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# This title a little bit sweeter for Windham girls volleyball
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/title-little-bit-sweeter-windham-girls-volleyball/
- Published: 2017-11-07T13:00:37.000Z
- Updated: 2017-11-07T13:00:37.000Z
- Description: When the girls volleyball season started in early September, Jill Bartlett was excited to not only get the year going, but to see just what her Windham High School team would look like. After graduating three longtime varsity starters from 2016's Division II championship team, the Jaguars had a coup
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, girls volleyball, NH High School Sports Insider, Portsmouth, slider, Windham, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

When the girls volleyball season started in early September, Jill Bartlett was excited to not only get the year going, but to see just what her Windham High School team would look like.

After graduating three longtime varsity starters from 2016's Division II championship team, the Jaguars had a couple of question marks as they started their title defense.

By early October, things looked a little different than Windham was used to.

The Jaguars had dropped two matches, including one to Milford on Oct. 2, something that was a bit of an eye-opener after the team had gone undefeated the year before.

And then the injuries started to pile up.

"It was like every time I turned around, it was like ‘coach … ,'" Bartlett said. "We graduated three kids who had been used to being on the floor for four years. They were key elements of our game. This year, everything was a battle. If you told us at the beginning of October that we’d win a championship, I’d have said 'OK, but we’re going to have to work for it.'"

Windham (17-2) did, finishing the season by winning its final 10 matches in a row, including Saturday's D2 final, a 3-1 win over Portsmouth (16-4).

While last year's team could lean on two of the top players in the state in Lexi Sawyer and Casey Dinga, the 2017 squad looked to get a consistent effort from everyone that stepped out on the floor. Senior Emily Frank was there to lead the way, but juniors Taylor Sawyer, Nina Berni, Taylor Dufield and Kelley Burzlaff carried an equal share of the load.

"The girls have a quiet, steady confidence within themselves," Bartlett said. "As a spectator, you expect a team to be fired up or really aggressive. They have a trust in each other and the system they are in. They work really great within in that system."

That system has now produced three championships in the last four years, with another final appearance the year before, but there could be a new challenge facing the Jaguars on the horizon. The NHIAA has already announced that Windham will be among the teams moving up to Division I in other sports - football, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball - and it's possible that volleyball could be following.

Regardless of what happens, Bartlett and the Jaguars will enjoy this title.

"This might be the sweetest because of how hard we had to work," she said. "At times, it felt like the season wasn’t in our favor and we had to constantly work for it. Nothing was coming easy and we kept working."