By Kim J. Harmon

DARIEN – The Lady Nighthawks went down to Darien on Monday knowing full well how strong their opponent was. Darien, after all, was a perennial state powerhouse which once had a winning streak somewhere around 100 matches.

But it was Kolbe-Cathedral on Friday which proved to be a bit of a surprise for the ‘Hawks.

In the past, Newtown would take care of Kolbe in rather rapid fashion and then move on. But last Friday, down in Bridgeport, the Lady Nighthawks needed all five games to defeat Kolbe and improve to 5-5 on the season, 5-4 in the South-West Conference.

Newtown went up two games, lost the next two, and then recovered in Game 5 for the match victory – 15-9, 15-9, 2-15, 8-15, 15-7. Ally Gellert had 25 digs, five service points, and two aces to lead the way while Katie Woessner had eight digs and two aces. Chrissy DeWeese added 11 service points and three aces.

Kolbe dropped to 2-8.

Darien was considerably stronger than Kolbe-Cathedral, boasting an 10-0 record, 9-0 in the tough FCIAC, and found Newtown to be a credible challenge. But Darien still took the 3-0 victory with a 15-7, 15-9, 15-4 series.

Laura Hammond and Andrea Rustine combined for 27 digs.