South-West Conference Champs—

Nighthawks Volleyball Team Bumps Bunnell In Title Match

By Andy Hutchison

BETHEL — They may only be freshmen, sophomores, and juniors — but they’re also the best. Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team claimed the South-West Conference title, beating the Bunnell Bulldogs 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-21) at Bethel High on November 6.

The Nighthawks, the top seed in the tourney, were clicking on all cylinders en route to the win over the No. 3 Bulldogs. It marked the school’s first SWC title since 2002; Newtown reached the finals in 2007 and ’08.

This was a fitting end to a thrilling in-conference season for Newtown, which began the campaign with a 3-1 loss to Bunnell back on September 14. The Nighthawks caught fire a few matches into the campaign and have remained hot as they knocked off Bunnell late in the season and topped Stratford and Weston in the SWC tourney’s quarterfinals and semifinals to set up the pinnacle match.

Newtown clinched the championship when junior Abbey Doski spiked the ball following a pair of sharp defensive plays, including a diving effort, by fellow junior Carly Iwanicki. The Hawks fell behind 18-14 in the third game before going on an 11-3 run to close out the match.

“They definitely deserve it. They never gave up this year — they kept pushing. It’s what they were striving for all year long,” Newtown Coach Tom Czaplinski said.

Newtown junior Riley Wurtz said things weren’t looking so good in the early going this fall, but added, “We came back strong the rest of the season and worked real hard for it.”

The Nighthawks developed chemistry on the floor as the year unfolded, and that led to winning ways, which included 13 3-0 decisions, including a pair of minimum-match wins in the SWC tourney.

“We got really close this year and worked really hard and well together,” said Newtown junior Emma Herring, who took home the championship match MVP award.

The Nighthawks rarely trailed in the finale, and fought back quickly any time they did fall behind, putting together solid defense, strong passing, and accurate hitting throughout the contest.

Herring compiled seven kills, had two blocks at the net, and added a pair of service aces. Junior Jess Lynch, the team’s setter, set up her teammates with 24 assists, and also had nine digs to go along with two service aces. Iwanicki had 13 kills and ten digs; and fellow juniors Doski, Alyssa Finkenstadt, and Wurtz also had stellar performances. Doski logged 22 digs, including several in valiant diving efforts, and added a pair of service aces. Finkenstadt had five kills and two service aces, and Wurtz added nine digs and three kills. Sophomore Amanda Rowan had five kills, and freshman Cassie Ekstrom, who has played her way into more match time of late, helped provide a tough defensive presence, as the Bulldogs got little past the Hawks. Bunnell made more errors in this match — one of the key difference-makers.

Everyone contributed in a big way for the Hawks. Throughout the match, Wurtz, Doski, and the rest of the NHS players fended off hard Bunnell hits to keep balls in play. Lynch dove to keep the ball alive and Herring finished the play with a block/kill for a 24-14 lead in game one, and Finkenstadt later finished the game with a booming kill. Iwanicki and Rowan mixed hard-hit spikes with surprise dinks and to keep the opponents guessing.

While some people may be impressed that the Hawks found a way to win so soon — after all, none of the players are seniors — they have been practicing and playing hard with the goal of reaching the conference pinnacle for a few seasons.

“We’ve been working toward this for three years now. To finally have it is just unbelievable,” Doski said.

So what does it say that this team won the conference title despite its youth?

“I think it says we’re a really good team and next year we’re going to be even better,” Iwanicki said.

“We’re always looking to improve and be everything we can. I think the win this year is just the beginning — I think we’re still going to grow,” Doski added.

That’s a great outlook for the Nighthawks and scary one for the competition.

But first things first — Newtown still has another season of sorts this fall, with state tournament competition getting underway Thursday (after The Bee went to press). Could another title be in the works?