NEWTOWN, CT — Masuk High’s boys volleyball team dethroned Joel Barlow of Redding and avenged last season’s title match loss by defeating the Falcons in Thursday’s South-West Conference Tournament pinnacle battle.
The No. 2 Panthers upset top seed Barlow 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-21) at neutral site Newtown High. It was Masuk’s first conference crown since back in 2011.
Championship match MVP Owen Lafond, Daniel Ferris and Micheal Majersky had big kills in key moments.
Nathan Kurkoski helped pace the team with strong setting; Mathias Aoaeh had a couple big blocks; Andrew Oleyar had some good digs; and Nicky Adams and Jack Hanna provided strong serving in a solid team effort.
As to be expected in a title match between the top two seeds, there were some long rallies and hard-fought points, diving plays, timely blocks and tremendous effort on both sides of the net.
“They pushed themselves and they pushed each other. They were ready to play,” Panther Coach Dan Nyitrai said.
The Masuk coach added that the Panthers did a nice job of not being complacent which helped the team prevail in a hard-fought match.
On that note, there is more work to be done with the upcoming state tournament, Nyitrai said.
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