Woodland sweeps Naugatuck to win its seventh NVL volleyball title, third in five seasons

The Woodland High girls volleyball team celebrates its Naugatuck Valley League title after defeating Naugatuck 3-0 on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at Kennedy High in Waterbury. (Steve Barlow/Hearst Connecticut Media) WATERBURY - In case you didn't catch the license plate of the runaway truck that barreled through the Naugatuck Valley League girls volleyball tournament, it was HAWKS#1. Woodland was on cruise control Thursday night as it rolled to its seventh NVL championship with a 3-0 dismantling of Naugatuck at Kennedy High.In two regular season matches, the defending champion Greyhounds extended the Hawks to five sets each time, making them the only NVL team to take a set from Woodland this fall.But even Naugy was helpless in the face of the Hawks' domination, becoming the third straight tournament opponent to be shut out. Thursday's set scores were 25-12, 25-18, 25-19. The title was Woodland's third NVL championship in five seasons, following wins in 2022 and 2023. "They were right on their game. Their setter did a tremendous job of running the offense, putting the ball all over. They kept attacking from all different angles, front and back, middle, left and right. They were on top of their game," Naugy coach Kevin Wesche said. "We tried our best, but we couldn't stop them."Sophomore outside hitter Lilly DeGennaro was named the outstanding player after contributing 13 kills, nine digs and four aces for Woodland (22-0). Senior middle hitter Nora Nemec had 14 kills, and senior outside hitter Ayla DeCrescenzo had eight kills and nine digs. Sophomore libero Leila Sheetz came up with 14 digs, including the 500th of her career.After trailing the entire way in dropping the first set, Naugatuck (19-4) owned a 4-1 lead early in the second set, but Woodland roared back. With the score tied at 9-9, the Hawks ripped off 11 of the next 12 points to take control.In the third set, Naugatuck jumped out to an 11-5 lead to force a Woodland timeout. The Hawks rallied to tie the set at 13-13 as DeGennaro contributed a kill and three aces during the run."(The key was) not getting down," DeGennaro said. "We knew we could come back on them. We just acted like it was 0-0 and we played every point out." Naugy took its final lead at 15-14 before Woodland scored eight straight points, with Nemec delivering three kills in the run. Her last kill of the evening was also the championship point."We stayed ambitious," Nemec said. "Even when we were down, we were ready to run ambitious plays instead of keeping it safe. When we play with the ambition we always love to play with and we move positions and we hit from different points on the net, that's what we love to do.""We prepared for this moment since the first practice of the season. We knew from the last two times (playing Naugatuck) that we could beat them," said DeCrescenzo.Maya Chatfield led Naugatuck with 14 kills, while Carly Luchina had 14 assists and five digs.Woodland is the top seed in the Class M tournament as it bids for its first CIAC title since 2013 and second overall. Naugatuck is seeded second in Class L.Player of the gameLilly DeGennaro, Woodland:The sophomore outside hitter had 13 kills, nine digs and four aces to earn outstanding player honors.Quote of the game"They have a bit of a hive mind when they're on the floor. I think that was apparent. They knew where each other was. That all starts at practice. They work hard in practice, just as hard as you saw them play today. We're a team of 10, and everyone shares in this. It's 10 together." - Woodland coach Jim Amato.Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at Woodland sweeps Naugatuck to win its seventh NVL volleyball title, third in five seasons.