By Kim J. Harmon

BETHEL – Nothing comes easy . . . at least not for the 5-8 Nighthawks, who right now need every win they can get in an effort to somehow qualify for the South-West Conference and CIAC Class LL state tournaments.

Yes, the 3-1 win at Bethel on Monday night (15-9, 8-15, 16-14, 16-14) did not come without quite a bit of sweat, quite a bit of tension, and a lifetime supply of ulcer pains.

Actually, Game 1 went okay. Amanda Marsilio had a couple of kills and an ace while Erin Carolan had a kill and Erin Masterson had an ace as the ‘Hawks built up a 5-3 lead. But the lead quickly deserted them and Bethel earned a 7-5 advantage.

But Carolan slammed a spike to an open spot on the floor to stop Bethel’s mini four-point streak and the ‘Hawks were soon on their way to scoring five unanswered points. Caitlyn Elf came up with one ace in that swing, helping lift the ‘Hawks to a 10-7 lead.

Bethel grabbed a couple of points on service aces, but the ‘Hawks quickly rallied for five straight points to put the game away.

Then things really started getting tough.

Ally Gellert and Kate Anderheggen earned a couple of kills after Marsilio led off Game 2 with an ace, but the good karma from Game 1 quickly deserted the ‘Hawks. Bethel went on a 13-4 rally to steal the game 15-8. A beautiful dig by Gellert and a nice block by Marsilio got lost in all of that.

The loss seemed to affect the ‘Hawks heading into Game 3. Bethel built up a 6-0 lead basically on a series of poor plays by the ‘Hawks. It wasn’t until Carolan drilled a ball to the deep left corner for Newtown’s first point of the game that things started to turn.

But turn slowly.

The ‘Hawks got back into the game, but it was basically one point at a time. Newtown eventually worked itself into a 9-9 tie with Bethel, but it took 10 sideouts to get there. Carolan had a dink kill, Anne Schneider had an ace, and Marsilio had a nice bump to the far corner in that climb back.

An Anderheggen kill gave the ‘Hawks their first lead, 10-9. That lead didn’t get any wider than two points as Newtown and Bethel battled through 10 more sideouts before a service point for Ashleigh Smarrella put the ‘Hawks ahead, 14-11.

But Newtown couldn’t put the game away. Bethel earned a sideout and then, following a great sequence, finally scored a point to trim the Newtown lead. Two service aces then tied the score at 14-14 and sent it to a deuce situation.

The ‘Hawks got the first point, though, on a long kill attempt by Bethel. Then Gellert came up with a great dink (after a block by Kate Woessner) to give Newtown the win, 16-14.

It did not get any easier in Game 4 – even though the ‘Hawks did take an 8-3 lead. Sure, with Gellert blasting two aces and Marsilio earning three more kills, it looked as if the ‘Hawks were finally in a zone.

They were – briefly.

But then Bethel scored nine consecutive points on a series of nine Newtown mistakes (two foot faults, three bad passes, a bad set, and three bad kill attempts). Woessner broke the string, though, with a service point. That one point enabled the ‘Hawks to start crawling out of the hole. Shannon Kohn and Masterson both earned points as Bethel started having problems of its own.

Then two consecutive aces by Smarrella gave the ‘Hawks the lead, 14-13. It was short-lived, though, as the Wildcats tied the score on an ace and brought the game to another deuce.

But the ‘Hawks put the game – and the match – away on a Gellert kill and a nice block by Elf. Marsilio finished the match with 12 kills, four blocks and nine digs while Gellert six kills, eight digs, and 12 points. Carolan chipped in with six kills and four digs.

The ‘Hawks needed the win after suffering through a three-game losing streak (Darien, Masuk last Friday, and Jonathan Law last Saturday). They headed into their match against Foran on Wednesday knowing they needed wins in their final three matches (Lauralton Hall on Friday and Pomperaug on Monday) to pull their record even to 8-8.

That would be a pretty good starting point for the CIAC state tournament.

NOTE: The game against Pomperaug on Monday is a 6:30 pm varsity start. It is the last regular season home game and thus it will be Senior Night.