Newtown High School’s boys’ tennis team, for all intents and purposes, overcame two unfamiliar opponents in the Class L State Tournament first round home match, on May 31.

The No. 8 seed Nighthawks topped No. 9 Woodstock Academy 6-1 on an approximately 90-degree afternoon that was as foreign to the Hawks as the opposition they had never seen.

“All season we’ve been fighting with the rain and the cold and the wind — and now the heat shows up. We’re not used to this,” said Newtown Coach Anna Malkin, adding that she reached out to her players and urged them to drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated. “We haven’t even practiced in this.”

No hot weather practice, no problem as the Hawks beat the heat and the visitors to advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinal-round clash on the road with top seed East Lyme. Newtown was eliminated in a 7-0 loss. The Hawks had quite an effort to get to next round.

“Despite the heat they played really well. They were thinking about where they were hitting the ball and thinking about their strategy,” Malkin said.

All of Newtown’s winners took care of business in just two sets.

In the top singles position, Sam Cannizzo prevailed 6-0, 6-2. No. 2 player Josh Parsons won 6-1, 6-2. No. 4 player Orion Bracksieck won 6-1, 6-0.

The top doubles duo of Andrew Sposato and Alex Kyprianou won 6-2, 6-3. The No. 2 tandem of Oliver Clancy and Theo Anderson won 6-3, 6-4. No. 3 teammates Mickey Berry and Trevor Hislop won 6-2, 6-1.

On the girls’ courts, No. 10 Newtown was defeated 6-1 by No. 23 Fairfield Warde in the May 27 qualifying round of the Class LL tourney.

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