Darien Girls Volleyball Falls to Southington, 3-1

UPDATES

Girls volleyball: The Darien girls volleyball team's string of consecutive appearances in the state finals ended at 10 Thursday night as the top-seeded Blue Wave fell to Southington 3-1  (23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23) in the Class LL semifinals at Milford's Foran High School.

The defeat also marks the second consecutive year that Darien's first loss came in the state final. Last season, the Blue Wave were swept by East Lyme 3-0 in the Class L championship game, ending their string of nine straight state titles.

Because of a complicated size formula, Darien was forced to move up a class. The Blue Wave finished their season at 23-1 while Southington (21-1) advanced to the Class LL final for the second time in three years.

Thursday's loss marks the first time since 1992 that Darien has gone consecutive years without winning a state championships. The Blue Wave captured titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999 before beginning their run of nine in a row in 2009.

Southington will face Newtown, a 3-0 winner over Cheshire on Thursday, in the state final on Saturday.

Katie Stueber recorded nine digs, four blocks and 13 points and 13 kills for Darien. Charlett Stevenson chipped in with 12 digs and 12 kills while Nina  Preston added 24 assists for the Blue Wave.

Darien won the first set, but couldn't hold on to sizeable leads in the next two - 18-12 in the second and 16-11 in the third.

Women's soccer: Kenyon College women's soccer players Alex Bair and Samantha Johnston, both of Darien, have been selected to the all-Great Lakes Region teams.

Bair, a sophomore, played in all 18 games this past season, starting 17. She tied for the team lead in goals (6) and points (14). She also had two assists and three of her six goals were game-winners for the Ladies, who went 7-11 overall and 7-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Bair was one of just 16 players named to the All-Great Lakes Region first team.

Johnston, a freshman, took on more of a defensive role for the Ladies and worked her way on to the All-Great Lakes Region second team. She helped the Ladies hold opponents to an average of 2.22 goals per game and aided in four Kenyon shutout victories. On the offensive end, Johnston chipped in with three goals. With the award, Johnston became the first Kenyon freshman to be named to an NFHCA All-Region team.

Junior football: The DJYL seventh-grade White team takes on on Fairfield Blue in the Fairfield County Football League championship game on Saturday. The contest will be played at 10:30 a.m. at Darien High School.

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Field hockey

Wilton 3, Darien 2 (OT), Class M semifinals

Girls volleyball

Southington 3, Darien 1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23), Class LL semifinals

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE

No games scheduled

STANDINGS

• Football

• Boys soccer

• Girls soccer

• Field hockey

• Girls volleyball

Correction: Alex Bair's name was incorrectly spelled "Blair" at one place in a previous version of this article.