Newtown High School’s girls’ and boys’ tennis teams have played well following tough starts to the campaign. The boys, after a 1-4 start, won eight of nine matches to close out the regular season; that included avenging losses to Masuk of Monroe and Joel Barlow of Redding.

In a 4-3 win over Barlow on May 12, Josh Parsons won 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, and Jacob Shuman won 6-0, 6-3, and the doubles tandem of John Boccuzzi and Ethan Hillefeld won 6-4, 6-2. Newtown initially lost the match 4-3, but protested due to an illegal Barlow lineup, and wound up winning its No. 2 doubles match by forfeit. The Nighthawk boys beat Brookfield 5-2 on May 14, and defeated Bunnell of Stratford 7-0 on May 17.

“I took the coaching job because they couldn’t find anyone and had no expectations. I met the team, saw the potential, eagerness to learn, commitment and fell in love with them. They worked hard at practice. I worked with them on game strategies and some fundamentals. As you know we did not have enough time. I am so proud of their progress collectively and individually, they played as a team and supported each other,” said Haby Farah, coach of the boys. “We lost our first round with Masuk and Joel Barlow, but their determination and hard work won them the second round.”

The girls, after a season-opening win, dropped five matches in a row but have been winning regularly since late April, reeling off nine straight victories, including a 7-0 win over Bunnell of Stratford on May 12 and a 6-1 victory over Brookfield the next day. The girls closed out the regular season against Barlow (which has lost only one match, to Weston) on May 17.

In the win over Brookfield, Julia Dolan won 6-2, 6-0; Jen Lorenz battled back to win 6-7, 6-4, 6-4; Madison Singlak won 6-2, 6-0; and Ashlyn Yetkofsky prevailed 7-5, 6-4. In doubles play, the No. 2 tandem of Joey Libero and Ella Mortis won 6-4, 6-1 and the No. 3 team of Olivia Guizzo Erin Marshall won 6-4, 7-5.

Newtown’s top doubles team of Amelia Hufschmeid and Kristen Reisert came up short against Brookfield, but has played solidly throughout the spring.

“I’m so excited. They’ve come together, they gelled as a team beautifully,” Coach Nancy Anderson said of all of her players. “We’ve got a nice, strong ladder in place and we’re closing out some matches.”

The teams were scheduled to compete in the South-West Conference championships in the middle of the week (after The Bee went to press).

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.