By Kim J. Harmon

A few years ago, the Nighthawks took a ride down to Kolbe-Cathedral in Bridgeport knowing that the ride itself – first down Route 25 and then across I-95 to Exit 3 – would take longer than the actual match itself.

That was then.

A stronger, more serious Kolbe-Cathedral team (4-6 overall) visited Newtown last Friday night and – with some strong outside hitters and decent blockers – posed a considerably tougher test for the Nighthawks.

No, the Cougars were not a pushover but with Amanda Marsilio pounding 18 kills and Erin Carolan adding nine of her own, the ‘Hawks nevertheless pushed ‘em over by a count of 16-14, 15-9, 15-6.

It was a somewhat dominating performance by the ‘Hawks, but it would have been a totally dominating performance had the ‘Hawks not stumbled with a 13-8 lead in Game 1 (precipitating the deuce situation) or not fallen into early deficits in all three games.

But the end result is what counts and the end result was a win.

In Game 1, Newtown opened with a 3-0 lead on Marsilio’s service (she started things off with an ace), but Kolbe scored the next six points to take a 6-3 lead. With a point by Ashleigh Smarrella, an ace by Marsilio, and two kills each by Carolan and Marsilio the ‘Hawks went about erasing that deficit with six straight points of their own.

Thanks to some strong work at the net by Marsilio and Ally Gellert, the ‘Hawks built up that 13-8 lead . . . only to see it fall apart as Kolbe scored six straight points to take a 14-13 lead.

But with a block by Jess Phillips and Smarrella, a service ace by Caitlyn Elf and a spectacular save by Shannon Kohn, the ‘Hawks persevered in Game 1 and got the win.

Marsilio had four kills, a block, and an ace in that first game. Gellert had three kills and Carolan had two.

In Game 2, the ‘Hawks were down as much as three points before mounting a basic 13-4 rally to win the game. The rally did not happen all at once, but rather a couple points at a time, and ended when Carolan and Marsilio both came up with a couple of nifty dinks.

In fact, Marsilio used the dink almost to perfection in the match. Since she often was being set up with two Kolbe players blocking her at the net, Marsilio decided against muscling the ball through the wall and instead tapped it to the open area on the floor.

Gellert had two kills and a couple of service points in the win.

Marsilio had three of those same soft kills in Game 3 as the ‘Hawks once again fell behind – this time by four points – before rallying and scoring the final 13 points of the game.

Just so pretty much everyone got into the book, Erin Masterson came up with a couple of aces, Kate Anderheggen had a kill, and Anne Schneider had a pair of service points.

Ashleigh Smarrella finished with 38 assists.

The Nighthawks dropped to 3-7 on the season, though, with a loss to perennial powerhouse Darien on Tuesday. Although Darien has long been renowned as one of the state’s strongest programs, the ‘Hawks certainly played them tough with close losses in all three games.

NOTE: Senior co-captain Chrissy DeWeese could be out for the season with torn ligaments in her left elbow. Reportedly, she still holds out hope of stepping onto the court for the last game.