Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team carries a ten-match winning streak (14-3 overall record and 12-1 South-West Conference mark) into its final two regular-season competitions, tough ones with host Joel Barlow of Redding on Wednesday, October 24, at 5:30 pm and visiting nonconference foe East Lyme on Friday, October 26, at 6 pm.

The Nighthawks defeated host Stratford 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 15-12) on October 17. Stratford carried an overall record of 15-3 and SWC mark of 10-3 into the Wednesday’s action.

Kim Buttery had 34 assists, seven aces, four kills, and eight digs; Erin Mitchell had 11 kills and two blocks; Hannah Groonell logged three aces, four kills, and nine digs; Mollie Goudy had seven aces and 16 digs; and Genevieve Murray added ten kills and a trio of blocks.

“That was a big win for us — being able to pull out the win in the opponent’s gym, not playing our best,” Newtown Coach Tom Czaplinski said.

Next came a 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19) victory over visiting Weston (12-7, 9-4) on September 19. Buttery had 37 assists to go along with four digs, an ace, and two kills; Goudy had three aces and nine digs; Groonell dropped in six kills and had two digs; Natalie Horn contributed seven kills, two aces, and three digs; Sarah Nowacki had nine kills, five digs, and an ace; Murray had six kills; Jackie Moccio had four digs and an ace; Mitchell logged two aces and three kills; and Veronica Kroha added four kills.

After winning the first two games, the Nighthawks fell behind 7-0 to begin game three. They battled back to make it competitive, although Weston led wire-to-wire to extend the match.

In game four, the Hawks built an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish. With Weston trailing by just three, a cross-court kill by Horn and ace from Nowacki extended the lead to 10-5. The teams went back and forth until consecutive kills by Nowacki, including a spike at the net off a nice assist from Buttery, helped Newtown push its lead to ten at 23-13. Weston hung around, but Kroha’s block at the net ended it.

“We’re doing a better job of learning how to finish games,” said Czaplinski, adding that there are always some mental errors that need to be corrected, but on the whole, his team is playing well.

Weston is among the tougher teams in the SWC.

“They’re a super strong team. They have a lot of height. They kept us on toes with just picking up huge blocks,” said Czaplinski, adding that his team had to make adjustments.

This was Newtown’s Dig Pink match to benefit the Sideout Foundation. The team wore special pink uniforms in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Newtown defeated host Pomperaug of Southbury 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-23) on October 22, dropping the Panthers to 5-11 and 5-8 in the conference. Buttery had four aces, four kills, 14 assists, and eight digs; Caite Gregory logged a dozen assists and two aces; Murray had six kills and two blocks; and Mitchell had six kills.

Barlow, which beat Newtown in last year’s SWC championship match as well as in a five-game battle earlier this season, could end up meeting Newtown in this year’s pinnacle battle. Both teams have some playoff work to do, beginning with SWC tournament quarterfinals, slated to begin on Monday, October 29.

“If our heads are in it, we can definitely have a chance,” Czaplinski said.