Spikers set for NVLs  

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Naugatuck’s Brielle Behuniak hits the ball over the net Oct. 20 against Wolcott at Naugatuck High School. Naugatuck won the match, 3-2. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

With the NVL volleyball tournament quickly approaching, Naugatuck may be the surprise of the league.

The Greyhounds won eight of their last 10 matches, including a sweep of NVL tittle contender Torrington, to end the regular season.

“These girls are playing real well lately,” Naugatuck head coach Kevin Wesche said. “They have each other’s back and they have learned to play everything out. Playing to the whistle. That’s what we are going to need to do in the tournament. We gained a lot of confidence with the win in Torrington, and it showed with wins over Oxford and Wolcott.”

Naugatuck lost to Ansonia, 3-2, on Wednesday to end the regular season. The loss dropped the Greyhounds 14-6 overall.

The Greyhounds are the No. 3 seed in the NVL tournament and will host No. 6 Woodland on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first round. Naugatuck beat Woodland both times they played in the regular season, 3-2 and 3-0.

Woodland snapped a four-game skid with a sweep of Wolcott, 3-0, on Wednesday to cap the regular season. The Hawks (10-9) were led by Julia Swiatek with 10 kills and 10 digs, and Fatima Khalid, who had 27 assists to go along with 14 digs.

Naugatuck, which earned a 3-2 win over Wolcott last Friday and a 3-0 win over Watertown on Monday, is deep in talent, and that depth has the Greyhounds playing at the top of their game.

The only other blemish on the Greyhounds’ record in the second half of the season is a 3-0 loss to Seymour, the Class M defending state champs.

Naugatuck senior Cailee Bergin is the leader in the front row assisted by all-around player sophomore Brielle Behuniak. Junior Hailey Deitelbaum has come on to be a force anywhere on the court.

Seniors Taylor Hunt in the middle, Jayla Piazza in the back row and Aryana Powell give the Greyhounds an experienced bunch that communicate and back each other up.

Woodland began the season slow and then went on a six-game win streak. But the young Hawks have experienced some growing pains of late, falling by 3-1 scores against Torrington last Friday and Holy Cross on Monday.

Woodland’s Julia Swiatek and the Hawks will head on the road Saturday to face Naugatuck in the first round of the NVL tournament. –FILE PHOTO

Juniors Steph Krebbs and Lexie Chabot lead the front row for the Hawks. Both are accomplished players who can drop a kill on the other side of the net.

Senior Julia Swiatek teams up with juniors Fatima Khalid, Alyssa Lukeski and Rachel Poulos to give the Hawks a formidable lineup.

Limiting unforced errors and consistency will be the key to success for the Hawks.

“Sometimes our lack of confidence leads to a lack of enthusiasm,” Krebbs said. “We have made progress since the season started, but we just need to be more consistent out there. It doesn’t matter how many points we get behind by, we need to keep our confidence up. We can come back no matter what the score is because we have done it before.”

The semifinals of the tournament are set for next Monday at Kennedy High School with the final next Thursday at Crosby High School.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from the version that appears in the Oct. 27 edition of the Citizen’s News to include game information from Wednesday and the NVL tournament seedings.