Hawk Volleyball Team Wins A Pair Of Matches Following Battle With Masuk
Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team bounced back from a hard-fought, four-set loss at Masuk of Monroe on October 16 to defeat host Brookfield in four sets two days later, then topped visiting Stratford in three games on October 22.
The Nighthawks defeated the Brookfield Bobcats 25-16, 22-25, 25-17, 25-4. Newtown accumulated 17 aces, including six from Sarah Nowacki, four from Veronica Kroha, three from Natalie Horn, and two apiece from Maggie McInerney and Genevieve Murray.
Murray also logged ten kills, Nowacki had eight kills and six digs, Horn tallied eight kills, and Amanda Arujo had four kills. Catie Gregory and Chloe O’Connell each tallied seven digs. Gregory had 13 assists, Keyera Smith logged ten assists, and Kate Petersen added five assists.
Masuk overcame a game-one loss to prevail 20-25, 25-10, 25-21, 29-27. Arujo and Kroha each had four kills. Horn and Gregory had seven and six digs, respectively, and Gregory tallied ten assists.
In game three, Masuk jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Newtown got to within four points a couple of times, but the Panthers went ahead 16-8, prompting a Nighthawk timeout. The Nighthawks twice got back to within four points, the second time on a booming Murray kill that made the score 21-17, then trimmed the deficit to three when Smith’s running save near the bench led to a point, but that was as close as the Nighthawks got.
Newtown had the lead early on in game four. A Kroha ace and solid defense, including a diving save by Arujo, led to a point and a 6-2 lead. Kills by Nowacki, Petersen, and Arujo helped the Hawks build a 15-9 lead.
Timeout Masuk. The Panthers fell behind 18-11 as Kroha smashed a pair of hits for points after the timeout. Down 19-13, the Panthers went on a 6-1 run to get to within a point. Murray’s kill down the middle and Nowacki’s ace helped extend the Nighthawk lead to 23-19. Masuk clawed back again, and the set went long, with both teams facing match point but able to extend things. Service errors, long hits, and returns into the net added up and aided Masuk’s comeback win.