Plenty was accomplished with the Greenwich High School boys volleyball team’s win against visiting St. Joseph on Wednesday.

The victory in the Cardinals’ regular-season finale, clinched a berth in the FCIAC Tournament and also qualified the team for the CIAC Class LL state Tournament. So indeed, one win, went a long way for the soaring Cardinals.

“I’m glad that we’re peaking when we’re peaking now, I knew that we had a ton of athletes, it was just about putting it all together,” Greenwich coach Marianna Linnehan said, following Greenwich’s 3-0 Senior Day win over St. Joseph. “We have a lot of players who have never played before, so it’s good to see them mesh now. Making the FCIAC Tournament – that’s an accomplishment – and now we made states.”

The Cardinals topped the Cadets by game scores of 25-20, 25-17, 25-16 and finished the regular season with a record of 7-9, after getting off to an 0-3 start.

“This season we have been through a lot of ups-and-downs together as a team,” GHS senior captain Ricardo Prado said. “We found a way to overcome that and today we showed how we can play as a team and take the next step.”

Senior captain Ben Bowers recorded nine kills, eight digs and three aces for the Cardinals, who are seeded seventh in the FCIAC Tournament and will visit second-seeded Trumbull tomorrow (Friday) in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m.

“It feels incredible to win on Senior Day,” Bowers said. “This is much better, especially since they beat us earlier in the season. I am very happy that we made the playoffs, I think we have a good chance to get past round one.”

As Bowers mentioned, the triumph avenged the Cards’ loss to the Cadets earlier in the season. Greenwich dropped a 3-1 decision to St. Joseph in Trumbull last month.

In Wednesday’s matchup, senior setter Jack Konigsberg posted 29 assists, two digs and one block, while senior Nio Vigilante had seven kills, four digs and one block in the winning effort.

“I’ve had a really fun time playing volleyball,” said Konigsberg, who will play football at the University of Michigan this coming fall. “I think we have improved at the right time with the playoffs coming up. It’s very important how we have come together. We needed this game for states and it was great to see almost all the seniors get in the game today.”

We’re just going to play every game like it’s our last and going into it to win,” said Konigsberg, who is leaving for Michigan soon. “I am very happy that I am able to play sports for such a great school like Greenwich High School.”

After winning the first set against the Cadets, 25-20, GHS trailed early in the second set, but pulled even at 9-9, behind a Bowers ace. Bowers, senior Nico Carlson (six kills for the match) and Prado provided key kills to help the Cards close out the second game, 25-17.

In the final game, the home team played from in front throughout on their way to the important win.

“I think everyone was playing with a smile on their face – they were having fun,” Bowers noted. “That’s something that coach was talking about. We were having fun and smiling.”

Greenwich suffered a 3-0 loss to Trumbull, its opponent in the first round of the FCIAC Tournament, last month, but since that defeat, the Cards have won five matches, beating Danbury, Fairfield Warde, Norwalk, Staples and St. Joseph.

“I liked their energy, the way they played well together and how they had fun,” Linnehan said of her squad. “The first round of playoffs, we have to get down our blocking and serve receive and focus on talking from start to finish.”

Carlson added two aces and two blocks for GHS against St. Joe, while junior James Kovac tallied 20 digs, sparking the squad defensively.