Hawk Spikers Bumped By Weston In Semifinal Thriller

By Andy Hutchison

Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team scratched and clawed, but came up just short in a back-and-forth battle with visiting Weston in South-West Conference tournament semifinal round action on November 5. The third-seeded Trojans pulled out a hard-fought 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 25-20, 18-16) win to advance to face top-seeded Joel Barlow of Redding in the championship game the next night. No. 2 Newtown will have to wait for the start of state tournament play to get back to competition after coming oh-so-close to a return trip to the conference finals.

In the fifth and deciding game, the Trojans saw the Nighthawks overcome a trio of three-point deficits, and a backs-against-the-wall 14-10, game-point hole. The fifth game, completed once a team reaches at least 15 points, but with a two-point edge, fittingly took some extra play for winner emerge.

The Nighthawks erased 3-0 and 6-3 Weston leads, eventually going ahead on Kyle Dandrea’s kill. Amanda Rowan had a pair of clutch kills to help work Newtown back to even. The seesaw game remained a one-point affair until the Trojans put together a 6-1 run for a 13-9 advantage. Down 14-10, and facing elimination, the Hawks benefited from a Weston service error that gave the Hawks a point and some newfound life. Myles Post scored one on a service ace, and a net violation followed by illegal contact by Weston made it a 14-all game. Weston took leads of 15-14 and 16-15 only to see the resilient Hawks keep things going twice. Rowan’s kill evened the score at 16-16, but Weston seized the game and match with the next two points.

“I told the girls it was a fantastic match. There were a lot of things that we could have done differently, but Weston played fantastic. They deserved to win — they were a great team. It was a great match to be a part of,” Newtown Coach Tom Czaplinski said. “Obviously, you wish for a different outcome but I know the girls played hard.”

Both teams did a nice job to fight back from behind. In game four, Newtown grabbed an early 4-0 lead. By the time the game was in the books it had been marked by a dozen ties and numerous lead changes. In game three, the Hawks had a 14-8 lead and appeared poised to run away with the game before a 9-0 Weston stretch gave the visitors a three-point lead. The Hawks, however, finished on an 11-5 run, capped by Rowan’s game-clinching kill. It wasn’t enough as the Trojans avenged an early-season 3-1 loss to Newtown.

“It was really stressful and I really wish we could have gone farther and gotten to the championship,” said libero Courtney Escoda who piled up 28 digs.

“I think the nerves got to us a little bit in the beginning of that fifth game and I think we finally started to come out of it towards the end — but a little too late,” Czaplinski said.

It marked only the second time this season the Hawks faced a deciding game five and much of the roster is new after graduation claimed all six of the starters who were on the floor for last year’s SWC title victory.

The Nighthawks got 44 assists from setter Meghan Logan. Caroline Kelly had 15 kills and five digs, and Amanda Rowan had 13 kills, seven digs, four blocks, and two aces. Sam Steimle added 11 kills and two blocks, and Dandrea had eight kills and seven digs. Cassie Ekstrom recorded double-digit figures with ten digs. Logan had six service aces and Ekstrom had three aces.

Czaplinski pointed out that Weston had a go-to player in Savannah Carpenter. She registered 12 kills, ten digs, and four blocks, and would have had even more kills if not for Newtown’s tough defense. The NHS coach said his team has, throughout the years, spread out the wealth without a key point-getter. “I think it came back to haunt us a little bit today,” the said.

Newtown had pulled out a 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-17, 25-20) win over No. 7 Brookfield in the quarterfinals the day before, a rare Sunday match forced by the weeklong layoff from school and practices in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and the need to squeeze in matches before a delayed start to the state tourney.

Against Brookfield, Newtown got 24 assists from Logan, nine kills from Dandrea, and six kills each from Lauren Frazzetta and Steimle. Escoda had 14 digs. Kelly led the way with six service aces, and Ekstrom, Dandrea, and Frazzetta all had four. The Nighthawks overcame an early 7-2 deficit in the fourth game to close out the win. Rowan’s kill knotted the score at 14 apiece, the first of five straight NHS points for an 18-14 lead. After Brookfield scored four of the next five to pull to within 19-18, Dandrea’s kill and subsequent ace gave the Hawks some breathing room and they never looked back.

Czaplinski said after the match that he thought Brookfield stepped it up after his Hawks won in the minimum three games back in late September, and was pleased with his team’s effort.