A line of nets was set up outside at Newtown Middle School on Tuesday, May 5, for a volleyball tournament fundraiser for the American Heart Association.

It was the third annual “Volleyball for Heart Event,” and it had teams of seventh and eighth grade students go up against each other in seven-minute games.

The event was held after school, and NMS physical education teacher Ken Kantor, who organized the event, explained the rules of the tourney while surrounded by the seventh and eighth grade participants.

It cost $7 for each player on a team to participate in the fundraising event, and bags of chips and water were also sold during the event, for $1 and 50 cents, respectively.

By Monday, Mr Kantor reported roughly $400 was raised from the tourney, with more money still being collected to be donated to the American Heart Association.

According to Mr Kantor, 11 teams in total participated, with six teams of eighth graders and five teams of seventh graders taking part. He added the eighth grade winning team was called “The Whipsters,” and team members were Ardi Kodzodziku, Easton Ricks, Jimmy Davies, Thomas (T-Ush) Usher, Robbie Morrill, and Reed Hammond, while the seventh grade winning team, called “Knuckle Punch,” comprised Shilia Ray, Devin Johnson, Ryan Beadsley, Nihal Nawazz, John Godino and NMS seventh grade social studies teacher Tom DeBenedetto.

Seventh grader Constantine Kyprianou acted as the DJ for the event, and Mr Kantor said, “He did a great job taking on requests for certain songs to be played during the tournament.”

While walking the tournament field near the start of the event, NMS physical education teacher Michelle Fontaine said the students “are amazing in their support for philanthropic endeavors like this.”

Roughly 90 students participated in the tournament.