New London swept at home by Central Lee

NEW LONDON — The SEISC South Division is a wagon this year, and that was as evident as ever on Thursday night when Central Lee came into New London and handed a perrenial top team a 3-0 loss.

The Hawks defeated the previously 4-0 Tigers 25-20, 25-20 and 25-18 in the first official South Division game of the season for both teams.

Central Lee made their presence known early. The Hawks came out firing in the first set, and took a 15-10 lead after the first 25 points, leading to a Tiger timeout.

Freshman middle hitter Keaura Williams responded with two-straight kilsl to cut the Hawks' lead to 15-12, but the Hawks scored the next three and never looked back.

The Tigers were in the lead for most of the third period, even leading 18-13 at one point. Sofie Reighard was lighting it up at the net, tallying five kills in the set, but the Hawks came storming back. Central Lee went on a 6-1 run to tie it at 19-19. The Tigers went back up 20-19, but the Hawks scored the next six poitns to steal the set.

'We were ahead in that second game and we should have won it,' said New London coach Maureen Heath. 'But Central Lee is a great team, they put a lot of pressure on us, and I don't think we responded very well.'

Central Lee kept that pressure on in the third set. They scored the first three points and four of the first five, and New London could never get back in it.

Williams had a team-high 11 kills in the loss. Reighard finished with 10, and Addie Pry had eight.

Aliyah Christensen finished the game with 25 assists. Kyra Linkin, Christensen and Marah Hartrick each had 10 digs.

New London fell to 1-4 with the loss. They'll play a tournament at Notre Dame on Saturday, Sept. 7, before returning to brutal South Division play.

'It's definitely going to be a battle,' Coach Heath says about the division. 'We're going to have to grow up quick and get some improvement in some areas. But we're not going to back down. We just have to get to work, because our schedule won't slow down.'