Barrington High School girls volleyball coach Ron Enos said his team showed impressive mental toughness to battle back from a 2-1 deficit against LaSalle Academy in the Division I semifinals.

The Eagles won the key fourth set 25-20, and powered past the Rams in the fifth set, 15-8, to win the match and advance to Saturday's Division I championship against North Kingstown.

"We we were definitely feeling the pressure of the moment and that almost did us in," said Coach Enos. "I wasn’t sure we’d turn things around after getting whipped 25-8 in the third set. Still not sure how we did it but Christina Ducharme coming off the bench may have provided the spark we needed."

Ducharme played some stellar defense, said Coach Enos, and came up with a series of crucial digs to spark the Eagles' comeback in the fourth set. Ducharme made three digs off strong LaSalle attacks to give the Eagles a 21-16 advantage. Casey Lambert did a nice job at setter, and with Barrington leading 24-20, the sophomore connected with Jane Bessel in the middle for a game-ending kill, beating two LaSalle blockers.

Coach Enos said Barrington standout Maile Somera also made key plays in the fourth set.

"Maile Somera struggled throughout the match but found her stride in the fourth set making zero hitting errors in the final two sets," said Coach Enos. 

In the fifth set, the Eagles and Rams went point-for-point. With Barrington leading 5-4, Somera tipped a ball from the middle over the LaSalle double-block. Somera then went to the service line and scored two more points. 

The Rams called two straight time-outs, but Barrington responded with three points while Camille Brousseau was serving. 

Somera had a back-row kill at 12-8, and Grace Angelini finished out the win serving for Barrington. She had an ace and then a tough serve forced a Rams error at 15-8. 

Angelini finished the game with a team-high 19 digs, while Somera had 23 kills, two aces and six digs. Lambert had 33 assists and five digs. 

"Jane Bessel and Lauren O’Cain provided touches and blocks at key moments in the match and Dulce Mann had a huge dig during set 5 to help us pull ahead and stay ahead for good," added Coach Enos. 

Saturday vs. Skippers

Barrington High School will play against North Kingstown in the Division I championship on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. at Rhode Island College.

The Eagles lost 3-2 to the Skippers during their lone regular season match on Oct. 3. North Kingstown opened that match with a 25-22 win in the first set, but Barrington battled back to win the next two sets 25-21 and 27-25. In the fourth set, North Kingstown out-lasted the Eagles 28-26. Set five went to the Skippers 15-7.

North Kingstown finished the regular season with an 18-0 record, while Barrington was 16-2.