Ridgefield held a mental advantage over Darien entering play Friday. The Tigers had won the last two CIAC Class L Boys Volleyball championships and they did it against the Blue Wave. The second one was devastating for Darien–a five-set loss. But the Blue Wave for were able to gain a measure of revenge in its 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13) victory against its biggest FCIAC rival.

“I think we all still have a bit of that taste in our mouth from last year’s state championship losing in five, but it is nice to get that back for a fantastic team,” senior Tim Herget said.

Herget collected 19 kills, 16 digs, and 3 aces. Teammate Alex Preston had 20 kills and 5 blocks just days after he picked up his 1000th career kill.

For the first time all season, the Tigers lost a set as Darien came out with a 1-0 lead. However, the collective mettle of the Blue Wave would be tested as the team went down 2-1.

“Having that super-energetic first set and then having the second set not go our way kind of made us falter in the third,” Preston said. “{Darien had to} be willing to face the challenge, come out and make plays, get these first three points to go our way and then just roll on from there.”

Christian DeVivo stepped up for Ridgefield in the loss with 12 kills and 6 digs. Jack Lincoln had 16 kills and Nick Laudati had 11.

The two teams will meet again on May 18th in Ridgefield.

An all-access video look into the action is available in the above video player. Lights On CT, on-air and online at cptv.org. Use #lightsonct for more information on Twitter (@CPTVOnline), Instagram (@CPTVSports), and facebook.com/connecticutpublictelevision.