Newtown High School’s boys’ volleyball team defeated host Shelton in the first round of the Class L state tournament on June 2. The Nighthawks, seeded ninth, prevailed 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-16) and avenged a 3-2 regular-season loss to the eighth-seeded Gaels.

Thad Teraszkiewicz had 15 kills, six digs, an ace, and one block; Luke Hannan logged seven kills, two digs and a trio of blocks; Matt Mattera had seven kills, six digs, four aces, and two blocks; and Sawyer Findley registered 34 assists to go along with one dig.

Newtown earns a trip to top-seeded Darien for a quarterfinal-round match on Friday, June 4, at 1 pm.

“The boys felt great after the win and are looking forward to keeping the winning streak going. A tough opponent up next with Darien but they boys feel confident that they are beatable and that we are the team to do it,” Newtown Coach Sandy Doski said.