MONROE — Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team made it three wins in a row, including two straight by 3-0 scores, with a triumph at Masuk High on September 23. The Nighthawks won by game scores of 25-15, 25-5, 25-21.

After cruising to victory in the second game, the Nighthawks fell behind 9-6 in the third set. Newtown reeled off five straight points to capture the lead thanks to strong serving of Amaro Beard-Galati and a timely kill by Grace Miller. The Hawks went on a run to build a 20-12 lead.

Leading just 12-11, the Hawks again gained momentum when Miller placed a hit just inside the back line and Haley Austermann followed with an ace, serving a hit of her own inside the back line. A long, errant Masuk hit followed by another Austermann ace pushed the lead to 16-11. Ella Stubbs had a kill to help the Hawks build on their lead.

The Panthers clawed to within three at 23-20 and Newtown had to work hard to close this one out. Beard-Galati’s diving save kept the ball in play which led to a point to bring things to match point. After a Nighthawk service error again pulled Masuk to within three, Beard-Galati’s block kept the ball moving and led to a Masuk net violation to end it.

Newtown’s ability to handle opponents’ serves and set themselves up on offense has been key.

“I think our serve-receive is our strongest aspect right now. Offense wins games but defense wins championships, and that’s our mentality,” Miller said.

Miller added that the friendships NHS team members have off the courts help them on the court. “We have each other’s backs all the time,” she said.

The back row of Miller, Bella Rio, and Zosia Teraszkiewicz has been instrumental in Newtown’s serve-receive keeping opposing team points off the board and setting up Newtown for point scoring success.

“We’ve been doing really well with that,” Newtown Coach Tom Czaplinski said.

The Hawks have been doing a nice job of getting the ball to their setters, Austermann and Gabby Soltis.

“It all starts with that,” Czaplinski said of the serve-receive aspect of the game. “That is the most important part of volleyball; that and serving.”

Newtown’s service game has also been strong. In the win over Masuk, the Hawks racked up 14 aces, three each by Beard-Galati, Stubbs, Miller, and Teraszkiewicz, and two from Austermann. Newtown put better than 91% of its serves in play during the wins over Masuk and New Fairfield the match before.

Against Masuk, Miller had eight kills and five digs; Teraszkiewicz logged nine kills and three digs; Stubbs had five kills and a trio of blocks; Rio had three digs; and Austermann had 19 assists.

Newtown beat New Fairfield 3-0 (25-5, 25-12, 25-11). Teraszkiewicz compiled eight kills and three digs; Soltis and Beard-Galati both had four of the team’s 17 aces, Gianna Galassi and Miller each had three aces, and Austermann logged two aces. Annabel Saunders had five kills; Beard-Galati had four kills and two blocks; and Miller had four kills and three digs. Soltis came up with 12 assists and Austermann had 11 assists.

The Nighthawks traveled to New York to participate in the John Jay Tournament on September 24 for a getaway experience that benefits the team on and off the court.

“It’s a day of bonding for the girls — they’re together all day long — and it’s amazing competition,” said Czaplinski, adding that the Hawks take on challenging schools from New York and other area states throughout the day.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.