Newington Prevails For 2nd Straight Year as Volleyball Champions

SHELTON, CT — For the second straight spring, it took five sets for the Newington High School boys volleyball team to capture the Class M state championship. Unlike 2017, however, this year's team did not have to dig itself out of a nearly inescapable hole, though each set wound up about as close as can be.

At Shelton High School, the top-seeded Indians defeated No. 3 Joel Barlow 3-2 to win the title for the fifth time since 2012. Game scores were 26-24, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25 and 15-13.

Last year, Newington dropped the first two sets to South Windsor before rallying for three straight wins to claim the title.

Coached by Curt Burns, the members of the championship squad are Darien Rodriguez, Louis Egbuna, Evan Metzger, Collin Liedke, Keenan Esau, Jasper Cayunda, Daniel Cloutier, Jacob Baclawski, Alessandro DiPaola, Riley Miller, Eni Lici, Al Chan, Leonel Caceres, Krystian Kujawa, Razik Amadou, Julian Ortiz, Mason Romano and Teddy Fravel.

Seniors Rodriguez, Metzger, Cloutier and Chan played their final matches in an Indian uniform.

Photo credit: Newington Athletics

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