Here’s something volleyball enthusiasts in town are sure to dig: Newtown High School has a boys’ volleyball team in place — and its first season is underway this week.

Sandy Doski, who previously was an assistant coach with Newtown High’s girls’ squad, and has also worked as a volleyball official, offered to coach the team without pay to get it up and running.

The team will be self-funded in its first year, and participants are doing fundraising to keep costs for uniforms, buses, and officials down, Doski said. The equipment is not a factor since the school already has nets and balls for the girls.

“I’m very excited,” said Doski, recalling that an informational meeting about the startup team drew so many prospective participants that “I couldn’t even fit them in the classroom.”

Doski credits her son, Jeremy, for doing the bulk of the work to get the word out and push for the team by meeting with school and board of education officials to get it approved. A senior, Jeremy is excited to have a chance to represent his school on the court in a game he’s played for many years.

“I’m thrilled. Volleyball’s a huge part of my life,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“I’m really looking forward to coaching him,” Doski added.

The sport has been a part of Doski’s life since she was a child. She went to Northeastern University on a volleyball scholarship before transferring to the University of Hartford.

“Volleyball’s in my blood,” she said.

Aces, bumps, sets, and digs are in the entire Doski blood stream, and the game has been throughout all of Jeremy and his older sister Abbey’s lives.

“Both kids grew up in the gym with me while I was coaching,” said Doski, who has spent 26 years coaching, including five at NHS. She and her husband, Gary, met (naturally) in an outdoor summer volleyball tournament series. They now run those tournaments, in the Southern Connecticut Volleyball program. They’ve organized and run the summertime tourneys every year for almost two decades, first in Westport and now in Shelton.

The Doski family is hopeful that Newtown High offering a boys’ team is the start of an era of competitive high school volleyball that will be in place for decades to come.

The Nighthawks will take on South-West Conference teams, as well as some nonconference teams. The season is set to begin on Wednesday with FCIAC team Darien visiting for a 4:30 pm start. The Nighthawks will have their first SWC clash on Friday, April 10, in a 5 pm visit to Masuk of Monroe. The next home contest is set for April 17 when Daniel Hand of Madison visits for a 5:30 pm match.

Jeremy Doski and Jeff DePinto are the captains. Other seniors are Andy Braun, Sawyer Conrad, Bryce Decker, Ryan King, Robert Schreiber, Nathyn Horvath, Akash Ahuja, and Matt Perun; juniors are Jake Lapp and Robert Katrinak; and Jackson Fletcher is the lone sophomore. Newtown High has a junior varsity team as well, coached by Ed Grabover, and there are 27 players between the two squads.

The varsity boys got their first taste of competition in the Preseason Play Day at Fairfield Ludlowe High on April 4. The Hawks squared off with some of the opponents they’ll face this spring in what Doski described as an “eye-opening” experience for the boys, adding that they did have some success and made a good impression on officials and opposing squads.

Newtown’s coach says she expects the Hawks to be competitive in their first year. “I have a ton of athletes. It’s just up to me to teach them the game,” she said. “They’re good-natured kids and I think they’re all looking forward to having fun.”