New coach.
Same double championship results.
One year after the Darien High School girls’ volleyball program won FCIAC and state championships in the 42nd and final year of its legendary coach Laurie LaRusso, the Blue Wave defended those titles under the helm of first-year head coach Carson Mafrice.
Mafrice, LaRusso’s reliable assistant coach the previous two years, helped make it quite the successful transition in guiding her Blue Wave girls to a pair of three-peat seasons with them winning the FCIAC and Class L state championships for the third consecutive season.
The marvelous season Darien had was certainly earned as the Blue Wave encountered some strong opposition during the regular season and in both postseason tournaments.
It was a successful year for FCIAC girls’ volleyball in general as the conference had several teams which had solid seasons.
Darien won the 2024 FCIAC Girls Volleyball Tournament championship with a 3-1 victory over a very good Greenwich team which defeated Darien during the regular season to end Darien’s 63-match winning streak which included back-to-back 25-0 seasons in 2022 and 2023.
Savannah Leone had 19 digs, four kills, three blocks, and six assists, senior middle hitter Marin Black had 11 kills and eight blocks, and freshman Marlene Davis had 31 assists, nine digs and three aces to lead Darien to the win by the scores of 25-19, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22 at Stamford High School’s Paul Kuczo Gymnasium on Oct. 30.
Greenwich’s senior setter Sarah Bernann had 37 assists, four kills, three aces, and three digs to lead the Cardinals.
The teams were tied at 1-1 after the first two sets and Greenwich had a 23-21 lead in the pivotal third set. But then the Blue Wave scored the next four points to win that set and then the championship-clinching following set. Black’s 11th and final kill ended the match and ignited the Darien celebration.
Savannah Leone, Darien’s superb senior setter, was named the MVP of both championship matches at the FCIAC and Class L state tournaments.
Savannah Leone had 40 assists, 25 digs and three blocks and her twin sister, Brooke Leone, had 19 kills, 13 digs and five aces to help the resilient Blue Wave overcome a 2-0 deficit and rally back for the 3-2 victory over Glastonbury in the championship match of the 2024 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class LL Girls Volleyball Tournament at East Haven High School on Nov. 16. Darien won by the scores of 19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-12
Black had 15 kills and two blocks, Katelyn Erdlen had nine kills and a pair of blocks, and Davis had 25 digs to help contribute to Darien winning the program’s 20th overall state championship.
Darien finished the season with a 24-2 record and a 10-match winning streak and was ranked No. 1 in the final Connecticut Coaches Poll.
Darien received 12 of the 15 first-place votes and 294 polling points to leap up to the top spot after having been ranked fourth in the previous poll. Glastonbury (20-6), which got 232 polling points, was No. 2.
Class L state champion Farmington (25-2) received 216 polling points to finish No. 3, fourth-ranked Southington (23-2) got 196 points, and they both received one first-place vote.
Greenwich, which finished 23-3 and was ranked No. 2 in the previous poll, received 156 polling points to end up No. 5.
Bristol Central (16-10) was 10 points behind Greenwich at No. 6 and Class M state champion Joel Barlow (24-2) was No. 7 and the recipient of the other first-place vote. RHAM (20-4) was ranked No. 8.
Trumbull was the third FCIAC team among the top nine as the 18-7 Eagles and Amity (17-3) were tied for the No. 9. Woodstock Academy (21-6) and Class S state champion Valley Regional (24-2) were tied for No. 10.
Fairfield Warde received 18 polling points for the 13th most and was the first team listed in the Others receiving votes category. Fairfield Ludlowe got the 17th most points.
Darien, Greenwich, Staples and Fairfield Ludlowe all advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class LL state tournament.
Darien lost the first set of the semifinal match against Greenwich and the Blue Wave advanced to the championship match with a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals by the scores of 18-25, 25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 15-11.
Darien lost at home to Fairfield Ludlowe, 3-2 on Oct. 16, and then finished its season with 10 consecutive wins.
In the state Class LL quarterfinals: second-seeded Greenwich defeated seventh-seeded Fairfield Ludlowe, 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-21), and No. 3 Darien beat No. 22 Staples, 3-0 (25-20, 25-11, 25-15).
Greenwich’s 3-0 home victory over Darien on Oct. 7 ended Darien’s 63-match winning streak and propelled coach Marianna Linnehan’s Greenwich Cardinals to a 15-0 conference record and the No. 1 seed in the FCIAC tourney. Darien and Trumbull tied for second at 13-2 and Darien earned the No. 2 seed via the tiebreaker of its 3-1 win at Trumbull on Sept. 28. Fairfield Ludlowe was 12-3 in the FCIAC to earn the No. 4 seed. Fairfield Warde (11-4) was seeded fifth and followed by No. 6 Ridgefield (9-6), No. 7 Staples (8-7), and No. 8 Westhill (8-7).
The four winners in the FCIAC quarterfinals all won by 3-0 shutouts – Greenwich over Westhill, Darien over Staples, Trumbull over Ridgefield, and No. 5 Fairfield Warde over No. 4 Fairfield Ludlowe.
In the Oct. 28 semifinals at Stamford High’s Paul Kuczo Gym, Greenwich shut out Fairfield, 3-0, and Darien advanced to the championship with a 3-0 shutout victory over Trumbull.
Black and Savannah Leone of Darien, Greenwich’s Bernann, and Fairfield Warde’s sophomore setter Laila Henry were the four players selected to both the 2024 All-FCIAC Girls Volleyball First Team and the 2024 GametimeCT All-State Girls Volleyball First Team.
Black, who had 242 kills and 62 blocks this season, was also selected to the 2024 Connecticut High School Coaches Association All-State First Team. Last year she made the All-FCIAC Second Team and GameTimeCT All-State Second Team. Savannah Leone had 706 assists, 130 kills, 57 aces and 44 blocks and she also made the CHSCA All-State Second Team.
Bernann racked up 722 assists this year and was selected to the CHSCA All-State Second Team. Henry collected 631 assists, 115 kills, 66 blocks, 32 aces, and 215 digs this year. She made CHSCA All-State Second Team this year and last year she was picked to the All-FCIAC Second Team as a freshman.
Trumbull’s senior outside hitter Ava Kunkel, and Greenwich’s senior middle hitter Alina Sarkissian and her senior teammate, Joy Houdre, were selected to the All-FCIAC First Team and GameTimeCT All-State Second Team. Sarkissian made the All-FCIAC Second Team last year.
Westhill’s senior outside hitter Defne Ceken was among the eight players selected All-FCIAC First Team and she also made GameTimeCT All-State Honorable Mention. Ceken was selected to the All-FCIAC Second Team last year.
Brooke Leone made the All-FCIAC Second Team and GameTimeCT All-State Second Team this year.
The other 10 players selected to the 2024 All-FCIAC Girls Volleyball Second Team included Eleanor Cowan and Annika Carlson of Fairfield Ludlowe, Brenna Williams and Malina Patel of Ridgefield, Emma Guster of Staples, Darien’s Katelyn Erdlen, St. Joseph’s Kelli Ennis, Stamford’s Natalie Hobbick, Trumbull’s Bailey Wright, and Fairfield Warde’s Ivy Ann Feay.
The eight players who made the All-FCIAC Third Team were Brooke Shaughnessy of Staples, New Canaan’s Mia Lockyer, Greenwich’s Cameron Clark, Brien McMahon’s Amaya Acevedo, Westhill’s Angela Russell, Danbury’s Zuzana Barnovsky, Trumbull’s Ali Link, and Wilton’s Sophia Viggiano.