By Kim J. Harmon

MILFORD – The Newtown High School volleyball team won’t be going to the finals of the South-West Conference tournament this year . . . but the fact that the Nighthawks reached the semi-finals is reason enough to rejoice.

So, it was the 3-1 win over Masuk last Saturday in Monroe in the SWC quarter-finals that was the big story of the week – not the 3-0 semi-final loss to New Fairfield on Tuesday at Jonathan Law High School in Milford.

The ‘Hawks – who had started the season well, but fell into a difficult slump later on – needed to defeat Lauralton Hall on the final day of the regular season just to qualify for the SWC tournament (as well as the CIAC tournament).

“We just knew we could do it,” said senior Erin Carolan just moments after the ‘Hawks defeated the Pantherettes. “When we perform the way we are capable of, we can dominate.”

And dominate they did – most of the time. Not only did Anne Schneider offer up some sharp sets, but Stephanie Logan was a wrecking machine in the middle while Carolan and Ally Gellert all but jumped out of the gym at the left corner. Caitlyn Elf was a crafty setter, Shannon Kohn was brilliant on the back row, and everyone – especially the specialists, Kristin Correa and Jenn Murphy – were near perfect from behind the service line.

Everything – everything – worked.

“They came together as a team for the first time this year,” said head coach Tom Czaplinski. “We told them that as long as we limp into the playoffs, we can take I from there, and ever since (we qualified) the girls have been fired up.”

Fired up – despite the fact that the last time the two teams met it was Masuk on the high side of a fairly convincing 3-1 win.

“They wanted to get revenge on some people,” said coach Czaplinski.

The way Kohn explained it, “We knew we had played badly the last time. But we came out and pretended it was a clean slate. We really wanted to show everyone we were a good team and our record didn’t really show it.”

The ‘Hawks showed it on Saturday in the 15-12, 5-15, 15-9, 15-12 win by overcoming deficits (small and large) in each of the three games they won. Whether or not they showed it on Tuesday would be open to some argument, but suffice it to say that even a very good team could lose to New Fairfield, one of the SWCs perennial powers.

Carolan said, “We’re happy to be here and we’re having fun and (we were) looking forward to playing New Fairfield.”

The ‘Hawks had plenty of fun against Masuk. In Game 1, they built up a commanding 9-3 lead about halfway through. With Logan battering the Pantherettes from the middle, Elf and Murphy ripping off a couple of aces, and Carolan, Elf and Jaime Lindquist registering kills the ‘Hawks had the Pantherettes on their heels.

Masuk, though, eased back into the game one step at a time until one misjudgment and one bad set allowed Masuk to grab a 12-11 lead.

But an ace by Elf and an ace by Logan (a surprisingly strong server for a middle hitter) gave the lead back to Newtown, 13-12. A mistake by Masuk allowed Newtown to increase its lead by one and then Gellert – after a beautiful dig by Kohn – finished it off with a hard smash to the back line.

Now, the ‘Hawks had also taken a 1-0 lead on Masuk during the regular-season match and when the ‘Hawks got clobbered, 15-5, in Game 2 last Saturday it no doubt stirred up some unpleasant memories of that other match slipping away.

Especially when Game 3 became a bit of a struggle early, as Masuk grabbed a 4-2 lead. But, later, a dink by Kate Anderheggen and a kill by Lindquist gave the ‘Hawks a 7-6 lead – a lead they would not relinquish. From there, Elf became the driving force with two dinks and two much harder spikes to propel Newtown to the win.

The 2-1 lead in the match seemed in jeopardy, though, as Masuk took a commanding 8-3 lead in Game 4. The Pantherettes were down, 3-2, but reeled off six consecutive points before coach Czaplinski called a timeout. The ‘Hawks then earned the sideout and Correa stepped behind the service line to fire off two straight aces.

The ‘Hawks rallied.

Later, four consecutive kills by Logan (two on sideouts) helped the ‘Hawks take a 12-10 lead. But after a Gellert ace put the ‘Hawks ahead, 13-10, Masuk took advantage of two long hits by Newtown to slip to within one point, 13-12.

But another Logan kill and two dinks by Elf all earned sideouts for Newtown, keeping Masuk from tying the score and/or taking the lead. Then, with Kohn behind the service line, the ‘Hawks put the game – and the match – away.

Carolan said, “There was no doubt in our minds we could do it.”

Logan finished with 13 kills and six blocks while Elf had 13 kills and 16 assists. Schneider contributed 26 assists and six digs.

With the win, it was on to New Fairfield, a team that had beaten the ‘Hawks twice during the regular season, and the ‘Hawks went in to the semi-finals knowing it would take an almost Herculean effort to overcome the Lady Rebels.

They didn’t quite manage it. In the 15-4, 15-11, 15-4 loss Logan and Carolan combined for 13 kills while Elf had seven assists, four digs, and a pair of aces.

The ‘Hawks will wait now for the CIAC state tournament seedings to be announced.

NOTE:_If anyone has found coach Tom Czaplinski’s dark grey fleece pullover with the black collar, lost last Tuesday, please return to the NHS_Athletic Director’s office.