Staples Beats Darien To Win Eighth Straight FCIAC Volleyball Crown

It looked for all the world like an upset in the making.

Down two games to none, the Darien boys' volleyball team had just taken a hard-fought game from Staples, the seven-time county champion.

The Blue Wave had led by 17-12, only to see the Wreckers battle back to 21-21. Darien won four of the next six points, with Calder Billhardt slamming home the final point as the Wavers won the third game, 25-23.

The stage was set for a repeat of the FCIAC semifinal in which Darien, down 0-2 in games, stormed back to beat second seeded Ridgefield, 3-2.

"We really wanted to calm everything down and just look forward to the fourth game, not look back at the third game," Staples quad-captain Mikey Fitzgerald. "We focused on the basics, just got our passes up, took our sets, and contained Darien's offense."

The basics worked for the Wreckers, who took the fourth game, clinching their eighth straight FCIAC championship and their 99th consecutive match victory.

Fitzgerald (17 assists, 8 kills, 9 blocks) went so far as to provide Evan Gaumert (9 kills, 11 service points) with the final set of the game, which Gaumert pounded into the Darien defense for the 25th point of Staples' 25-17 final-game win.

"It was a great pass from Andrew [Glenn] (18 digs, 6 service points) and I basically jump set it," Fitzgerald said. "I knew I was going to Evan. He had a hot hand the whole game and they couldn't really touch him, so I threw it up to him and he did the rest, put it away."

The final game had the widest scoring spread of the match.

The Wreckers won the first game,  25-23, with their first lead coming at 14-13 before Darien rallied to lead by as many as three.

Gaumert took over service with his team trailing, 20-18, and got support in the form of three blocks, one from Fitzgerald and two from Steve Denowitz.

"I've been working on my blocks a lot and I've been trying to get them up," Denowitz said. "The team was really helping me. Right after I got my first one, the team kept on saying, 'You can get this next one, you can get this next one." I was like, OK, so I got it. With the help of my team, I was able to do it."

In the second game, Billhardt led Darien's six-point run  - the longest by either team - to a 6-3 lead, but the Wreckers chipped away, passing well.  Tom Prenderville (20 kills, 3 blocks, 7 service points, 5 digs) served them into a commanding 23-16 lead, highlighted by a glistening sequence with Bloom passing to Fitzgerald, who set Matt Brill (4 kills, 3 blocks) for a resounding spike.

Neither team could put together a run of more than three points in the third game, with the Wave outlasting the Wreckers, before Staples settled down and earned yet another championship plaque for their display case.

"The best thing about it was we kept control on our side," said Staples head coach Bruce Betts, who was named FCIAC volleyball coach of the year. "We hustled really, really hard tonight. It still goes back to how hard our guys worked on defense. Defense and passing, defense and passing, that's how we win ball games and it's worked for quite a while for us now.

"I'm just really proud of these guys cause they have worked so very hard. It's not just the six or eight or nine guys who go on the court. It takes 17 guys to get to this point."

The Wreckers won the Eastern Division championship, as well as the FCIAC tournament championship. They now begin their third championship season as they chase yet another state title.