Cardinals advance to semifinal-round of CIAC Class LL volleyball tournament

By David Fierro on November 11, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

**Photo by David Fierro:** Alina Sarkissian of Greenwich High School goes up to attempt to block a hit by a Fairfield Ludlowe varsity volleyball player during the CIAC Class LL Girls Volleyball Tournament quarterfinals at Greenwich High School.

Watching the Greenwich High School girls volleyball team compete against Darien in the championship game of the FCIAC Tournament on Oct. 30, it was quite apparent that the matchup wouldn’t be the last time the rivals would play each other.

The FCIAC final marked the second meeting of the season between the Cardinals and the Blue Wave and Round 3 is coming up soon.

Second-seeded Greenwich took another step toward reaching the state final, advancing to the semifinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Volleyball Tournament with a decisive 3-0 win over seventh-seeded Fairfield Ludlowe in the quarterfinal round on Nov. 9. The host Cardinals won the match by set scores of 25-14, 25-13, 25-21.

Greenwich now faces third-seeded Darien in Wednesday’s (Nov. 13) Class LL semifinals at Westhill High School at 6 p.m. Darien, which posted a 3-1 victory against Greenwich in the FCIAC Tournament final, moved on to the Class LL tourney semifinals by beating No. 22 Staples, 3-0.

“After losing the championship, we had a goal, we want to make it as far as we can in states,” Cardinals coach Marianna Linnehan said. “We’re working on different things and trying to push through.”

**Photo by David Fierro**: Greenwich High School varsity volleyball players react after winning a point in their match against Fairfield Ludlowe in the Class LL Tournament quarterfinals at Greenwich High. The Cardinals won the match, 3-0.

The Cardinals are enjoying a truly dominant season. They have a record of 23-2 and of their 23 victories, 21 have come by a score of 3-0, including their Class LL quarterfinal triumph against Fairfield Ludlowe. In host Greenwich’s win against Ludlowe, senior captain/setter Sarah Bernann kept the offense flowing, registering 31 assists, nine digs, two kills and one ace.

“I feel good about the match, I think our offense was well prepared,” Bernann said. “In practice we work so much on serve receive, so we just dominated in that area of the game.”

Joy Houdre, a senior captain/libero, was on point defensively, recorded 12 digs, to go along with two service aces and one assist for the victors.

Greenwich High senior setter Sarah Bernann sets the ball while Fairfield Ludlowe athletes get ready at the net during the CIAC Class LL quarterfinal match at Greenwich High School. The Cardinals were victorious by a 3-0 score.

Senior captain Alina Sarkissian, one of the premier hitters in the state, tallied 10 kills, four digs and one block, while Heidi Zieme continued her superb sophomore season, posting 11 digs, six kills and one ace versus the Falcons.

“We have really differentiated our offense and the blockers didn’t know who was getting set,” Zieme said. “We kept them on their toes, so we had options to get good kills.”

Also powering the Cards with standout performances were sophomore Kayah Armstrong (9 kills, 4 digs, 3 aces, 1 block), senior Cameron Clark and senior Talia Muir.

Joy Houdre (No. 11, red jersey), Heidi Zieme and Cameron Clark get ready for action for the Greenwich varsity girls volleyball team, which hosted FCIAC foe Fairfield Ludlowe High School on Nov. 9, 2024. In the back is teammate Talia Muir.

“We had a lot of chemistry,” Clark said of the Cards’ win against Ludlowe. “Especially coming off a tough loss to Darien we wanted to keep our momentum going.”

In the first set, the Cardinals jumped out to a 16-7 lead on the Falcons. An ace by Houdre later on in the set gave GHS a 20-12 advantage. Muir’s well-placed, booming kill made it 22-13 in favor of the Cardinals, who took the set, 25-14.

“It is really easy to vary our offense, we moved around the middle, set them back and in front and we were able to get the blockers out of a lot of situations on the pins,” Bernann noted. “I think the serve receive helped out a lot with that and we were able to run our offense really well.”

Photo by David Fierro: Alina Sarkissian of Greenwich goes up for the block at the net against Fairfield Ludlowe.

Bernann set Clark up for a kill, putting GHS ahead, 4-3, in the third game. Sarkissian and Zieme each had several kills in the second set for Greenwich, which is 2-0 in the state tourney, after receiving an opening-round bye.

Ludlowe was within striking distance in the third set, but Greenwich still played from in front most of the way.

“We knew we needed to play well today, so the first set we made a few mistakes, which we could have eliminated, but as the set game went on we eliminated our mistakes and that last set was really important that we pulled it out from behind,” Clark said. “That’s something we really need to be able to do when we’re playing a tough team like Darien.”

The Cardinals varsity girls volleyball team had plenty to smile about while advancing to the Class LL Tournament semifinals with a 3-0 victory against Ludlowe at Greenwich High School. The Cardinals won the matchup, 3-0.

Indeed, the Cardinals know they must be in top form against Darien in Wednesday’s state semifinals at Westhill High School. Greenwich topped the Blue Wave, 3-0, in the regular season, then Darien returned the favor, winning the FCIAC Tournament title with a 3-1 triumph versus GHS.

“Now we’re 1-1 with them, so I think what this comes down to is who wants it more,” Bernann said of the upcoming state semifinals. “I think we’re going to play our best in the rematch and see what happens.”

Cardinals varsity volleyball athletes happily react after winning a point in their state playoff match against Ludlowe.

“We just have to keep pushing and play the way we’ve been playing,” Clark added. “We obviously, had a great regular season, so we have to channel that energy, Even though we beat these teams in the past, anything can happen and we just need to come 100 percent ready to play.”