BIDDEFORD — Is vincible a word? Is Biddeford volleyball for real?
The Tigers went a long way toward answering both of those burning questions in one fell swoop, via their overwhelming three-games sweep of volleyball power Greely, Thursday, at Steve White Gym.
The Tigers (9-1) trailed briefly in all three games, but came back to record wins of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-20.
This against a Greely team that has won the last seven state championships, and could well be working on an eight-peat.
A Rangers squad whose dominance is unrivaled in modern day Maine high school athletics.
Heck, Greely had gone more than five years without losing so much as a match until suffering a regular season upset at Falmouth last year.
Invincible?
Sure seemed like it.
Until, Thursday, when Biddeford (9-1) beat the Rangers for the second time this season, after taking a 3-1 win out of the Rangers’ gym in the season opener.
“In the past,” said senior Deanna Tourigny, “going up against Greely we’d always been hesitant. Tonight, we just went full throttle and did what we needed to do.”
What they did was keep Greely (7-2) from reeling off any runs.
The Rangers’ longest scoring skein was five points, which came in the first game.
And all that did was cut a six-point Tiger lead to one.
“It wasn’t surprising,” said senior hitter Keila Grigware. “We were just really confident in ourselves. Not so much worried about the other side.”
Conversely, Grigware and Co. did give the Rangers plenty to be concerned about.
Especially in the front court, which Biddeford clearly dominated.
“They knew,” said Biddeford coach Ruth Shaw of her team, “that if they started to show any emotion when they lost a point, that they would have problems. That’s what they’ve been working on. Not to let a deficit take over their emotions.”
Instead, it was the Tigers that took charge, with Grigware leading the way from the service line at critical times.
Her seven-point run, punctuated by a service ace, closed out the first game win.
And her spree in the middle contest turned a 9-6 deficit into an 11-10 lead, just when it seemed that the Rangers were about to pick themselves off the gym floor.
“The first half of the season,” said Grigware, “I struggled at the line. It was in my head. Then I started focusing on hitting the ball high, and not thinking about it so much.”
Biddeford received another large contribution from senior setter Alyssa Drapeau, whose kill finished off the win in Game Two.
“She (Drapeau) is intense all the time,” said Grigware. “Her face after a point is probably the best ever. So much starts from her.”
Then in Game Three, she riffled off the final three points from the line, including a match-point serve that proved to be too hot for the Rangers to handle.
“I was thinking that I wanted the game really bad,” said Drapeau. “And I knew our team wanted it. I just wanted to keep the ball in play. “
The Tigers will take the court again Wednesday, when they’ll host Falmouth.
— Contact Dan Hickling at [email protected].
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