D-II volleyball quarterfinals: Barrington upsets Tiverton

By MIKE SZOSTAK
Journal Sports Writer

TIVERTON -- Dominated in their two regular-season matches against Tiverton, Barrington showed up for the quarterfinals of the Division II Girls Volleyball Championships Tuesday night and shocked the undefeated Tigers, 3-2, in one of the biggest upsets of the RIIL fall sports season.

The Eagles' 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 15-12 triumph before a noisy crowd at Tiverton High was the latest of several playoff upsets in the RIIL, but it didn't surprise Barrington coach Ron Enos.

"I came in confident," he said as his players celebrated their stunning victory. "We won our last five regular-season matches. We won a tight game against Bay View. We won a tight [playoff] game against North Smithfield. We're playing our best volleyball now."

The Eagles were clearly the better team in this match. They led early in the first game, rallied from a five-point deficit, broke a 22-22 tie and held on for the win. After breaking a 2-2 tie they led the rest of the second game. They led for most of the third game until Tiverton fought back and won five of the last eight points. The Eagles led by seven points midway through the fourth game, but Tiverton came back with a 19-6 run. And they led from start to finish in the fifth game.

Most of the match Barrington played loose and Tiverton tight. The Eagles seemed excited, the Tigers tense. The Eagles played great defense, the Tigers struggled.

"We hoped we could pull it off. It was like when the Giants beat the Patriots," Barrington setter Alyssa Madwed said.

Tiverton dominated D-II South this season, posting a 16-0 record, winning 48 games and losing only 8. The Tigers blitzed the Eagles, 3-1, in their first match in September and shut them out in their second encounter a month later. Barrington was 4-6 at the time.

"I know this team. They refuse to give up. They refuse to quit," Enos said. Against Tiverton Tuesday night, he added that "they played tremendous defense and didn't give up a huge run."

Jessica Boukarim was a towering presence at the net for Barrington with 12 kills, 2 blocks and 2 block-assists. She also served 5 aces.

"They couldn't stop her," Enos said.

Madwed had 10 kills, 18 assists, 5 digs and a block assist.

Gina Anderson, the libero, had 9 digs and 2 assists. And outside hitter Chelsea D'Angelo had 11 digs.

Tiverton appeared to hit its stride late in the third game. Asked if his team was off its game at the start, coach Brian Goldberg said, "That's an understatement."

"It's very hard in sport to beat a team three times. They got excited to play and we didn't. They were playing with house money, and we were nervous. We were undefeated. We were expected to go to the state final. They were carefree, and that was the difference," he added.

At 14-12 in the fifth game, Anderson, perhaps the shortest player on the court, made a great save at the baseline with her back to the net on Barrington's third hit. Tiverton middle hitter Shayna Carmichael tried to end the point with a kill, but the ball landed out.

"We wanted to play our best and hope for the best," Enos said.

And they did.

Posted by Mark Divver  at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)