In only the third game of the season, the Greyhounds and Hawks went at it on Tuesday night in Naugatuck.
The Greyhounds rallied from down 2-1 to earn the 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-5) victory over the Hawks.
Cailee Bergin led Naugatuck (2-1) with 19 points, adding six kills and nine assists. Brielle Behuniak had 15 points to go along with 13 assists, and Aryana Powell added 13 points and four aces.
Stephanie Krebb led the charge for Woodland (0-3) with 11 kills, 15 digs and nine blocks. Alyssa Lukeski had 17 points and three aces. Lexi Chabot added eight points and seven kills, while Fatima Khalid dished out 23 assists to go along with 21 digs.
Naugatuck started the season with a strong performance over Kennedy last Friday, earning a 3-1 win (25-11, 25-17, 18-25 and 25-20). The Greyhounds were led by Powell with 17 points and four digs. Behuniak had 16 points and eight assists.
Taylor Hunt played solid in the middle, scoring 11 points and coming up with two digs, and Bergin was strong at the net with six kills and a block to go along with 17 assists.
Jayla Piazza had six digs, Hailey Deitelbaum added three kills and a block, and Julia Pelliccia came through with three kills and two assists.
Naugatuck ran into a much taller Danbury squad on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 decision (12-25, 17-25 and 15-25). Hunt scored six points with five digs, Behuniak had four assists, two blocks and two kills, Bergin had seven assists, three kills and two blocks, and Piazza added two points and six digs.
“Getting a win on an away court against a tough team like Kennedy was an accomplishment for the young team that we have,” Naugatuck head coach Kevin Wesche said. “I’m happy to start out with a win in the NVL because I think there will be a lot of parity this season in the league.
“With the rotation that we were in, we were able to stay in the serve and Powell, Behuniak and Hunt did a good job getting the ball in there. Bergin did a real good job up front for us.”
“Danbury is a traditional powerhouse, and I thought it would be a good test to see where we are,” Wesche added. “Maybe playing an early afternoon game after playing a night game may have taken its toll on us, but Danbury is a tall team and they took advantage of our lack of height.”
The Hawks don’t have the kind of experience that they are used to on the court and are off to a slow start.
Woodland opened the season last Friday and were shutout 3-0 (18-25, 11-25 and 17-25) against Torrington, last year’s Class M runner-ups.
Woodland was led by Krebbs with 10 kills and six digs. Chabot had nine digs and six kills. Fatima Khalid steered the offensive attack with 17 assists and five digs.
On Saturday, the Hawks fell, 3-1, to Brookfield.
Naugatuck will host Torrington on Thursday and visit Wolcott on Friday.
Woodland will host Oxford on Friday, before visiting Watertown on Tuesday.
