Darien Volleyball Comes Back Over Glastonbury To Grab 20th State Title

EAST HAVEN, CT —Near the halfway point of Saturday's Class LL girls volleyball championship match at East Haven High School, something definitely seemed out of the ordinary.

Could it be 19-time state champion Darien, which had won each of its most recent seven crowns in three-set sweeps, found itself down two sets to none? Could it be the fact Laurie LaRuss0, Blue Wave coach for more than four decades, was not patrolling the sidelines, having retired after last season's second consecutive title?

Whatever the difference was, it went away, but not early enough for Glastonbury, which was hoping for its second state title in school history. The first came in Class L in 1993; ironically, that was the same year Darien won Class M for its first championship.

The Blue Wave recuperated enough to win the third game, then came from behind late in the fourth to even the match at two sets apiece, setting up a race-to-15 run for the roses.

After bouncing back and forth between the two squads, Darien seized control late in the tiebreaking set, posting a 15-12 victory which earned the first championship for the new regime of coach Carson Mafrice.

Game scores were 19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22 and 15-12.

Savannah Leone paced the winners with 40 assists and 25 digs, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Brooke Leone had 19 kills and 13 digs, Marlene Davis added 25 digs, and Marin Black recorded 15 kills.

Reese Henderson had 26 kills and McKenna Reynolds contributed 45 assists and 14 digs to lead the Guardians.