Traditional South-West Conference powerhouses Joel Barlow and Weston have both been in the South-West Conference girls' tennis title match four years in a row and eight times in the last ten years.

Coach Maureen Maher's Newtown Nighthawks, the only other team to impede during that decade of two-team overall dominance - having defeated Barlow in the pinnacle matches in 2012 and '13 in fact - is looking to again contend for a championship.

"It's going to be a battle this year. We're going to give them a battle - we're going to give them a run," Maher said.

Maher said the goal every year is to be among the top four in the SWC to qualify for the tournament, and believes this year's squad can go all the way.

"We definitely have a good shot at it," the coach said. "We have such depth."

And returning talent at the top of the lineup.

All four singles players, in fact, return from a year ago, and the Nighthawks lost three team members to graduation.

Captains are Sophie Wolfman, Amanda Berry, and Julia Anderson.

Marie Ann Tomaj returns to play No. 1 singles, and Amanda Berry, who battled injury throughout much of last spring, returns to the second slot. Amanda Conrod and Megan Cooney are also back for singles play.

Returnees to the doubles group are Anderson, Wolfman, Haylee Lambert, Julia Klein, Lauren Davis.

Mary Celentano, Lea Sundberg, and Katerina Rosa also return to the lineup, which is bolstered by freshmen, including Jen Lorenz, Peyton Bradley, and Julia Dolan, all of whom Maher says are players to watch for.

Another goal, Maher said, is to have as many players as possible qualify for the state tournament and SWC individual tournament.

A year ago, as a team, the Nighthawks went 9-7 and won their Class L state tournament qualifying-round match before exiting in the first round, at the hands of eventual runner-up Staples of Westport.

"My assistant coach Nancy Anderson and I are very excited for this upcoming season. I am very lucky to have Nancy come back and help me with the team. She is an amazing player herself and brings a lot to helping train this team. We are excited about the amount of talent we have. We also are very excited about the effort offseason all of our girls have put in to their games," Maher said.

The regular season gets underway this week, and Newtown's first home match is set for Monday, April 9, when Masuk of Monroe visits at 3:45 pm.