Joel Barlow Sweeps New Canaan For 2nd Straight Boys Volleyball Title

SOUTHBURY, CT — In winning its first Class M boys volleyball championship a year ago, Joel Barlow dropped just one set all season long, in the title match against Newington. Somehow, the Falcons were able to improve on that mark this year, sweeping New Canaan 3-0 in the finals Thursday at Pomperaug High School.

Game scores were 25-21, 25-22 and 25-20.

In each game, New Canaan trailed by substantial margins, but managed to come back within striking distance. The Rams trailed 20-13 in the first set, but cut the deficit to 22-20 before succumbing. Similarly, Barlow held a 2-16 advantage in the middle set before New Canaan rallied to within two, and in the final set, a 9-point Falcon edge was twice reduced to four before icing the championship.

Each game ended in different fashion. A hard kill shot by Will Villhauer ended the first set; setter Leo Houser successfully placed a dink shot to cap the middle game; and a kill shot by Ryan Schmid finished off the sweep and extended the Falcons' winning streak to 46 matches, including 25-0 this year.

New Canaan, which wound up 15-7, received solid efforts from seniors Matt Homan and Connor Ho, as well as junior Nic Limone.

See video of the championship point below.