Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team ended the regular season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-14) win over visiting Bunnell of Stratford, on Senior Night, October 27.

Jamie Calandro led the way with 17 kills and 24 digs; Zoe Beals had six aces and 12 digs; Molly McCoy had 16 kills and 13 assists; Sarah Bender had a pair of aces and 16 assists; Tessa Leon-Gambetta compiled 12 digs; Kaitlyn Schneider contributed a trio of aces to go along with seven digs; Julia Wiberg had two kills and two blocks; and Rachel O’Grady added a pair of kills and an ace.

The Nighthawks had beaten Bunnell once before this fall, in their conference clash (the rematch only counted in the state standings), and the second go-around was much easier for the Hawks. In their first meeting, on October 9, Bunnell pushed Newtown to five games.

Newtown has improved overall as the season has unfolded, Coach Tom Czaplinski said.

“We’re communicating better, we’re listening to each other — we’re trusting each other,” he said.

The Hawks had a busy stretch with four matches October 21-27 to close out the regular season, and they won two of those matches to end the year with an overall record of 11-8 (9-4 in South-West Conference play).

They lost 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 25-9, 17-25, 15-12) at Notre Dame-Fairfield, on October 21. Calandro had 15 kills and 20 digs, Leon-Gambetta had 17 digs and two aces, and McCoy had 15 assists and seven digs.

Newtown beat host New Milford 3-0 (25-10, 25-11, 25-15) on October 23. Calandro had ten kills and six digs, and McCoy added nine aces, 13 assists, and six digs.

In their final road match of the campaign, Newtown was beaten by nonconference foe East Lyme 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-21), on October 26. Calandro had ten digs and six kills; Beals had eight kills, 17 digs, and six aces; Bender racked up 11 digs and nine assists; McCoy registered four kills, five assists, and six digs; and Leon-Gambetta had 12 digs.

The Nighthawks will begin postseason play when they host Pomperaug of Southbury in the South-West Conference tournament quarterfinals on Monday, November 2, starting 5 pm. Newtown, seeded fourth, defeated No. 5 Pomperaug in five games during their regular-season battle.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” said Czaplinski, adding that his squad will have to keep the energy level up consistently to have success in the postseason.

With a win, the Nighthawks would advance to the semifinal round the next night, at neutral site Southbury. The winner of Newtown-Pomperaug will face either top-seeded Joel Barlow of Redding or No. 8 Bethel, beginning at 7 pm.