Darien Volleyball Dethroned As Class L State Champions

It had to stop at some point. The Darien girls' volleyball team wasn't going to keep winning state championships forever.

East Lyme ended Darien's volleyball dynasty Saturday, defeating the Blue Wave, 25-21, 25-15, 25-17, in the CIAC Class L state final at Glastonbury High School.

As suprising as the result itself was, perhaps even more stunning was the convincing manner in which the second-seeded Vikings (21-1) dethroned the defending nine-time state champions.

Darien (24-1) settled for the runner-up trophy, marking the first time since 2000 it did not win a state title.

"It's a disappointment," Darien senior captain Mackenzie Begley said, "but someone has to win and someone has to lose, so today just wasn't our day. They played a great game. They came out strong. They just came out stronger than us."

The defeat ended a 73-game winning streak for the Blue Wave, who lost for the only the fourth time this decade (246-4).

They were beaten by an opponent that played confidently and agressively with nothing to lose.

"They're a great team," said East Lyme's Molly Giannattasio, the tournament's Most Valuable Player. "But they haven't had to deal with us yet. The Vikings came to town. We did some work."

While Darien was seeking its 16th state championship since 1993, East Lyme won its first state title in school history.

"We have heard that great teams have gone against Darien and fallen 0-3," Giannattasio added. "We didn't want to leave that legacy. We didn't want to be the runner-up, so we came out on top."

At the start, Darien seemed jittery or distracted and never really got into the match.

The Blue Wave committed numerous unforced errors and 10 of East Lyme's first 12 points came on Darien mistakes. The Blue Wave lost 10 points on service errors, including five in the first game.

"I think we definitely were playing not to lose instead of playing to win today," Begley said.

Darien couldn't put together any extended runs. Its longest streak was a pair of four-point runs, one in the first game and one in the second.

The Blue Wave's last lead came at 14-12 in the first set. East Lyme then ripped off six straigt points to take control of the match early.

Darien sliced a 15-8 deficit in the second game to 15-12, but the Vikings responded with five in a row to put the Blue Wave in deep trouble.

One sort of knew it was going to be the Vikings' day when Megan Donahue kept a rally alive late in the second game with her foot, kicking the ball to a teammate, which is a legal play.

East Lyme played inspired volleyball, seemingly returning everything. Begley admitted the Vikings' defensive prowess  caught the Blue Wave off guard.

"Everything came back and I think that did take us by surprise," she said. "They didn't let anything hit the floor. Even the stuff that we thought hit the floor was still up."

Darien tried to keep the finale close, three times rallying within a point, the last at 13-12.

But East Lyme wasn't going to be denied on the day it ended one of Connecticut's longest-running high school sports' dynasties - at least for now.

Darien graduates only three seniors - Begley, Emma Getsinger and Bella Carra, so, don't be shocked to see the Blue Wave back in the final next year.