll, advanced to the state final for the first time since 2017, when they defeated Amity for the crown.
“This feels so good,” Greenwich senior Adele Sotgiu said. “This is my fourth year here and it’s the first time getting to the state finals, so I’m so excited to be in the finals. We have really great team chemistry and everything we do, we do together, and it’s just an awesome feeling.”
Greenwich coach Steve Lapham credited his senior captains Sotgiu, Liana Sarkissian, and Sophie Jones with pulling the team together when Darien was threatening.
“I’m super-proud of our girls,” Lapham said. “They’ve had a lot of pressure on them it all year. To be ranked No. 1 kind of stinks, because it puts the bull’s-eye on your back. It shows that they want it, they’ve got the FCIACs, but they want another title. The leaders huddled them up and said we are not losing this game. They went out and made great plays.”
Greemwich (25-1) will take on No. 12 Ludlowe (19-6) for a state championship at 7 p.m., Saturday, in East Haven. Ludlowe upset No. 1 Cheshire in four sets in Wednesday’s other semifinal.
It will be the fourth time since 2015 that the Class LL final will feature two FCIAC teams.
For the Blue Wave (21-3), the loss brought an end to a stellar season, one in which they won all 21 matches against opponents not named Greenwich.
Darien coach Laurie LaRusso said she was proud of her team.
“They come to work every day and they left it on the floor,” LaRusso said.
“Hopefully it makes them even more hungry.”
The Cardinals had several big performances — Sotgiu had a game-best 17 kills, Sarkissian added 13 kills and four aces, and junior setter Lucia Spanjol dished out 45 assists.
For Darien, junior cocaptains Leilani Gillespie had 11 kills and 15 digs, and Jillian Roche had five kills and 11 digs, and sophomore Aubrey Moore added 18 assists, five kills and 15 digs.
The Cardinals soared to a first-set win, finishing with a 17-3 run. In the second set, they built a 17-10 lead and went on to win by five for a 2-0 advantage.
Darien led the third set 13-6, but Greenwich stormed back to take leads of 19-16 and 22-20 while looking for a sweep. However, the Wave answered with a 6-2 run to close it out and win the set.
“The end of the third set helped us push into the fourth set,” Gillespie said. “It reminded us of the FCIAC finals when we had the same situation in the third set. It brought a lot of energy out for us.”
The fourth set was a roller coaster ride, but Darien had a 22-21 lead while trying to send the match to a fifth frame.
Greenwich dug deep and won the next four points to get the win, with Jones ending the drama on a block.
“It was a really competitive game and it’s always high energy with Darien,” Sotgiu said. “In that fourth set, it came down to string serving and playing every ball like it’s the last point. We didn’t want to go to a fifth set. We dug deep and I think that’s what helped us pull out the win.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Adele Sotgiu, Greenwich: The Greenwich senior led the offensive attack with a game-high 17 kills to go along with two aces and 19 service points.
QUOTABLE
“It’s great volleyball. To beat (Darien) is a huge accomplishment. They play technically-sound volleyball, they cover everything, they pass well, they hit well, they tip well, and they’re smart. I thought our girls matched them smart-wise tonight. They don’t want to lose. They want to win the whole thing.” — Greenwich coach Steve Lapham