NEWINGTON - It’s a special accomplishment for a student-athlete to win a single state title during his high school career.

       Winning three in four years is a feat that will never be forgotten.

       Jordan Aprea entered rarified air last Friday night as the Newington boys volleyball team defeated Joel Barlow to capture their second championship in as many years. Aprea was also a key contributor as a freshman on the 2012 title team, meaning the graduating senior experienced volleyball utopia in three of his four seasons on the court.

       â€�"Winning this one was awesome,” Aprea said. â€�"This one was little more special, because I’m a senior and I was more of a leader, but all three have been incredible.”

       It didn’t come easy for Aprea and his band of brothers. The Indians needed two herculean efforts to repeat as champions, starting with a challenging four-set victory over New Canaan in the semifinal round last Tuesday night.

       The Rams of New Canaan started the semifinal bout with a tremendous amount of energy and took advantage of uncharacteristic miscues by the defending champs. Early, they threatened to end Newington’s bid to repeat, taking the first set (25-16).

       New Canaan, who had a much shorter commute to the neutral location in Fairfield, carried the momentum over into the second set where they tallied the first two points before Newington’s Tyler Callahan blocked a spike attempt, which seemed to wake up the road-weary Indians.

       â€�"Part of it was that we just came off an hour and a half bus ride. We were the number one seed, but we had to travel 55 miles and that’s kind of tough,” head coach Curt Burns said about the slow start. â€�"We made some mistakes early, but we did what’s called spinning the dial, where we changed our starting rotation. We don’t change the players, but the way they start. That seemed to pay off.”

       Callahan’s blocked was followed by a second rejection from Justin Owens, which sent the rowdy Newington spectators into a frenzy and led to eight straight points, helping the Indians win the second set 25-15. Callahan and Owens are a few of the unsung heroes that have flown under the radar during the team’s late-season surge.

       â€�"They are both good players. We ask them to adjust to a hitter and they did that. Usually good things will happen when you adjust,” Burns added. â€�"We also spent some time on blocking yesterday. We did some drills that would help get our hands over a little more, so when it’s blocked it would stay on their side. That seemed to pay off for us.”

       Owens finished the game with five blocks while Callahan and fellow middle blocker Dante Phillip sent back six shots apiece.

       The underdog Rams battled valiantly in the third set and received an outstanding game from senior-captain Tyler Edwards, who had several thunderous kills during the game. However, Aprea and co-captains, Nick Hinchcliffe and Bret Sullivan, were too much for Edwards to overcome.

       Aprea excelled during the third set and had four of his 13 kills in the frame. The reigning player of the year made back to back spectacular plays, putting the Indians up 12-10. The first was a soft tap on the kill attempt that dropped perfectly into an empty void in New Canaan’s alignment. He followed by diving to dig out an Edwards’ spike attempt, which led to another point. The consecutive plays gave Newington a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the match.

       The Indians ended any doubt of an upset by scoring the first six points of the fourth set. Hinchcliffe polished off the game and New Canaan’s season with a monstrous spike, which was the last of his team-high 15 kills.

       â€�"It feels great. This is a great group of guys,” Hinchcliffe said following the semifinal victory. â€�"We’ve worked really hard to get here.”

       It’s was an incredible season for Hinchcliffe. The 6’4” senior had to assume a lot of responsibility early in the season while Aprea, his bash-brother on the left side, recovered from shoulder surgery. The experience wasn’t ideal, but it may have made the Indians a more cohesive group.

       â€�"It taught us how to work as a unit better,” Hinchcliffe added. â€�"We developed better chemistry and once Jordan came back we completely took over and started playing really well.”

       â€�"We have to keep working hard at practice and get it done on Friday,” he said before the impending championship bout with Joel Barlow.

       Apparently the hard worked paid off, because Newington defeated the Redding-based Falcons for the title. It marked the second season in a row that the Indians ended Joel Barlow’s season. Newington was also victorious over the Falcons in the semifinal round during last season’s championship march.

       The team’s split the first two sets, but Newington secured the title by taking the final two sets by a 25-19 margin in each frame. Hinchcliffe tallied an astonishing 37 kills in the championship game and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

       Sullivan and Aprea combined for 43 digs and fellow senior Vincent Li added 13 more, helping keep the ball alive for Hinchcliffe’s kill attempts.

       The championship triumph was the cherry of top of a nearly perfect season in Newington. Including the postseason, the team won 21 of 23 matches this season, including the final dozen.

       It’s now on to the next phase of life for Aprea and his senior running mates. Aprea will be playing volleyball for Lasell College in Massachusetts next year, but his memorable four-year run at Newington is something that he will cherish forever.

       â€�"Definitely this was a tough season mentally for me, but if feels great to end the season the way we did. The injury was something that I had to deal with throughout the season. The games are the easy part and it was great to have the teammates that I did,” Aprea said while reflecting on his time in blue and gold. â€�"To win three in four years is something that I couldn’t have imagined, but the times with the coaches and players that I’ve played with the past four years is something that I’ll never forget.”