Nighthawk Spikers Look To Keep It Rolling In The Postseason

By Andy Hutchison

Unbeaten heading into their last two matches, the Newtown High School girls’ volleyball team is flying high as it heads into the playoffs. Newtown carried a 16-0 record into Wednesday’s clash with New Fairfield (after The Bee sports section went to press), and the Nighthawks had just one match left on the slate — a Friday, October 28, rematch with nonconference opponent East Lyme, a team the Hawks bested 3-1 earlier this month.

The Nighthawks are the defending South-West Conference champions, and will really begin defense of their title beginning on Tuesday, November 1, when the quarterfinals get underway. If things keep going as they have been, you can pencil in a semifinal round match on November 3 and a return to the pinnacle match, scheduled for November 5 — at Newtown High no less.

 “I think we have a good shot but we can’t underestimate any team,” said captain and setter Jess Lynch, adding that the team has to remain motivated and keep pushing forward match by match and point by point.

“Anything can happen at any given time,” said fellow captain Abbey Doski, recognizing that her team is the favorite, but that nobody on the team is counting their chickens before they hatch. “We want to stay grounded all the while maintaining the high level of confidence we’ve had.”

The Nighthawks, this past week, blanked three straight opponents 3-0, beating Bunnell of Stratford on October 19, Masuk of Monroe on October 21, and New Milford on Monday. Only two teams, East Lyme and SWC rival Joel Barlow of Redding, have managed to win a game against Newtown; of course, the Hawks won those matches by fairly convincing 3-1 scores.

Against Bunnell, Newtown won 25-19, 25-18, 25-21. Carly Iwanicki had 13 kills, Lynch compiled 29 assists, and Doski had 20 digs. Newtown topped Masuk 25-20, 25-13, 25-13. The team accumulated 37 kills led by Iwanicki and Emma Herring’s six, and five apiece by Amanda Rowan and Alyssa Finkenstadt. Against New Milford, Newtown won 25-16, survived a game-two test for a 27-25 win, and finished off the match with a 25-9 victory in game three. Iwanicki, Rowan and Herring all had six kills and Doski had ten digs.