Overtime

Taylor Willis, a captain on the 2007 Darien High School volleyball team, asked if she could address a letter to the members of the current team and I have agreed. I will not be taking any comments on this posting. DR

The Darien Volleyball program is an amazing program that takes great girls and makes them even more extraordinary young ladies. We would like to wish the Darien Volleyball team good luck in the FCIAC and CIAC tournament.

Love Taylor Willis, Darien Volleyball Captain 2007 and the Willis Family.

The following is a quote that Coach gives all of her players:

THE MAN IN THE GLASS

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife,

Whose judgment upon you must pass.

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life,

Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum

And think you’re a wonderful guy.

But the person in the glass says you’re only a bum

If you can’t look him straight in the eye

He’s the fellow to please-never mind all the rest,

For he’s with you clear to the end.

And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test,

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass.

But your final reward will be heartache and tears,

If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

(Cayleigh Griffin, a senior captain on the Trinity Catholic High School volleyball team, will be blogging about her experiences this season.)

By Cayleigh Griffin

OMG.

Those three letters alone stand for all the emotions that filled the Trinity Catholic girls volleyball team Tuesday night. Upon entering the gym, we were the seventh-seeded team in the FCIAC facing the second-seeded, 16-2 Falcons of Fairfield Ludlowe.

Just last week, we played Ludlowe and fell short of a victory, 3-2. After a few key wins in the final games of our regular season, we were granted a second shot to prove ourselves.

We entered the gym in typical fashion, blasting “Don’t Stop Believin” from the team boombox, to find no one there, allowing for some time to ourselves.

As warm-ups began, the nerves and excitement kicked in and all of us were ready to go. After winning the first two games and taking a solid six-point lead in the third, we could smell a sweep of the second seed.

Ludlowe, however, is the second seed for a reason and battled back to finish off game three and steal game four, setting the stage for a repeat of our last meeting.

Eileen Ornousky started off the game with four points, while the remainder of the game was back and forth.  Kelly Palma’s block keyed the intensity for the rest of the game. After two serving errors by Ludlowe late in the game, Maddy Rooney stepped up to the line. A Ludlowe mistake gave us game point at 16-15. A double fault was called on the next play when a player from both teams hit the net. Maddy then fired off a blistering serve, acing the point, and the celebration erupted.

All six seniors jumped on top of each other, a mix of screaming, crying and hugging. One moment I will probably never forget was seeing Maddy so overwhelmed with happiness that she broke down in tears in the arms of all of us.

Our families and friends were all so proud of our accomplishment, and in typical Trinity fashion the fans made the trek from Stamford in droves.

Every win at this point is something we are especially proud of. We finally realize that we made this tournament for a reason and we can continue to compete and move forward.

Besides Maddy’s game-winning ace, two other plays stood out in my mind. One came off the hands of Eileen Ornousky. She was able to dig the ball up from a killer middle hit and sent it over the heads of every Ludlowe girl on the court to score in the deep corner.  My other favorite play was a monstrous kill from Tina Boehn off a pass from Ludlowe’s libero.

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Clare O’Leary on her first official block of the season!!

Today, we take on third-seeded Greenwich at 5 p.m. at Ludlowe for the semifinals of the FCIAC tournament. We all understand the task at hand and our roles as teammates in order to leave successfully.  You can bet we’ll leave everything we’ve got on the court. Round two, a new goal, and we’re ready.

(Cayleigh Griffin, a senior captain on the Trinity Catholic High School volleyball team, will be blogging about her experiences this season.)

By Cayleigh Griffin

Since day one of preseason, the Trinity Catholic girls volleyball team has had a great deal of objectives we’ve wanted to achieve and a lot we’ve wanted to prove.

After just barely making the state tournament my junior year, the six seniors set high but accomplishable standards and goals for our final season in a Crusader uniform: make the state tournament, make FCIACs and win the city title.

After our eighth win, the team was able to check off the goal of making states. Within a week, we were absolutely ecstatic to check off the goal of making the FCIAC tournament. The team has not made FCIACs since 1997; delivering this accomplishment is one that has made our school proud, as well as earning the respect of fellow teams in the league.

Lucky for us, Danbury lost to Warde, which would allow us to move into the seventh seed with a win over Stamford on our senior night.

Of course senior night was very emotional. Because all six starters are seniors, it’s hard to believe we have traveled through an entire season and embarked on a journey three months ago that has landed us in a place we can only describe as awesome.

Each senior was filled with a mix of sadness and happiness, as well as butterflies and excitement.  There was no better way to host our last regular season home game than by playing Stamford for the city title in front of a packed gymnasium. The energy surrounding Walsh Court and what was at stake pushed each of us to go the extra mile. In the end, Catholic volleyball came out victorious, winning its first city title since the trophy’s inaugural year.

