The Newtown Nighthawks will head out on the road to square off against the Shelton Gaels at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Newtown is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Connecticut's top teams: Masuk, who was ranked ninth at the time (Newtown was ranked 15th). The Nighthawks took a 3-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Panthers on Monday. The Nighthawks have struggled against the Panthers recently, as the game was their sixth consecutive lost meeting.
The loss didn't mean the game wasn't competitive: Masuk scored at least 18 points in every set. The match finished with set scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19.
Newtown's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Eli Sullivan, who had 23 digs and four assists, and Dima Frunza, who had nine digs and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Shelton came tearing into Friday's contest with three straight wins , and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Panthers with a sharp 3-0 win.
While Shelton won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the first set they played. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-23, 25-16, 25-18.
Shelton's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-3. As for Newtown, their loss dropped their record down to 12-4.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's game: Newtown hasn't let much over the net this season, having averaged 4.9 blocks per game. However, it's not like Shelton struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.5 blocks. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Newtown beat Shelton 3-1 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Nighthawks since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
