Newtown High School’s girls’ volleyball team is once again on a mission to dethrone South-West Conference king Joel Barlow of Redding. The Nighthawks defeated the Falcons in their first of two regular-season meetings last fall before falling to Barlow once in the regular slate and again the SWC tournament championship match. It marked the sixth consecutive year the Falcons have won it all.

The Nighthawks and Weston Trojans each have been runner-up to Barlow three times during this stretch, with NHS reaching the pinnacle match both of the past two seasons. Last year’s title match was about as close as they come, with Barlow prevailing by just two points in the fifth and decisive set.

Newtown is coming off a 14-5 regular season slate capped off by both the SWC tourney run and a push to the second round of the Class LL state tourney.

Coach Tom Czaplinski will have a much different squad on the court following the graduation of Erin Burns, Julia Anderson, Zoe Beals, Rachel O’Grady, Tess Mubarek, and Sarah Dowling. Despite the new look, expectations remain the same as they are every fall: To improve on the previous year’s playoff results.

In other words, winning the conference championship remains on the to-do list.

Captains are setter and returning starter Kim Buttery, libero Mollie Goudy, and setter and defensive specialist Jackie Moccio — all of whom have plenty of varsity playing experience from a year ago.

Middle hitter Erin Mitchell is back after missing some time with an injury last year.

Czaplinski expects strong contributions from newcomers as well.

“The thing I love about our program is no matter how many we graduate, we’ve got the kids waiting in the wings to pick up where they left off,” Czaplinski said.

“It’s a very athletic team,” the coach added. “If we can pass the ball well, we’ll be a very solid team from the get-go.”

Tough competition stands to come from Barlow, Masuk of Monroe, Pomperaug of Southbury, and Brookfield — all SWC teams — along with out-of-conference foes Darien, St Joseph of Trumbull, Woodstock Academy, and East Lyme.

The season began with a 3-2 win over visiting Darien on September 6. Newtown hosts Barlow on Friday, September 28, at 5:30 pm. The teams will have a rematch on Wednesday, October 24, in Redding, also at 5:30.

Czaplinski anticipates two of the biggest strengths of the team being chemistry and players having a desire to be better. The coach is enthusiastic about working with the group.

“Definitely looking forward to coaching a great group of student-athletes who have a big opportunity to do amazing things on the court,” Czaplinski said.