The CIAC Class LL Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal-round match between second-seeded host Greenwich and 10th-seeded Trumbull was tied after four sets, so for the first time all season, both squads were facing elimination if they couldn’t pull through and win the fifth and final set.

Like the first four sets, the deciding one was a back-and-forth battle, but it was the Cardinals, the team that recently captured the FCIAC Tournament title, that kept their hopes for another championship alive.

Greenwich (23-1) advanced to the semifinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament with a well-earned 3-2 victory over visiting, upset-minded Trumbull in the state quarterfinals on Nov. 8th. The Cardinals, who won the 2025 FCIAC Tournament championship by defeating Fairfield Ludlowe on Oct. 29th, play third-seeded Fairfield Warde in today’s (Nov. 12th) Class LL semifinal at Westhill High School in Stamford. The state semifinal-round match is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

The Cardinals won their exciting state semifinal match against the Eagles, 17-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 15-12, with each game being extremely hard-fought.

“It feels really exciting, I know our team has worked so hard and put in so much effort,” Greenwich junior Heidi Zieme said following the semifinal-round win. “I feel like we really deserved this win and we’re really excited to take it to the semifinals.”

Junior Kayah Armstrong recorded 22 kills, five digs and four blocks, senior captain Aleena Jacobsen tallied 16 kills, 12 digs and five aces and Zieme registered 14 digs and eight kills to help propel the Cardinals into the state tourney’s semifinals.

“That was literally the most stressful game of my life, but I’m so glad it ended how it did,” said Armstrong, who earned MVP honors in the recent FCIAC Tournament final. “At the end I started crying, I was so happy I could not believe it.”

Junior Victoria Sullivan amassed 48 assists and 15 digs, while sophomore Bailee Dayon had 25 digs and seven assists in the winning effort. The Cardinals have won their last six matches, but this Class LL semifinal win was their toughest triumph.

“They played out of their minds Trumbull, the defense from them, the offense, the blocking – it was hard to win,” said GHS coach Marianna Linnehan, whose Cardinals made it to the state semifinals in the 2024 Class LL Tournament. “It was like a yo-yo, it was an up-and-down game. I’m proud that we followed through and stayed on it. This is the first time that I’ve seen my players cry of happiness.”

In the fifth and deciding game, the Cardinals trailed 8-6 after Trumbull junior Adriana Castillo posted a kill, prompting a GHS timeout. A kill by Eagles junior Mckenzyi Bell gave the visitors a 10-8 advantage in the fifth set, yet the Cardinals rallied to eventually tie the deciding set at 12-12.

The Cardinals then won the ensuing three points, with Zieme registering a kill in the final one, to take the set, 15-12 and the match, 3-2.

“Obviously, both of our teams were really good,” said Jacobsen, one of the Cards’ captains. “We weren’t ready to lose, we weren’t ready for this to be our last game. We put everything out on that court for each other, for our coach, for everyone that came to watch and support us all season and I think it showed.” 

Said Cardinals senior co-captain Jocelyn Jefferson: “I’m extremely proud, we all went into this game knowing that it was going to be a fight to win, we’re both very good teams. We played amazing, we didn’t give up and we fought until the end.”

Indeed, in volleyball, there’s not much more thrilling for the athletes than competing in a fifth-set, winner take-all scenario.

“During the fifth set, we just had to focus and we needed to keep our energy high so that we can put in all our effort,” Zieme noted. “Nobody would let a ball drop. It was nerve-wracking, but it was also exciting for all of us and we wanted to win so bad that everyone just put everything they had on the court.”

After Greenwich dropped the third game, 26-24, they it knew it couldn’t afford to lose another set if it wanted its memorable season to continue. An ace by Trumbull senior Callie Mcgillicuddy knotted the fourth set up at 11-11, but GHS took the lead for good at 12-11 and played from in front the remainder of the set. Armstrong’s kill sealed the fourth set, giving the hosts a 25-23 win and forcing a fifth set.

“I think we realized it’s either we show up now and play, or our season’s over,” Armstrong said. “Especially for the seniors, if we can’t do it for ourselves, than we have to do it for them – do it for the team. I think that extra hunger is what pushed us through the fifth set. They were playing really well and obviously, nerves were very high, but at the end, we were able to pull through.”

The third game was a back-and-forth affair also, with the Eagles edging the Cards, 26-24. Both teams displayed strong hitting, passing and standout overall play. Trumbull went 0-3 against Greenwich this season, also losing in the FCIAC Tournament semifinals.

“We’ve played them, this is the third time this year, so every time we saw them our goal is to get a little bit better and push them a little more, so that things could maybe fall our way at the end,” Trumbull coach Nicole Trommelen said. “The first time we played them, we lost the third set 25-7, so to come out here and push them to the absolute brink – you don’t want your season to end, but if it does end you want to say you left it all out there and I think we did leave it all out there.”

“Our goal coming into the game was taking it one set at a time,” added Trommelen, whose squad finished the season with a record of 17-7. “You’re never going to beat one of the best teams in the state if you are back on your heels, you have to take it to them. Credit them, they made more plays than we did at the end but you always want to make sure that you attack them and I think we did that.”

After dropping the opening set, 25-17, the Cardinals responded by taking the second set, 25-22, with Armstrong, Zieme and Jacobsen each supplying key kills, set up by Sullivan, the squad’s setter.

“That was really intense,” Sullivan said of the entire match. “We were really on, it was point-for-point and every single point, everyone was on the ground, everyone was cheering. They’re a good team, they really keep up with us, so it kind of becomes more of a back-and-forth battle rather than it being one-sided.”

“We had a little bit of a slow start, but once we got our heads in the game, we were able to bring up our energy, feed the ball to our best hitters and put the ball in play,” Sullivan continued. “I’m so excited and I hope we can go super far.”

Fairfield Warde, Greenwich’s opponent in today’s 5 p.m. Class LL semifinals at Westhill High School, dealt the Cards their lone loss of the season. The Mustangs were victorious against the Cardinals on Oct. 20, 3-1.

“Going into the semis, I know we’re going to carry the same amount of energy and we’re going to persevere as much as we did in this fifth set,” Zieme said. “I know if we have to go to a fifth set, I know we’re going to do so well and keep our energy high.”

“We’re going to do what we’ve been doing all season and focus on what we need to control,” Jacobsen said.

“I think every game now is going to be a championship match,” Linnehan added.