Today, we travel to Fairfield Ludlowe for a 6 p.m. game in the first round of the FCIAC tournament. We faced the Falcons last week and took this number two seed to five games.

We know how we can play, considering we have shown our full potential in a number of recent games.  It seems as if all six of us are in the right mindset coming into the postseason and realize we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We are the underdog, but I think that is just where we would like to be. Our confidence in each other and our teamwork is contagious and swells with each well-played game.

As we enter the postseason, our goals have clearly changed. We accomplished the lofty goals we set for ourselves in the beginning, and now, our goals of making it to the FCIAC championship and pulling out the win, as well as a state championship, are in sight.  It starts today and we’re ready.

Here are the latest football polls:

Connecticut Sports Writers Association

Also Receiving Votes: Holy Cross 7-0 167; Conard 7-0 103; Cheshire 6-1 95; Bloomfield 7-0 84; Bridgeport Central 6-1 76; Avon 7-0 57; Montville 6-1 51; St. Joseph 6-1 29; Simsbury 6-1 23; Berlin 6-1 18; East Lyme 6-1 10; Ansonia 5-2 8; Vinal Tech/Coginchaug 7-0 8; Wolcott 6-1 7; Cromwell 6-1 5; Ridgefield 6-1 4; Trumbull 5-2 4; Northwest Catholic 6-1 3; St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills 6-1 3; Coventry/Windham Tech 6-1 2; Newtown 6-1 2; Windsor 5-2 2; Bethel 6-1 1; Darien 5-2 1

Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Johnny Burnham (Bristol Press), Bryant Carpenter (Meriden Record-Journal), Henry Chisholm (Connecticut Post), Ray Curren (Elm City Newspapers), Garrett Dale (Torrington Register Citizen), Anthony Della Calce (Central CT weeklies), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 104.7 FM), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Mark Jaffee (Waterbury Republican), Larry Kelley (Times Community Newspapers), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), Robert Mayer (Berlin/Plainville/Southington Citizen), Matt Norlander (Darien/New Canaan News-Review), Tim Parry (FCIAC Football Blog), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Ryan Pipke (New Britain Herald), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Jesse Quinlan (Greenwich Time), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Steve Sellers (Shore Publishing Newspapers), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)

New Haven Register

1. New Canaan              (7-0)            (20)           624
2. Staples                      (7-0)                               546
3. Glastonbury                (7-0)                               538
4. Masuk                        (7-0)                               464
5. Pomperaug                (7-0)                              457
6. New London               (6-0)                              394
7. Xavier                         (6-1)                               321
8. Notre Dame-W.H.       (6-1)                              320
9. Hamden                      (6-1)                              314
10. Greenwich                (6-1)                              256
Others receiving votes: Holy Cross (7-0), 224; Cheshire (6-1), 191; Bloomfield (7-0), 146; Conard (7-0) and Montville (6-1), 127; Bridgeport Central (6-1), 88; Avon (7-0), 52; Simsbury (6-1), 40; Ridgefield (6-1), 21; East Lyme (6-1), 20; St. Joseph (6-1), 19; Wolcott (6-1), 12; Berlin (6-1), 11; Trumbull (5-2), 10; Shelton (4-3), 9; Ansonia (5-2), New Britain (4-3) and Watertown (4-3), 8.

The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, SportingNewsCT.com; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; Henry Chisholm, Connecticut Post; Garrett Dale, Register Citizen; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, Norwalk Hour; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, The Herald of New Britain; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.

The FCIAC released its latest football standings this afternoon and New Canaan and Staples again occupy the top two spots.

Unlike last weekend, where there were a series of shakeups, this past weekend was characterized by one-sided blowouts.

With Greenwich hosting New Canaan next Friday night, and Ridgefield playing Trumbull, the playoff picture should gain greater clarity.

Team                        Overall         FCIAC      Points       Avg.
New Canaan              7-0              6-0             750         125.0
Staples                        7-0               7-0            850         121.4
Bridgeport Central       6-1               6-1             750          107.1
Greenwich                  6-1               6-1              720          102.9
St. Joseph                   6-1                5-1             610           101.7
Ridgefield                   6-1                 5-1             590            98.3
Trumbull                     5-2                5-2             630            90.0
Darien                         5-2                4-2             450             75.0
Fairfield-Warde           4-3                  3-3            360            60.0
Fairfield-Ludlowe         3-4                  3-4            340            48.6
Wilton                         2-5                  2-4            240            40.0
Stamford                      2-5                 2-5            260             37.1
Norwalk                      2-5                 2-5            220              31.4
McMahon                   2-5                 2-5            220              31.4
Westhill                      2-5                 2-5             210              30.0
Trinity                          2-5                 1-5             120              20.0
Danbury                       1-6                1-6             120                17.1
Bassick                         1-6                1-6             120                17.1
Harding                        0-7               0-7                0                     0