The Greenwich High girls volleyball team’s season came to a heartbreaking end Wednesday night as Ridgefield knocked off the top-seeded Cardinals in a five-set loss (15-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-9).
Trailing two sets to none, Ridgefield made an improbable run to force a decisive fifth and final set with a trip to the Class LL title game on the line.
“We had two options,” said Ridgefield head coach Lidania Cibere. “We could’ve gone down 3-0 to a great Greenwich team, No. 1 in the state obviously, whom we lost to 0-3 before, or we could stick around and fight.”
In the third set, a shift of momentum was felt towards the fourth-seeded Tigers of Ridgefield after battling Greenwich to a 24-24 score, and rallying to take the set 26-24.
A victory in the fourth set for Ridgefield would set up the shortened final set that would play a mirror image to the outline of the entire match: An early Greenwich lead, a back-and-forth battle with plenty of ties, and eventually Ridgefield pulling away to prevail.
Greenwich had as much as a three-point lead in the fifth set at 6-3 before slowly giving up the lead. With the score tied at 9-9, the Tigers rallied with five straight points to complete the incredible comeback and a spot in the LL Finals.
“We have our boys team who wins all the time,” said Ridgefield’s Elizabeth Middlebrook. “Finally, we said, we’re the girls team and we’re going to get to states.”
In the program’s first ever girls state semifinal game, Ridgefield will now have a chance to hang their first state banner with a win over Stamford High School in the championship match.
“It’s just the best feeling right now,” said Middlebrook. “I’m on a game high. We’re all so ready to play for each other, I only expect the best for us.”
Cibere echoed her players’ desire for a chance to be playing for a state final.
“We’ve won the last three on the boys side,” said Cibere. “A lot of these girls were my managers for the boys team. I am just so happy for them to be playing for a state title. Our journey continues.”
Greenwich’s Morgan Rafferty had 22 kills, two aces, and four digs. Nadia Sotgiu had nine kills and an ace to go with 12 digs. Tara Ford had four blocks in an impressive performance and Micaela Lew had 10 digs in the loss.
“They are a great team and we didn’t put it away when we had the shot,” said Greenwich head coach Steve Lapham. “That third game was rough.”
The Ridgefield rally earns them a spot in Saturday’s Class LL title game match against FCIAC foe Stamford High.
