Volleyball Recap: Shelton Comes Up Short in High-Profile Game with Darien

Shelton faced Darien in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. The Gaels fell just short of the Blue Wave by a score of 3-2. The Gaels have struggled against the Blue Wave recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost meeting.

Shelton started the match hot and won the first two sets, but they struggled down the stretch and lost the last three. The final score came out to 14-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-11.

Cooper Bacca

Digs

04/14/25 vs Darien	17
04/11/25 @ Staples	27
04/09/25 vs Norwich Free Academy	14
04/07/25 @ Amity Regional	13

Shelton's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Cooper Bacca, who had 17 digs and two aces, and Daniel Hilser, who had ten digs. Bacca is crushing it when it comes to digs: he's had at least 13 every time he's taken the court this season.

Leading Darien to victory were Robert Garcia and Tucker Galu. Garcia had 13 digs and one assist, while Galu had nine digs.

Shelton's defeat dropped their record down to 2-2. As for Darien, they now have a winning record of 3-2.

Shelton didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 3-1 victory against Joel Barlow on the 16th. As for Darien, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next contest, a 3-0 loss against Cheshire on the 16th.