Newtown High School's boys' volleyball team, entering into just its second season, is hoping to build off of what it accomplished a year ago: Earning its first wins as a program and exposing inexperienced spikers to the game.

The Nighthawks graduated ten players from a 3-13 squad, but hopes are high for some improvement on the court. After all, among those seniors, led by Jeremy Doski who went on to play collegiately, were mostly new-to-the-game athletes.

"I think our skill level has improved some. I've got a great group of guys. They're all like sponges - they just want to learn," Coach Sandy Doski said.

The coach expects her team to have more success this spring due to the fact many of her players have practiced in the offseason.

South-West Conference rivals such as Masuk of Monroe and Joel Barlow of Redding, along with nonconference teams Darien and Shelton will very challenging, but the Nighthawks are hoping to be more competitive against those lineups and pick up some victories against other teams on the slate.

Newtown is led by senior captain Jake Lapp, whom Doski describes as the team's go-to player. A setter last year, Lapp will run the floor and can play in different spots on the court. He will see most of his time in the outside hitter role.

Senior captain Robert Katrinak returns to the lineup and provides height at the net. Junior returnee Jackson Fletcher, also a captain, is an outside hitter. Gavin Stubbs, a junior, is a new player not only to varsity but to the sport in general, but shows plenty of promise - hitting with power - and stands to be a middle or right-side hitter, the coach says.

Although there are some new players, many more have playing time under their belts this year, giving Doski a different approach to the beginning of the season.

A year ago, the coach had to start from square one and educate her players on the basics of the game. The new-to-varsity players, this year, got their basic training on the junior varsity squad last season.

"I just have to work on fine-tuning what they did on JV," she said.

Interest in the sport is growing at Newtown High as more players came out for the team this spring. There were three dozen players at tryouts and 26 made either the JV or varsity roster, Doski said.

"I'm very excited for the season. I think all the guys are very excited," Doski said. "We want to build on what we started last year."

Newtown begins the season on Wednesday, April 6, when Kolbe Cathedral of Bridgeport visits for a 5:15 pm match.