It may be only about a third of the way through the season, but the April 16 boys' volleyball match between Newtown High School and host Joel Barlow had the feeling of a playoff battle. This very well may be a preview of the South-West Conference championship. Despite being a regular season win for Newtown, when Robbie Morrill's spike ended the match, the Nighthawks had reason to celebrate as if it were late May. Newtown won 3-2 (25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 15-25, 15-9).

The Nighthawks picked up their first win over the South-West Conference rival/two-time SWC champion and perennial conference and state powerhouse Falcons. Newtown jumped out to a two games to none lead, withstood Barlow victories in games three and four, and never trailed in the decisive fifth game.

The days of the start-up Nighthawk spikers are in the past and the program, it can be argued, is quickly going from one to not overlook to one to fear.

"We're here," Newtown Coach Sandy Doski said proudly after her team improved to 6-0 this season. "We want teams to be afraid of us when we walk into gyms."

The program is in only its fourth year, and has made strides each campaign with - thus far, albeit a very impressive small sample size - this season signifying the team's biggest leap. The Hawks won a program-best eight matches and earned its first state playoff berth last spring. Newtown could surpass that win total before the midpoint of this campaign.

The triumph over Barlow, a team that reached the Class M state championship match in 2015 and '16, and was the top seed and a semifinalist in Class M last spring - signifies that the Nighthawks, indeed, are here and to be taken seriously.

"The guys really wanted this and they dug deep and pulled it out. It's a great win for them," Doski said.

Ardi Kodzodziku led the way with 27 kills, nine digs, four blocks, seven service points, and four aces; Morrill finished with 13 kills, 12 digs, and eight service points; Eric Moore compiled 28 assists, 16 digs, 13 service points, and three aces; Silas Decker logged eight kills, six digs, six service points, and two blocks; Liam Jones registered 14 assists, five digs, nine service points, and one ace; and Jacob Duffy added four kills, two digs, and one block.

In game five, Newtown took a 3-2 lead on Decker's kill, and went on a 4-0 run, capped by Moore's ace. After the Falcons chipped away and closed to within 6-5, a Barlow service error and subsequent violation pushed the lead to three, and Morrill's kill reinstated the four-point cushion. Matt Principi and Moore had key digs to keep a rally going, setting up Morrill's point for a 9-5 advantage.

The Falcons twice got to within two points but, after the Falcons made it 10-8 Newtown, Kodzodziku had three of the next four points, on kills, pushing the lead to four at 13-9. Jones came up with a dig that led to a Barlow hit out of bounds, setting the stage for Morrill's match-ender.

Newtown didn't give up in games three or four. The Hawks fell behind by seven points in game three. Down 23-19, they sliced the deficit in half on a kill and ace from Kodzodziku, but couldn't get any closer.

In game four, the Hawks erased a 6-3 deficit and went up two with five unanswered points, highlighted by back-to-back Kodzodziku spikes and consecutive points from Duffy, one on a block at the net and the other on a spike. Newtown kept it close and was behind 13-12 after a Morrill kill, but Barlow closed out the game with a 12-3 run.

Barlow fell to 4-2 overall.

Doski was pleased with the way her team was strategic in placement of its hits, keeping the ball away from Barlow's libero when possible. "I think we executed that very well," Doski said.

Newtown's coach added that her team passed well in the games in which it won, and served well throughout the match.

The Nighthawks were coming off a 3-0 (25-7, 25-12, 25-13) win over visiting Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport, on April 11. Kodzodziku had three digs, 12 kills, two blocks, six service points, and an ace; Moore had three digs, 17 assists, and six service points; Morrill registered eight digs, eight kills, one block, and one service point; Decker had one dig, two kills, two blocks, 27 service points, and ten aces; Jones had three digs, one block, 11 assists, and three service points; and Duffy added three digs and a kill.

Newtown will host Shelton on Thursday, April 19, starting at 6 pm.