Hawks Still Spiking Competition; Coach Still Not Satisfied

By Andy Hutchison

The Newtown High School girls’ volleyball team may be 8-0 and apparently well on its way to another winning campaign, but Coach Tom Czaplinski is not satisfied with what he has seen out of his team to this point. Czaplinski believes the Nighthawks are underachieving.

Just think what the opponents would be in for if Newtown was clicking on all cylinders.

“They should be focusing on how they’re playing and not what their record is,” the coach said of his players. “We’re not playing to our capability. I don’t think we’re playing at our highest level.”

Individuals have displayed great talent in spurts but the overall team play is not where the coach would like for it to be. The players need to be more aggressive and take initiative to go for the ball more often, he said.

“He’s pushing us hard enough that we can only get better from here,” senior Alex Caracciolo said. “I think as a team we always need to be confident.”

“When we’re up emotionally we win. We just have to remember to keep our heads up and keep each other’s spirits up,” captain Jordyn Good added.

Fellow senior captain Jocelyn Pasko says the teammates play together and trust each other and to quote a line from her teammate, junior Megan Casey, “We are nine hearts and one beat.”

But that collective beat can be in more in sync as the team improves. Five players who started last season graduated, leaving a substantial amount of rebuilding in the starting lineup this fall, and the Nighthawks have found a way to win from the get-go.

In a 3-1 win over New Milford at home on September 26, Newtown lost a late-game lead to fall 26-24 in game one, staved off their opponents 25-23 in game two, and won by 25-17 scores in each of the last two games. Senior Marley Koschel had two serving runs of five points each during the game three win. Senior Ashley Rothacker had 26 assists and seven digs in the match overall, junior Megan Casey had 16 digs, and Pasko added 11 digs.

Newtown will try to continue its winning ways, all the while improving its game as the season unfolds. Following a 3-0 win at New Fairfield on Monday, the Nighthawks were scheduled to host Bethel Thursday and will visit Stratford on Friday. Then, they will have two more matches before what is expected to be a good test against Pomperaug (home on October 10).

“We have a lot of competitive games left, but I really think we’re a big competitor in this league,” Good said.