Volleyball Team Falls To Barrington, But Just Barely

The host Barrington High boys’ volleyball team withstood a gritty effort by East Greenwich High, eliminating the Avengers, 3-2, Friday night in a quarterfinal-round match of the Division II state playoffs.

In front of a large and frenzied crowd, the Eagles shrugged off a 25-15 loss to EG in the opening set to record victories by margins of 25-19 and 25-19 in the next two games. After the Avengers posted a 25-17 triumph in the fourth contest, Barrington clinched its win with a 15-9 decision in the fifth outing.

The Eagles’ gifted frontline of Senai Hagos (20), Dan Andsager (9), Sean Farrell (4) and John Lewis (4) combined for 37 kills and setter Evan Bulman collected 31 assists and 2 service aces as the hosts recorded the school’s first-ever playoff triumph in boys’ volleyball in just the program’s third season. The Eagles (15-1 and the top seed in Division II-North) now advance to the semifinal round of the playoffs Tuesday at Rhode Island College in Providence where they will face divisional rival Classical High of Providence (14-4), which split its two regular-season matches with Barrington.

Classical earned its berth in the semifinals by upsetting Exeter-West Greenwich Regional, 3-1, Thursday night. East Greenwich, which finished fourth in Division II-South this year after dropping down from Division I, finished with a 9-6 record.

The Avengers, however, did not go quietly Friday night and gave Barrington all it could handle with their tall frontline anchored by Matt Denci (17 kills), Dan Shawver (13 kills) and Patrick Wong (7 kills) and an athletic backline including Robert Carlson, Elijah Brown and Robert Lusi. In an epic struggle which featured sharp momentum swings and at times brilliant hitting, passing, serving and returning, East Greenwich simply made too many mistakes and Barrington capitalized.

“Our guys played with a lot of intensity and came out prepared tonight to play well,” said Avenger Coach Theresa Jones. “Volleyball is a game of mistakes and in the fifth set, we had more of them.”

“I give East Greenwich a lot of credit for coming out and playing hard right from the start,” said Barrington Coach Christian Lambert. “We did not play well in the first game, but we played much better the rest of the way.”

Barrington also received solid all-around efforts from Rob Cardin, Ken Xiao and Jim Sylvester. When Xiao was forced to the sidelines in the fourth game with cramps, sophomore John Rockwell stepped in to provide much-needed stability in the final set.

In the final game, two kills by Andsager and Lewis enabled the Eagles to forge a 7-7 draw until a Hagos kill put the hosts ahead to stay at 8-7. Barrington was clinging to a 9-8 edge when Bulman essentially settled the issue by serving five unanswered points, two on Hagos kills.

After East Greenwich regained serve, Hagos (appropriately) ended the 105-minute battle with a slam.

In the first set, East Greenwich erased an early two-point deficit when Denci served five straight points for a 7-4 advantage the guests never surrendered. The Avengers led by just a 13-10 margin when Lusi scored six successive points highlighted by two aces and a Denci kill and concluded the game on a four-point run including a Shawver kill.

Barrington led most of the way in the second contest stretching a three-point lead to 15-7 when Hagos produced three straight kills. EG came no closer than five points to the finish when an errant Avenger serve concluded the game.

Hagos, Andsager and Lewis continued their stellar play at the net in the third tilt as the Eagles built a seven-point cushion, watched it shrink to 17-15, then salted it away with an 8-4 finish sparked by a kill and a block apiece by Andsager and Lewis. East Greenwich, however, refused to die and Denci and Shawver teamed up for seven kills in the fourth game which the Avengers snared with an early 8-1 burst and a later 8-5 stretch.

Lambert said Barrington must play well Tuesday to oust Classical and earn a berth in the Division II state championship.

“I’m sure Classical is very confident in their ability to play us and beat us,” he said. “It should be a good match.”

Jones, on the other hand, lamented the close of a memorable season for the Avengers.

“I think it was disappointing to come down to Division II this season, but the guys pulled together and proved themselves,” she said. “Overall, I think we had a great season.”

PHOTO 1: East Greenwich boys’ volleyball players shake hands with Barrington players after the Avengers were eliminated by the Eagles, 3-2, Friday night in a Division II playoff contest.

PHOTO 2: Matt Denci of East Greenwich notches one of his 17 kills.

PHOTO 3: Robert Lusi of East Greenwich powers a return past Kenneth Xiao (No. 16) of Barrington.

PHOTO 4: Patrick Wong (No. 22) of East Greenwich records a kill.

PHOTO 5: Matt Denci collects a kill by rifling this return through two Barrington defenders.

PHOTO 6: The Avengers gather around Coach Theresa Jones during a timeout.

PHOTO 7: Daniel Shawver (No. 25) battles Jonathan Lewis of Barrington at the net.

PHOTO 8: Matt Denci (No. 17) and Robert Carlson (No. 9) of East Greenwich contest a return by Dan Andsager of Barrington.

PHOTO 9: Despite a block attempt by Evan Bulman (No. 22) of Barrington, Robert Lusi of East Greenwich scored a point on this return.

PHOTO 10: Dan Shawver of East Greenwich (No. 25) skies for this return.

PHOTO 11: Avengers Dan Shawver (No. 25) and Robert Carlson (No. 9) defend the net against Sean Farrell of Barrington.

PHOTO 12: All eyes are on the ball as Avenger Patrick Wong (No. 22) prepares to return a Barrington volley.