By Kim J. Harmon

No one could have blamed the Nighthawks for being a little bit down after suffering an 18-16 loss in Game 2 of their match with New Milford on Monday. After all, it was a long, tense duel there at the end of that one (four lead changes and eight side outs) and it could have drained a lot of emotion out of the team.

But it didn’t . . . because the Nighthawks, who were 1-5 entering the South-West Conference match with the Green Wave, were badly, badly in need of a win.

“That just fired us up even more,” said co-captain Amanda Marsilio, who had another monster effort with 14 kills, five blocks, four digs, and two service aces. “We knew we were going to win this one no matter what.”

That 18-16 loss - which tied the match at 1-1 - so fired up the ‘Hawks that they all but stampeded their way to 15-2 win in Game 3 and a 15-7 win in Game 4 to wrap it all up.

Marsilio led the charge, of course, but the ‘Hawks also couldn’t have done without the efforts of Erin Carolan, Ashleigh Smarrella, Ally Gellert and a somewhat surprisingly deep bench that got its first real workout in the absence of co-captain Chrissy Deweese (broken wrist).

“We didn’t really dwell on (Dweese’s absence),” said Marsilio. “If anything, we were going out to win it for her.”

Erin Masterson, Anne Schneider and Jaime Lindquist all did spectacular jobs behind the service line. Lindquist also showed some stuff on the front line. And then Kate Anderheggen, Kate Woessner, Shannon Kohn, Jessica Phillips and Caitlyn Elf all had a piece of the action.

It was a great effort by the bench.

“That’s one of the best things,” said coach Tom Czaplinski. “Everyone on the bench has their own strengths.”

And it started paying off right away. With the ‘Hawks down 1-0, Anderheggen came up with a kill from the right corner that brought the ball over to the Newtown side. Then the ‘Hawks were able to start building something and – after a Marsilio service ace and another kill by Anderheggen – were off and running towards a 15-9 win.

Lindquist earned two service aces in that game while Masterson came up with three straight points and Smarrella chipped a nice dink over the net to keep Newtown’s last run alive.

In Game 2, Marsilio started out with two aces, Carolan came up with a kill, Gellert fired up an ace, and Newtown had a quick, 5-0 lead. It seemed as if nothing was holding them back, as if a sweep was inevitable in this match. But New Milford began chipping away at the lead and ended up tying the match at 5-5.

Schneider broke the tie with her first point of the game and, soon after, Masterson scored seven consecutive points (thanks to a Marsilio kill and a beautiful dig by Smarrella) to put Newtown ahead, 13-5.

Still, the Green Wave was not finished. Momentum is a fickle thing and fickle thing that it is, it shifted over to New Milford’s side. New Milford scored the next eight points to tie the game, 13-13, and move it into its tense phase.

From there, it was eight side outs and three lead changes and when it was all over, the Green Wave had the win. Marsilio had a block and two kills, Carolan had a kill, and Smarrella had a pair of points . . . but it wasn’t enough.

It didn’t matter, though.

Newtown was fired up.

With service aces by Gellert, Lindquist and Schneider, and a pair of kills by Marsilio, the Nighthawks jumped out to a 6-0 lead. New Milford halted the string, briefly, with a point of its own, but Newtown scored the next five points on Masterston’s service to take an 11-1 lead.

The ‘Hawks finished the Green Wave off on Marsilio’s service.

Game 4 was somewhat similar in that the ‘Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Gellert’s service. Then with a pair of hard service aces by Lindquist, the lead had built up to 8-1. The Green Wave wouldn’t be quite as easy to put away in this one, though, even though Smarrella came up with a dink and an ace while Carolan recorded a kill and Lindquist came up with yet another ace to put Newtown ahead, 10-4.

New Milford chipped away at the lead, but Marsilio once again took over the game . . . and the match. With the lead down to 10-7, Marsilio recorded three kills (one on a New Milford pass that edged too close to the net and another on a desperate, over-the-back bump) and made a nice recovery to force a New Milford mistake that ended the match.

Carolan and Gellert combined for 12 kills in the match while Gellert had 11 digs and Smarrella had six. Smarrella also had 38 assists and five kills.

It was a solid effort and even though the ‘Hawks have had some problems fostering a winning effort in 2000, they have had little trouble fostering a good attitude . . . and that comes from having short memories.

“Every game,” she said, “we try to go out there as if it’s a clean slate, a new season. We don’t think about the past.”