Windham girls volleyball keeps it cool, knocks off Portsmouth to win second straight D2 title

DERRY - Steady and focused was how the Windham High School girls volleyball team reached the Division II championship game.

And that was how the No. 3 Jaguars were going to win their second-straight title Saturday night against No. 5 Portsmouth.

Windham opened the first two games by keeping under control, while the Clippers made miscues, and after dropping the third game, the Jaguars took control midway through the fourth game to beat Portsmouth 3-1 at Pinkerton Academy. Scores were 25-20, 25-15, 23-25 and 25-18.

"I thought they played awesome," Windham coach Jill Barlett said. "We had a little hiccup in the third game, but we just played steady and calm all night long. They were kind of nervous knowing they close it out there, but otherwise, they just did an awesome job. They were consistent and hard-working and coachable. Any adjustments we asked them to make, they did it and they executed every single time."

Nina Berni led the way for Windham (17-2) with 19 kills while Emily Frank had 12 kills, seven blocks and six aces and Taylor Dufield had 31 assists and four aces. Nikki Batson recorded 14 digs and Taylor Sawyer had four aces.

The Jaguars got out to an 8-2 lead in the first games before Portsmouth (16-4) called a timeout in each, and while the Clippers were able to get close in each game, the hole was already too much for them to climb out. Portsmouth got with in two points, 22-20, in the first game before Windham finished it off, and the Clippers made it 14-6 in the second before things unraveled.

Windham took a 20-9 lead on the way to taking a 2-0 lead, but Portsmouth battled back in the third game, taking the lead early and holding off the Jaguars after they tied it up at 23.

"It was a matter of them making fewer mistakes and they were serving very strong in the beginning," Portsmouth coach Stefany Shaheen said. "We played our game and they made more mistakes. We played big and brought a lot of heart and hustle."

Natalie Gravelle led Portsmouth with 14 kills while Corinne Lamond had seven kills and Georgia Dickinson had five kills. Annah Shaheen recorded 13 digs and six kills and Sara Gardner had 29 assists while Olivia Brown had 10 digs.

"They brought a ton of heart and a ton of hustle," Shaheen said. "We came in feeling like a win would be a big cherry on top of a fantastic season. We knew Windham is the defending champ. We were going to give it everything we had and we worked hard to regain momentum."

Portsmouth carried that momentum into the fourth game, going up 5-1 and 8-4 before Windham started to come back behind the serving of Frank. The senior served six straight points as the Jaguars took a 10-8 lead.

After a timeout, the Clippers were twice able to get back within one point, but the Jaguars were able to stretch the lead to 22-16, winning six of seven points.

"We battled back and forth," Bartlett said. "Just play your game. Stay steady and calm. They had to take the momentum and put it in our favor. We had a game plan, to trust in it and finish."