The Barrington High School boys volleyball team will play for the Division II state championship tonight, Friday, June 7,  at 6 p.m. 

The Eagles punched their ticket to the finals with a thrilling 3-2 victory over East Providence in the Division II semifinals on Wednesday, June 5. Barrington won the first two sets 25-17, 25-22, and East Providence battled back to win the next two, 25-23, 25-19. The fifth and deciding set was back and forth, with the Eagles pulling it out in the end, 16-14.

“At 14-14 you couldn’t hear anything but the loud cheers coming from both fan bases,” said Barrington High School Coach Christian Lambert, adding that more than 250 people had packed a hot BHS gym for the semifinals showdown. 

Barrington took a 15-14 lead on a clever attack by Donovan Park and won the match a moment later. Barrington will square off against Cranston West in the finals, which will be played at Rhode Island College’s Murray Center. 

The Eagles took control of the first set when they broke a 10-10 tie and dominated the net with big blocks by Max Oberacker and James Ciummo. Cam Kelley and Donovan Park blasted thundering kills over the Townies defenders, and Sang Min Park controlled the Eagles’ offense with a few kills and some deceitful setter dumps. Luke Van Ness was everywhere on the court, never letting a ball touch the hardwood. 

The Eagles played at the same high level in the second set and carried momentum into the third set. However, the match took a turn in the third set. 

“There was something eerily similar to the match three weeks ago when the Eagles visited EP and ended up being reverse swept by the Townies,” Coach Lambert said. 

This third set went back and forth. Barrington was able to take a two-point lead at 17-15, but the Townies sided out and went on a 7-0 run. The Eagles clawed back, but never regained the lead and the Townies took the third set. 

The fourth set was all East Providence. 

“They found big success against the middle-right block…” Coach Lambert said, adding that the Townies’ outside hitters tallied kill after kill to close out the fourth set. 

East Providence won the fifth set coin toss and chose to serve. They scored on their first serve, but Barrington then took a 4-1 lead. The Townies battled back to take a 5-4 lead, and the teams traded points until the match was 14-14. Donovan Park’s attack pushed Barrington ahead for good. 

Cam Kelley finished the match with 21 kills, three aces, and nine digs. Sang Min Park tallied 46 assists and four blocks. Donovan Park had 12 kills and five digs, and Van Ness had 15 digs and 31 serve receptions.