Entering the campaign with the goal of achieving more than a season ago, when Newtown High School's boys' volleyball team qualified for the state playoffs for the first time in the program's young history, the Nighthawks could not have gotten off to a more fitting or better start.

Newtown, in the Saturday, March 31, season opener, handed perennial state powerhouse Darien a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-13) loss in a rematch of last year's first-round Class L state tournament matchup, which Darien won in three sets, on the way to capturing the championship.

Several of Darien's players graduated and most of Newtown's are back from a year ago, but Newtown still made a statement given the name of the opponent alone, not to mention they have the loss of some key grads to overcome and were without Silas Decker, a senior middle hitter who will return to the lineup and bolster the team's play, especially up front. The Nighthawks, as they begin their fourth season, took their first step toward what Coach Sandy Doski and company are hoping will end up being their first winning campaign.

And they did so behind a thorough team effort.

"I wanted to play everybody today to get the jitters out, and the guys kept their cool, played with passion, played with heart," Doski said.

A key to success was having the right mindset.

"We worked really hard on emotions, and letting the emotions leave the court," said Doski, adding that her players did a nice job of not dwelling on mistakes.

Doski said her team had a few miscues early on but got better as the match unfolded.

"We cleaned it up after the first game," she said.

A big part of Newtown's efforts to bring their play to the next level this year is by running different offensive sets to take advantage of mismatches against opposing team's blockers, said Doski, noting that her team executed well at adjusting on the fly and taking advantage of opportunities against Darien.

Ardian Kodzodziku led the way with 14 kills, nine digs, and four service aces; Eric Moore collected six digs, 17 assists, five aces, and one kill; and Jack Murray had three kills and two blocks.

Liam Jones had five digs, five assists, and one kill; Danny Schreiber tallied six digs and an ace; Morten Sande had two kills, a block, and an ace; and Tom Phaneuf logged three digs and two kills.

In the second game, the Nighthawks jumped out to an early 9-4 lead capped by consecutive points from Sande, who tapped the ball over the net for a point and had a block for another marker.

Following a timeout, Darien chipped away and eventually knotted the score at 12-12 before getting over the hump for a 14-13 lead.

Kodzodziku's kill and drop-in ace off the top of the net helped the Hawks reclaim the lead. Darien tied the score at 19 and again at 23 apiece. A kill by Murray, followed by a spike from Kodzodziku, ended game two.

Darien seized a 4-0 lead to begin game three. Timeout Newtown.

The Hawks reeled off the next five points, culminating with a Darien service error. Phaneuf had a kill for the first point of the game, and Moore nailed a pair of aces to spark Newtown.

NHS and Darien went back-and-forth until Schreiber's ace made for a little breathing room at 11-8. A Kodzodziku kill made it 13-9 and Darien got no closer. Aces by Phaneuf, Sande, and Moore helped stretch the lead. Murray contributed a "hook shot" reach and tap-over kill with his back to the net. With Darien barely hanging on, Sande and Kodzodziku scored on consecutive kills to close out the win.