The FCIAC Girls Volleyball Tournament final featured the best two teams in the conference – Greenwich High School, the No. 1-seeded team and Darien, the No. 2-seeded squad – and both the Cardinals and Blue Wave entered the championship showdown riding impressive winning streaks.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Blue Wave that exited the match with their win streak intact.

In a back-and-forth match highlighted by standout performances by athletes from both teams, Darien registered a well-earned 3-1 win over Greenwich in the championship match of the FCIAC Tournament before a big crowd at Stamford High School. The victory gave Darien its third consecutive FCIAC Tournament championship, adding to its storied volleyball history. Greenwich last won the FCIAC Tournament title in 2021 and has also experienced plenty of success, the past two decades.

The FCIAC final on Oct. 30 was a rematch of the regular season meeting between Greenwich and Darien won by the Cardinals, 3-1. Coached by Marianna Linnehan, Greenwich went into the match with a record of 21-1, including 3-0 victories in all but three of its matches this season. The Cardinals were also enjoying a 14-match win streak.

“I told them right before they started that whatever happens, I’m so proud to coach you girls,” Linnehan said following the FCIAC final. “I told the team I’m proud of how far you’ve come, I’m proud of how hard you worked and I couldn’t be more happier to coach an amazing group of girls.”

Darien won the FCIAC title match, 25-19, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22.

“I’m so proud of our team,” Greenwich senior Talia Muir said. “We left it all out there. There’s still more to work on and we’re going to come back at states and see what we can do.”

Senior setter Sarah Bernann recorded 37 assists, four kills and three aces, while senior libero Joy Houdre tallied 20 digs and one assist for the Cardinals (21-2).

“We really tried, we knew that Darien was going to be a whole new team the second time we played them, so we were ready for that,” said Houdre, a captain. “But at the end of the day, it’s about the team that makes less errors and they made less errors than us.”

Sophomore Kayah Armstrong tallied 13 kills, two digs and one block, senior Alina Sarkissian posted 12 kills, four digs and one block and sophomore Heidi Zieme added 12 digs, 11 kills and one ace for GHS, which had its moments in each set.

“I’m super proud of the team, a lot of the younger players had big shoes to fill and I’m really proud of them for stepping up,” said Bernann, also a captain. “We have some of the best players in the FCIAC, if not the state and at the end of the day, everybody wanted it and fought for it.”

Darien senior Savannah Leon was named the FCIAC Tournament’s MVP. In the first set of the FCIAC final, Greenwich took a 7-5 lead on an Armstrong kill. Darien took the lead, then GHS tied the first game at 10-10 on a kill by Zieme.

Sparked by Savannah Leone, senior Blake Marin, senior Brooke Leone and Katelyn Erdlen, also a senior, the Blue Wave battled back to take the first set, 25-19. Savannah Leone capped the first set with a kill.

The Cards recovered nicely in the second set, jumping out to leads of 7-0 and 14-5, before taking the set, 25-16. Greenwich ran its offense well in the second game and stayed in system throughout.

“The second set we came out swinging and confident,” Linnehan said. “We just had unforced errors and we made some mental mistakes that I have not seen all season.”

“We just dug deep and pulled it out and played for each other,” Muir noted.

Greenwich held several leads in both the third and fourth games, yet the Blue Wave came back each time to secure another FCIAC championship. The Leone sisters and Erdlen paced Darien in the final two games.

Senior Cameron Clark notched 15 digs, five kills and one ace, while Muir also had a great all-around match, tallying 17 digs, nine kills and one assist for the Cards.

“We just had a really bad start in that set, but we did really well coming back,” Sarkissian (a captain) said of the third set. “I am looking forward to this rematch and I’m looking forward to playing Southington as well.”

Indeed, GHS could very well play Darien again in the upcoming CIAC Class LL Tournament. Greenwich is seeded second in the Class LL tourney and earned an opening round bye.

“We’re going to come back stronger for states,” Bernann said. “I think we have a lot to work on, we learned a lot of things from this game, so we’re going to take that with us.”

Said Houdre of the state tournament: “We’re going to see them (Darien) again and we are going to be coming back firing. They are going to see a different team and we’re going to be ready for them.”

“For states, we’re going to come back stronger,” Bernaan noted. “I think we have a lot to work on, we learned a lot of things from this game, so we’re going to take that with us.”