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Volleyball
Team Effort Carries Darien Past Trumbull For Second Straight League Title
The Ruden Report
11.05.2023
By John Nash
Reporting from Fairfield
Last year, as a junior, Darien volleyball setter Aubrey Moore enjoyed every single second of the Blue Wave’s run to the FCIAC championship.
This fall, as a senior captain, to repeat as champions meant a whole lot more to Moore, her twin sister Ellie, fellow tri-captain Ayla Schenck, and all of the Blue Wave’s five seniors.
Top-seeded Darien defended its league championship on Saturday at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, holding off a third-seeded Trumbull team that fought to the bitter end, 3-1 (25-15, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21).
“I didn’t realize last year how special this was,” said Aubrey Moore, who was named the FCIAC championship game MVP after dishing out 40 assists for the Wave. “I love sharing this with my seniors and we really wanted this.”
After controlling things in the opening set, the Wave found themselves in a fight over the next three sets, eking out close wins as the Eagles tried to stay alive.
Even after Darien took a 2-0 lead, edging Trumbull 25-23 in the second game, the Eagles answered to win the third set 26-24.
Trumbull then raced out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth set, forcing Darien coach Laurie LoRusso to burn an early time out.
The Wave heard her message loud and clear.
“It’s hard when you’re up, to mentally stay there and not relax,” Aubrey Moore said. “She talked about our mental state and finishing it out point-by-point. I think she thought we were thinking about the end and we just had to focus on the next point. We had to stay in the moment.”
With the fourth-set score 24-21, Wave junior Savannah Leone’s kill deflected off a Trumbull defender and went into the crowd, and Darien had its moment.
“They just made more plays,” Trumbull coach Nicole Trommelen said. “I think late in the set, a couple of times, they just stayed a little more aggressive and that made the difference.”
Ellie Moore had 16 kills to lead the Darien effort. Marin Black added 10 kills and five blocks. Brooke Leone chipped in with seven kills while Savannah Leone and Katelyn Erdlen had five kills each.
Ari Gjonbalaj had a game-high 17 kills for the Eagles. Claire Davis added 13 more. The Eagles notched 14 blocks as a team, led by Gjonbalaj (4), Davis (3) and Rylan Massey (3).
Darien opened the match, racing out to an 8-1 lead behind Black, who notched three of her team’s first five points on blocks.
“Coach has put an emphasis this season that everybody is out to get us, so we just practice like we play,” Black said. “We make sure we compete in practice so when it comes to game day, it’s easier than practice.”
Despite losing the opening set by 10 points, Trumbull bounced back to prove it wouldn’t be a walk-over for the Wave.
The Eagles quickly raced out to an 8-2 lead and led for most of the set.
With the Eagles up 22-17, however, Darien went on a 7-1 tear to close out a 25-23 advantage that gave the Wave a 2-0 lead.
Kills by Black and the Leone sisters, Brooke and Savannah, clinched the match.
“There are so many weapons on this team,” Black said. “It’s so nice to have such an amazing team with such great players.”
It was the Wave that jumped out to the early lead in the third game, leading 9-4 and forcing Trommelen to use a timeout.
The Eagles kept fighting and behind Davis and Gjonbalaj, the Eagles tied the set at 16-16.
The teams traded points to remain tied up to 21-21 before the Eagles won back-to-back points to get within striking distance of taking the set and keeping the match alive.
Darien simply answered with back-to-back points of its own to tie the match at 23-23.
A kill from Gjonbalaj gave the Eagles set point, but a back-row kill from Ellie Moore tied it again.
Davis’ kill for Trumbull made it 25-24 and when Darien hit the ensuing serve out, the Eagles stayed alive.
“(Trumbull is) such a great team,” Aubrey Moore said. “You have to give them credit. They make it hard to score. It was tough to see what was working and what was not.”
Trailing 6-3 early in the fourth set, LoRusso’s sage timeout would soon right the ship.
“We regrouped and we just told each other to trust each other,” Ellie Moore said.
Darien tied the match at 9-9 and went on a 7-2 tear to take a 16-11 lead.
Trumbull kept battling but it was the Wave that closed out the match, taking its second straight FCIAC championship in the process.
It means so much. We’ve been working so hard to do this and there has been a lot we’ve had to deal with in terms of the pressure and putting together a new team,” Ellie Moore said. “For us to repeat, it’s so hard to do so, and it just shows all the hard work is worth it.”
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