Date: Fri 22-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Volleyball-Class-L-Title

Full Text:

STATE CHAMPIONS - Volleyball Team Takes Class L Title

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

SHELTON - It wasn't a matter of confidence.

It was a matter of simple, unshakeable belief.

"It got to the point," said senior co-captain Kristin Denninger, "where I

didn't believe we could possibly lose anymore. We have done so much that if we

came out here and worked hard we were going to win . . . no matter how good

they were."

And that's just what the Newtown High School volleyball team did last Saturday

night at Shelton High School by blasting Bristol Eastern, 3-0, to earn

Newtown's first-ever CIAC Class L state volleyball championship.

"We had a little talk in the locker room before the game," said sophomore Jenn

Corkum, "and I think it was because we all wanted this so much that we weren't

going to let it go. We weren't going to let it go to four games. We wanted it

right away."

Right away, though, was not right away enough. The Lady Nighthawks, almost

true to form, fell into a 9-2 trough in Game 1 before awakening - much like

the proverbial sleeping giant - while cruising unfettered to the 15-12, 15-8,

15-9 victory.

"We have a lot of trouble with that," said junior Carrie Phillip. "It's as if

we like to dig a hole and then dig ourselves out of it. But I was extremely

confident. I wasn't nervous at all. I was just really excited and I had a good

feeling about it."

The Lady Nighthawks finished the season at 22-3 and with the No. 3 ranking in

the Hartford Courant coaches' poll, coming in behind Darien (Class M champion)

and Bunnell (Class M runner-up) and ahead of Morgan-Clinton (Class S

champion).

"What we've done this season and where we came from," said senior co-captain

and Class L tournament MVP Leigh Hoppmeyer, "from that first game loss against

New Fairfield to how we played today, it's just amazing."

Coming Back

It had become almost a trademark, enough of a natural occurrence that a new

nickname - like Cardiac Kids - should be bestowed upon them with all the

regality of their Class L championship crowns.

The comeback.

It happened against Southington and it happened against Cheshire - coming back

against what appeared to be an insurmountable deficit to win a game they

should not have won.

And each time it - the comeback - was the catalyst the Lady Nighthawks needed.

Saturday night was no different.

With a lot of bad service and some confusion on assignments, Newtown fell into

an early 9-2 hole in Game 1 and Bristol Eastern - with a trio of good hitters

and some solid service - was starting to fall into a nice comfortable rhythm.

And then Denninger came up with a sideout kill that started the tide

a-turnin'.

After the kill, she went behind the service line and Newtown reeled off five

consecutive points to trim the BE lead to 9-7. Junior Dee Conley unleashed one

of her smashing spikes, added another kill, and then came up with one of her

three blocks in the game. Mix that in with a Denninger ace and the Lady

Nighthawks were back in the game.

"We blocked them," said Hoppmeyer. "I don't think they met a team that blocked

like Dee does and like Jenn Corkum does. And I think they just did not realize

what they were up against. They could not stop Dee for anything. She was

hitting quicks - quicks - quicks . . . it was awesome."

Coach Nell-Ayn Lynch added, "Dee had those couple hits that sparked it and a

couple blocks that sparked and I said, okay, we're here to play."

The teams traded sideouts and then put four more points on the board - two

from Conley blocks and one from a Phillip kill - and all of a sudden Newtown

had the 11-9 lead. It later increased to a 12-9 lead on a Corkum block.

Then Bristol Eastern mounted its last real shot of the entire match, scoring

three in a row which show the power of their hitting game, but at 12-12 the

Lady Lancers were done.

A Conley kill gave Newtown the 13-12 lead and a Hoppmeyer dink set made it

14-12. Bristol Eastern finished it off with a double hit in the back row and

Newtown had the 15-12 win.

"We knew what their strengths were and what their weaknesses were," said

Phillip, "and we came out and used what we knew to our advantage."

Hoppmeyer added, "It was that first game, the momentum we had when we came

back from 9-2. That carried us through the other games. We were a little bit

more careful in what we were doing and maybe not so over-confident. We were

cocky against Stamford (a 3-1 win) and it almost hurt us."

The Lady Nighthawks established their no-fly zone early in Game 2, stampeding

out to an 8-1 lead. It had a lot to do with Newtown simply playing as smoothly

as it possibly could, but it also had a lot to do with the Lady Lancers

feeling a little overwhelmed mentally.

"If a team is good," said Denninger, "you can't take them out of their skills,

no matter what. The one thing you have is the mental aspect and if you can

take them out of their game, then they have no defense for you."

Bristol Eastern did play some defense after Newtown built up a 10-4 lead. On

consecutive collisions at the net, Corkum and Phillip were both stuffed on

spike attempts and added in with one Newtown mistake and a dink and the Lady

Nighthawks' lead was trimmed to 10-8.

But the Bristol Eastern resurgence ended there. Conley smashed two balls into

the floor, Delphine Tuot had a nice cross-court kill, and the Lady Lancers hit

two spikes into the net and Newtown had a 15-8 win.

The Lady Nighthawks had the lead, 2-0, but even though they were playing as

well as they have all season, they knew there were some things they had to

consider.

And consider well.

"It is so easy in volleyball to switch the momentum," said Hoppmeyer. "It

happened (the night before) when Bunnell was up on Darien 2-0 and lost 3-2. We

knew it could happen so we really wanted to take (Bristol Eastern) in three."

But it that wasn't something that Newtown had done easily in 1996. The Lady

Nighthawks have had problems with lapses in concentration - especially in the

state tournament - but were determined not to let it happen at the worst time.

"This was the first time in a very long time," said coach Lynch, "that they

were intense through the whole thing, that they were able to shake things off

and not lose their momentum. They were just up for it."

The Lady Nighthawks were so up, and focussed on the task, that they quickly

went ahead 4-0 on a kill from Denninger and dinks from Conley and Hoppmeyer.

Bristol Eastern eased back into the game - the momentum thing again - but

after tying the game at 6-6, a bad serve handed the ball back to Newtown and

the Lady Nighthawks began slipping away.

Tuot, who has been a solid server throughout the tournament, earned the Lady

Nighthawks three points - featuring an ace and a Corkum block - and put them

ahead 9-6.

The ball began switching sides with eight sideouts slowing down the game and

allowing Bristol Eastern, one step at a time, to cut the Newtown lead to 10-9.

Then Tuot, as if it were pre-ordained, took the service. The 11th point came

on a Corkum block and the 12th came on a Bristol Eastern mistake. Tuot aced

the 13th and 14th points and then Denninger, whose game has risen to new

heights in the state tournament, slammed the final spike into the floor and

Newtown had the state championship it had yearned for.

"I felt it in my bones that we were going to do this," said Hoppmeyer.

And the bones were right.