By David Fierro
One of the characteristics of a championship team is how it responds to adverse situations, well Greenwich High School’s varsity girls volleyball team faced adversity when it lost the first set to Glastonbury in the championship game of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, so how did the Cardinals respond?
Like the championship team they are, of course.
Losing the first game made Greenwich come back stronger thereafter and Glastonbury certainly felt the Cardinals power.
Top-seeded Greenwich, which recently won the FCIAC Tournament title, earned the title as ‘state champions,’ capturing the CIAC Class LL Tournament championship with a decisive 3-1 win over fourth-seeded Glastonbury in the finals at East Haven High School before a large, enthusiastic bipartisan crowd on Nov. 15th. The victory put the finishing touch on a memorable season that saw the Cardinals register an incredible record of 25-1 on their way to winning the program’s third state volleyball championship.
Cardinals junior outside hitter Heidi Zieme was named the MVP of the championship match. Zieme recorded an eye-opening 20 kills, 15 digs and two aces for the 2025 champion Cardinals.
“From our first practice, our coach wrote down what our goal was on the board and it was wins states and win FCIACs,” Zieme said. “Throughout our whole season, our whole team put in everything they had and really wanted it. From the very beginning, we came in knowing we could do it.”
As for being named MVP?
“It feels really exciting, I came in here wanting to put everything I had on the court, so to get MVP really means a lot,” Zieme said.
Junior middle hitter Kayah Armstrong tallied 12 kills, five digs and five blocks, while senior outside hitter/captain Aleena Jacobsen notched 15 digs, 22 kills and three aces for Greenwich, which won the match, 24-26, 25-20, 25-9, 25-20.
Jacobsen, who helped ignite Greenwich offensively and defensively, recalled when the team discussed their expectations at the beginning of the season.
“Last winter, we had meetings with our coach and she was like ‘what’s your goal for the season and I walked in and said, ‘my goal is to be FCIAC and state champions.’ Being here on the other side of it, knowing how hard we worked in and out of practice – I’m just so proud of everyone.”
Junior setter Victoria Sullivan helped facilitate the offense as she has all season, posting 44 assists. Sullivan added five digs, three kills and served three aces in the winning effort.
How does the title champion Cardinals sound, Sullivan was asked?
“It sounds amazing, it’s super exciting. 2021 was the last time we were able to win this banner,” Sullivan said. “We really just turned it on in the second match.”
Greenwich’s other CIAC Class LL state tournament titles were won in 2021 and 2010.
“This is the first time I’ve ever won states and FCIACs in my playing and coaching career, so it’s a very different feeling to be on the other end of that,” said Greenwich head coach Marianna Linnehan, who was assisted by coaches Chrys Hernandez, George Kalas and Alexyss Conley.
During the regular season, the Cardinals swept to 3-0 victories in most of their matches. Their most daunting challenges came in the postseason. They edged Trumbull, 3-2, in the Class LL Tournament’s quarterfinals and in this title matchup, they came back from a 1-0 deficit to top Glastonbury.
“I’ve always known we were good, but I don’t think we were in challenging games at the beginning of the season,” Linnehan noted. “Our challenging games came up at the end , where it made us get into that five game situation, it made us get into that pressure situation. Just doing that and pushing them more to do what they need to do to win and forcing them to be better players helped them.”
Sophomore libero Bailee Dayon kept the Cards on track defensively, finishing the final with 30 digs, five assists and two aces.
“I think it was very good defense that was one of the keys,” Dayon said. “Going for every single ball, covering for each other and just being there for our teammate.”
The Guardians held a 15-12 lead in the opening set, yet the Cardinals rallied to take an 18-15 advantage, winning six straight points. Junior Sammie Tommasino posted a pair of kills, Armstrong had a kill and Sullivan served an ace, making it 18-15 in favor of the Cards.
Greenwich extended its edge to 20-16 following an Armstrong kill and Jacobsen ace. However, Glastonbury rallied to take the opening set in hard-fought fashion, 26-24. Senior captains Reese Henderson and McKenna Reynolds helped spark the Guardians first-set comeback, as Greenwich new it had to regroup.
“During the season, we’ve gone to four set or five set games, so we knew how to respond,” Jacobsen said of the team’s mindset following the first set. “We knew what we needed to do to come back. We knew we needed to get a pass to our setter. It was mostly in our heads, so we had that time in between the sets, we talked, we took some deep breaths and we came out fired up.”
Greenwich was behind 17-16 in the second game, then won seven consecutive points to take control of the game at 23-17. Sophomore Essa Walsh provided stellar serving during the Cardinals’ pivotal run, which included kills from Jacobsen, Armstrong and a block from Sullivan.
“We knew we couldn’t get complacent, even though we had a high lead,” Walsh said, referring to Greenwich’s performance in third and fourt sets. “So, we knew we had to push and keep fighting.”
Armstrong closed out the second set with a booming kill, giving Greenwich a 25-20 and evening the match at 1-1.
“During the first set, we just had to get more into the game,” Zieme noted. “We were anxious, we were worried and a little bit in our heads. During the second, third and fourth set, we were relaxed. We know how to play volleyball. Everything worked out very well.”
The third set saw the Cards seize leads of 3-0, 8-2, 12-3 and 16-6, while effectively executing their offense and not letting the ball touch the ground.
Dayon’s ace and several kills by Armstrong put Greenwich up 23-9 and on the verge of winning the third set, 25-9.
“I think having high energy the whole time and staying consistent with that helped us,” Tommasino noted.
Well-placed, powerful kills by Zieme enabled Greenwich to play from in front in the fourth and final set. Immediately after the Cardinals won the 25th point of the fourth set, it was celebration time.
“In practice we worked really hard, we also made sure that we scouted the teams and knew exactly what they were going to do,” Greenwich senior middle hitter Tea Saidi said of the team’s success. “But I think the main things we focused on every single game was consistency. We worked really hard to get where we were and I think it all paid off in the end. I’m really proud of everyone, we all worked really hard to get here and we all deserved it.”
Indeed, after the first set, the Cardinals just couldn’t be stopped and cruised their way to the state championship.
“Our energy was 10 times higher, our passes were really good, we were able to move around our offense,” Sullivan said. “That helped us move around the block better. I just throwing ball to Heidi and she really proved herself this game. We have so much energy on and off the court. We work together super well and I think that really showed in today’s game. We worked together to bring it home.”
Following the championship win, Jocelyn Jefferson, a senior captain recalled the time, effort and determination that went into earning an outstanding, championship season.
“It feels amazing, we worked so hard for this and we’ve been waiting to show what Greenwich volleyball is really about,” Jefferson said. “We worked hard from the beginning of the season to the end. Even through the ups and downs, we were still able to come out and fight and come out with the championship.”
“I think we have one of the biggest families in the FCIAC when it comes to being a team and playing together,” Jefferson continued. “I’m incredibly proud of our coaches, who put in an incredible amount of hard work and dedication and believed in everyone on this team to get to this point.”
