Windham girls volleyball sweeps Somersworth to win D2 championship

DERRY – It was the first set of the Division II championship and the Windham High School girls volleyball team looked to be in trouble.

The No. 1 Jaguars couldn’t put away No. 3 Somersworth and as the opening game marched toward its conclusion, the Hilltoppers had momentum, winning four straight points to take a 22-20 lead.

But Windham responded, taking the final five points to win the first game, and the Jaguars carried the momentum the rest of the way, beating Somersworth 3-0 to win the program’s second D2 title in three years Saturday at Pinkerton Academy. Game scores were 25-22, 25-16 and 25-20.

The title capped an undefeated season for the Jaguars (19-0), the second in program history.

“In the first game, they were so nervous,” Windham coach Jill Barlett said. “Despite having some senior leadership on the team, we’re fairly young. It’s like a 50-50 split. It was a big shock. Coming out in the first game slow, but also taking that game and working through those up-and-down points was phenomenal.”

Lexi Sawyer and Casey Dinga each had eight kills to lead Windham (19-0) while Sawyer also had two aces and Dinga had three blocks. Emily Frank also gave the Jaguars a big night with six kills and three blocks and Taylor Dufield had 22 assists.

Somersworth (15-4) got a solid performance from Kaitlyn Lavoie and Hunter Gosselin, as the Hilltoppers came out matching Windham point for point early in the first game.

“They definitely wanted it and we were nervous,” Sawyer said of the start. “It was a huge crowd. We have somewhat of a young team and some of the girls had been through this. Last year, we lost in the quarters. It was awesome to come out on top and win that first game.”

The teams were tied 12 times in the opening set when Somersworth won three points in row to go up 22-20. But Windham regrouped and came back, with senior libero Kacie Flaive serving, and getting kills from Dinga and Nina Berni to go ahead 23-22 and went on to win 25-22.

“It was huge,” Sawyer said. “It shifted our momentum and mindset. Everybody was nervous and to win that game meant a lot to the whole team. It boosted our confidence.”

The Jaguars carried that momentum into the second game, jumping out to an 8-3 lead to force the Hilltoppers to take a timeout. Windham kept coming after the break pushing the lead to 10-3 before Somersworth was able to chip away a little bit.

The Windham lead was 12-8 when Sawyer served seven straight points to make it 18-8 and the Jaguars held on for the nine-point win.

Somersworth took the lead early in the third game, getting up 5-2, but it didn’t last long. The teams went back and forth for a few points, but Windham – with Sawyer serving again – took the lead and never gave it back.

“This year, this is where we wanted our season to end,” Barlett said. “Undefeated, I’m not sure if I was reading that in our cards. I never try to look at it the wins and losses, but the forward progress is what we look at all season. To do it and be undefeated is the icing on the cake.”