Barrington sails past Skippers, wins girls' volleyball title

PROVIDENCE — The Barrington High School girls' volleyball team can now boast of having won two championships with just one loss over two years in two different divisions after the Eagles convincingly defeated North Kingstown, 3-0, in the Division I state championship match Saturday afternoon, Nov. 19, at Rhode Island College.

Top-seeded Barrington capped its title run by routing the third-seeded Skippers by the scores of 25-20, 25-13, 25-22.

Just one year removed from their undefeated season in Division II that was capped off by a championship, the Eagles moved up to Division I this fall and seemingly didn't miss a step or a serve or a kill or a dig.

Barrington continued to soar in its new division all the way to a 20-1 record with its one loss coming to the Skippers during the regular season, which the Eagles avenged with ease from the opening serve Saturday.

“It is pretty emotional. I am really excited and it feels good,” Barrington head coach Ron Enos said. “Seven of them come from last year and they just took it to the next level.”

To begin action, Barrington got the loud crowd engaged as two kills from Somera help earn the Eagles a 3-1 early lead. Barrington continued their hot start as a kill from Anna Wilson-Wuestefeld and back-to-back kills from Somera forced the Skippers to call their first timeout as the Eagles’ lead grew to 8-3. After the break in action, another powerful kill from Wilson-Wuestefeld and an ace from Kaylee Feather earned Barrington a 13-5 lead.

North Kingstown proceeded to take advantage of a hitting and service error by Barrington to help cut the Eagles’ lead to 14-10 before Coach Enos called his first timeout. The game continued to be a tight battle after the timeout as Somera earned her fifth kill of the game to put Barrington up 19-14. The Skippers then scored three points in a row which forced another timeout for the Eagles as they still led 19-17.

The Barrington faithful then let their first “Let’s go Eagles” chant roar out to tried and push the Eagles to a first game win. Back-to-back points out of the timeout and Barrington took a 21-17 lead before North Kingstown called a timeout of their own as both coaches sensed the importance of the first game.

“They came out and were really fired up,” Coach Enos said. “Give credit to them. It was awesome to see.”

While the Eagles let their first game point go to waste, they did not do the same with the second as Caroline Connelly slammed home a kill to earn Barrington the first game 25-20. In the second game, Somera and Wilson-Wuestefeld earned another kill to get the Eagles out to an early 6-2 lead. Another kill form Victoria Mello just two points later and North Kingstown was forced to call another timeout. The Eagles continued to soar as they capped up a 8-2 run that had them up 13-4 over the Skippers as they called another timeout.

Barrington continued to look like the dominant team as Somera earned another kill and to put the soaring Eagles up 19-7. Despite a late effort from North Kingstown, one more hit from Somera and Barrington won the second game 25-13 and found themselves up 2-0.

To begin the third game, sophomore standout Somera, who finished with 19 kills and 11 digs, earned another kill to give Barrington an early 5-2 lead. “She sees the court so well and she gets a ton of digs,” Coach Enos said.

“She is just so consistent. You have know where she all the time. She is just incredible.”

Just several points later, Somera earned a kill and Mello had a block that help give the Eagles a commanding 11-5 lead. North Kingstown just wouldn't go away however as they scored three points in a row to force Barrington to call a timeout with the score 11-8. After some errors from the Skippers, Barrington could sense the championship as they took a 15-9 before North Kingstown as forced to call a timeout. An ace and a hitting errors later and Barrington all of a sudden four their lead cut to 15-13 as Coach Enos called another timeout.

Tensions proceeded to grow as back-to-back points for the Skippers made things only more interesting as the Eagles’ lead was struck to 17-15 before Somera help get her team back on track. When things got close, Barrington turned to Somera who hit two kills to lift her team to a 22-19 lead. A kill by Wilson-Wuestefeld gave her team the championship point which the Eagles capitalized on three points later as they won the final game 25-22 as Barrington players swarmed the court.

“I couldn’t be prouder to be the coach of this year’s girls,” Coach Enos said.