Newtown High School's girls' volleyball team, on the heels of their run to the conference championship round, returned to action in the Class LL state tournament and, as the No. 9 seed and host team, defeated No. 24 Norwich Free Academy 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 11-25, 25-20), in the first round, on November 6.

Tess Mubarek had four aces and five digs; Zoe Beals had 14 kills and four digs; Erin Burns recorded two kills and four blocks; Erin Mitchell logged five kills and two aces; and Kim Buttery had two aces, two kills, and 37 assists.

Newtown advances to the second round with a visit No. 8 Glastonbury on Thursday, November 9, beginning at 6 pm. The winner travels to top-seeded Cheshire for a November 11 quarterfinal-round matchup.