Darien Boys Volleyball -- Undefeated State Champions!

The number one seeded Darien Blue Wave Boys Varsity Volleyball team knocked off the number two seeded Enfield Eagles in four sets to capture the Darien Boys' fourth CIAC State Championship on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at Xavier High School in Middletown, Connecticut.

Darien notched seventeen consecutive regular season wins, three consecutive FCIAC tournament wins, and three consecutive CIAC tournament wins to compile a perfect 23-0 record over the course of the spring 2021 season. Achieving a perfect record was quite remarkable given that six of the Darien starters throughout the season were first year players -- Griffith Crouse, Trey Davenport, Trevor Herget, Isaac McMullin, and Lukas Smith.

Strong veteran leadership from seniors Will Olson, Frank Pirone, and Zarek Swetye, along with junior, Luke Bradbury helped Darien play with consistency and poise. If Darien fell behind early in a set, it was the veterans who settled their teammates and kept them focused.

Darien lost the first set of the championship match to Enfield. However, The Blue Wave played only slightly below their potential. The Enfield Eagles were emotionally charged and fueled by adrenalin. The Wave were a little tight and hit too many serves and kills into the net. Will Olson entered the game in the second set and proved to have such a calming affect on Darien that he played in all of the final three sets. As Enfield's energy waned and the effects of the adrenalin wore off, Darien just kept playing their game and never got rattled. Coach Laurie LaRusso* is a master at calling timeouts at the right time and then using the break to refocus her players. Lukas Smith made an important block midway through the second set that seemed to be the turning point of the game and when Olson entered the game he helped the team gain confidence with each point. Eventually Darien started playing like the championship caliber team they are. By the final set the Blue Wave Boys were totally in control and pulled away to a relatively easy 25-16 victory.

As the game progressed Darien kept getting better. Griffith Crouse started serving aces. He also made serves that were hard for Enfield to handle and became free balls for Darien. Bradbury, Herget, and Pirone were leaping to the rafters and making unreturnable kills.

Lukas Smith and Will Olson blocked several kill attempts and distrupted Enfield's offense. Bradbury, Herget, Pirone, and Swetye also tended the net very well and each had important blocks and dumps.

Darien had several players who were ranked as top players in the state and nation. Herget and Pirone are ranked in the top ten in Connecticut in Hitting Percentage. Herget and Bradbury are top five in the state in Kills and Pirone is top twenty five. Swetye, who played Setter for the first time in his career this season and received the great honor of being voted Most Valuable Player by his teammates, ended up ranked as the number two Setter in the state in Assists and the number five server of Aces -- statistics that would make him arguably the top Setter in the state. Herget and Bradbury are ranked numbers one and two in the state, respectively, in serving Aces. Pirone is ranked eighth in the state in Blocks. Bradbury, Herget, and McMullin are all ranked in the top 25 in the state in Digs.

Herget is ranked fifteenth in the nation in Hitting Percentage. Herget is ranked eleventh and Bradbury fiftieth in the nation in Kills. Swetye is ranked sixteenth in the nation in Assists. Herget, Bradbury, and Swetye are ranked eighth, tenth, and nineteenth, respectively, in the nation in serving Aces.

With these numbers it is understandable that Bradbury, Herget, Pirone, and Swetye were placed on the All-FCIAC and All-State teams and helped to deliver an undefeated season.

The Darien Boys will begin the 2022 season riding a 36 game regular season win streak. They have not lost a game in regular season in over two years. Their last regular season loss was at home on March 30, 2019 and since then they are on a 26 home game winning streak. This win streak is a tribute to the hard work and sacrifice the boys made over the course of the season. It is also a tribute to the hard work Coach Laurie LaRusso makes to ensure her players are ready for the game and for life after the games have ended. Anytime an opponent steps into the gymnasium of Darien High School they know it will be tough to win on Laurie LaRusso's court.

*Laurie LaRusso's Darien High School Varsity Girls teams won 140 consecutive games from 2001 to 2008. [mic drop]