Newtown High School's girls' volleyball team came back after dropping the first two sets to defeat New Milford 3-2 (20-25, 18-25, 25-13, 25-16, 15-9) on September 24.

Jordan Kemp logged 16 kills, Darla Paul had 14 kills, Diana Chomiak seven kills, and Mia Sullivan five kills to lead the attack. Taylor Leighton had 27 assists. Leah Botta registered 15 digs. Paul had five blocks. The Nighthawks logged 17 service aces led by six from Leighton and four from Remy Plummer.

"It is something we can build on for the future, hopefully," Newtown Coach Tom Czaplinski said.

The Nighthawks had a bump in their attempt to continue the momentum, falling in three sets to defending South-West Conference runner-up Masuk in Monroe on September 28. The Nighthawks were competitive in each set, particularly the first and third, which required add-on play to win by two, falling 28-26, 25-17, and 27-25. Masuk beat four-time SWC Champ Joel Barlow in five sets to begin the campaign, so does the closeness of these sets show how competitive Newtown is?

"We're working on it. We've still got a lot to do," Czaplinski said. "We need to communicate better and to move our feet better."

In the Masuk match, the Nighthawks got nine kills from Paul and four each from Sullivan and Rylan Kennedy. Leighton recorded five of Newtown's 15 aces; Ava Ashla and Kennedy both contributed three. Plummer led the way with seven digs, Botta had five and Kemp four.

The Hawks had won three straight matches to even their record at 3-3 before the Masuk match. NHS has a busy several days of matches; beginning with Wednesday's tilt with Pomperaug of Southbury, then there are matches Friday, October 2 at Immaculate of Danbury at 7 pm; Saturday, October 3 at home versus Stamford at 1 pm; and Monday, October 5 at home against Brookfield at 5:30 pm.

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