By Kim J. Harmon

SOUTHBURY – Beating Lauralton Hall in a marathon five-game match last Friday and then outlasting Pomperaug on Monday in the regular season finale may have earned the Lady Nighthawks a trip to the South-West Conference playoffs, but their post-season fate may have actually been determined back on Friday, October 1.

It was a point in the season that the ‘Hawks may have still been trying to find out who they were, what kind of team they had put together in the wake of losing the entire starting lineup of the 19-4 squad of 1998 to graduation.

And it appeared as if it would be a dismal Friday night down in Fairfield, where the ‘Hawks were battling the Lady Lancers of Notre Dame. Down 2-0, the ‘Hawks were just about ready to get back on the bus for the long ride back to Newtown.

Until they started to come back.

All the way back.

A 2-0 deficit turned into a thrilling, 3-2 victory for the Lady Nighthawks and proved – after the season finale win over Pomperaug on Monday – to be a critical win since the ‘Hawks and the Lancers both finished at 7-8 in conference and tied for the eighth and final SWC playoff berth.

That win, the win over Lauralton Hall on Friday, and the win over Pomperaug gave the Lady Nighthawks every conceivable tiebreaking advantage and now sets them up for a first-round date with No. 1 seed Bunnell on Saturday at 7 pm in Stratford.

“We have improved so much this season,” said co-captain Lily Fielding. “This (win over Pomperaug) just shows you how well we’ve been doing. I thought we could make it to the playoffs, but as the season went on I just knew we would.”

Co-captain Laura Hammond, who had a tremendous night back there on October 1 to lead the Lady Nighthawks past Notre Dame, said the team expected all season to play better and they especially came together the last couple of matches.

“Today really showed who well we could play,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. We definitely could do it.”

The 50-Minute Marathon

With a 14-8 lead in Game 4 of their SWC match with Lauralton Hall on Friday, it seemed just a matter of a little dink, a hard kill, or a mistake on the other side of the net and the Lady Nighthawks would have a 3-1 victory and everyone could go outside to watch the football game and take part in the Homecoming festivities.

But little did anyone know, at that point, that there was a lot more volleyball to come.

The ‘Hawks held the 2-1 advantage and were leading 14-8 in Game 4, but an already long game turned positively epic (lasting 50 minutes) as Lauralton Hall rallied back from that six-point deficit to win, 18-16, and force a deciding fifth game.

The disappointment of losing that lead could have done some long-term damage to the team psyche. It would have to other teams. But the ‘Hawks, behind some blistering service from Ally Gellert, showed no signs of fatigue or despair or anything as they exploded for a 15-1 win in Game 5 to take the match.

“When we play like that,” said Fielding, “we’re really playing as a team.”

Newtown captured Game 1, 15-9, on the strength of some solid play in the middle. In Game 2, Ashleigh Smarrella and Amanda Marsilio had the quick set routine working and that enabled Newtown to come back from an 11-9 deficit for the 15-13 win. Game 3 was a tight one, with Newtown shaving a five-point deficit to only one, 10-9. But Lauralton Hall scored the next five points to take the game, 15-9.

Then came the epic game, the one that started at 6:20 pm and did not end until 7:10 pm. It was so long, with very few runs of any kind, with so many side outs, that coaches Jay Edwards and Tom Czaplinski inadvertently made illegal substitutions that awarded Lauralton Hall two critical points – cutting the 14-11 Newtown lead to 14-13 at that point.

Without the services of Marsilio and Gellert, the ‘Hawks had to make do with a shorter lineup and played surprisingly well. But, still, they could not hold off Lauralton Hall, now that it had a head of steam going. Hall went ahead, 15-14, only to see Newtown take the lead back, 16-15, off a Fielding kill.

But Lauralton Hall scored two points off a couple Newtown mistakes and then killed the final point for the 18-16 win.

It wasn’t enough impetus, however, as Newtown opened Game 5 with Chrissy DeWeese serving up five quick points and then Gellert drilling some quick aces to set the stage for the easy 15-1 win and the match victory.

Things, of course, were not nearly as long or tough against Pomperaug, but the Lady Panthers still proved to be a test.

The ‘Hawks eased through the first game, taking a 10-2 lead thanks to some great service from Erin Masterson (three aces). The ‘Hawks were up as much as 13-2 after two kills from Amanda Marsilio when the Lady Panthers made a little push.

Only a little.

Newtown won Game 1 15-6 on a Masterson service.

Game 2 was a bit more of a challenge as Newtown had to come back from a 6-2 deficit. And with Hammond behind the service line, Newtown scored four points in a row to turn a 7-4 deficit into an 8-7 lead. But the Lady Panthers scored six points in a row to take a 13-8 lead and despite nice kills from Meghan Sheehan and Fielding and great service from Ally Gellert, Pomperaug was also to hold Newtown off, 15-13.

In Game 3, it was close through the early stages until Andrea Rustine reeled off four straight points to put Newtown ahead 8-4. A Masterson ace put the ‘Hawks ahead as much as 11-6 before Pomperaug scored its final point of the game. Then, with a Sheehan kill and a Rustine ace Newtown scored the next four points to win the game.

In Game 4, however, it appeared as if Pomperaug was setting the stage for another dramatic Game 5 – with the winner going to the playoffs and the loser turning in their uniforms – as the Lady Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks mostly to their own floor coverage.

But when Newtown finally earned a sideout, it was the start of the comeback. Gellert rammed two blistering serves right at Pomperaug, both aces, and all of a sudden the ‘Hawks were on the move. Marsilio smashed one kill, Hammond had  two others, and Fielding came up with two service aces and just like that, the Pomperaug lead had been cut to just one, 8-7.

Later, Rustine punched a nice cross court kill to give Newtown the sideout and, from there, it was eight straight service points for Kate Woessner and the ‘Hawks – with the 15-8 Game 4 win – were heading to the playoffs.

Woessner had three aces in that run, Sheehan had a kill and a huge block, and Hammond had two kills.