KENNEBUNK — Slowly but surely, the Biddeford volleyball team is getting its swagger back.

That much was certain after the Tigers beat Kennebunk 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Though the Tigers have been successful all season, and are well on their way to playoffs to defend their 2010 state title with a 9-4 record, head coach Ruth Shaw said Biddeford had lost its way after an Oct. 4 loss to Greely.

“After we got trounced by Greely, I was disappointed in the fact that, not that we lost, that we let them have it,” Shaw said. “Greely was the better team that night, but I don’t like to play a game that I feel we didn’t give our all. I said before this game, I need the Tiger stripes back, and I need the Tiger pride back. I don’t want to be the coach of a team that’s going to settle.”

But it all came together for the Tigers on Tuesday. Biddeford seemed to show a killer instinct it had not showed all season, jumping out to leads and not allowing the Rams any room to come back.

In short, the Tigers were playing at a championship level.

Biddeford won all three of its matches by nine points or more, taking the first game 25-16, before dominating the second game 25-10 and sealing the contest with a 25-15 score in the third game.

The Rams (5-8) had no lack of effort throughout the evening, and were led by the serving of Laura Smith, who had four aces. Rams head coach Craig Richardson said he felt his team should have been more mentally prepared for the Tigers.

“We played them better up at Biddeford than we did tonight,” Richardson said, referring to the Rams’ 3-1 loss to the Tigers on Sept. 24. “We just didn’t seem to get into the rhythm. Biddeford always seems to get into our heads a little bit. I think we just didn’t get off to a good start, and we couldn’t really adjust to that. I think our girls were a little bit nervous. We didn’t really hit the way we can, so our passes, we couldn’t get sets, and if you can’t get sets, you don’t get a lot of hits.”

Brianna Laverriere led Biddeford with four aces on the evening. Autumn Dube and Bailey Cote provided good blocking at the net for the Tigers, and though it won’t show on any stat sheet, Renee Trottier was a force to be reckoned with on the court, diving to save balls that appeared on their way to being points for Kennebunk, keeping Biddeford well in the lead.

Trottier’s performance was not lost on Shaw.

“Dube had some great blocks and Cote had some great shots, but Trottier is finally leading out there,” Shaw said. “She’s realizing she can tell people where to go and where to be, and that’s what we’ve been waiting for. It’s all starting to come together.”

Richardson praised Biddeford’s performance after the contest.

“Biddeford’s very scrappy,” Richardson said. “They picked up a lot of stuff, even the little touches we had over, they were able to pick them up and do something with them. We had a nice string of serves in there where we could get the ball deep, pass the ball deep, and they weren’t able to pass it up and really set up their offense. But far too many times, we gave them the opportunity. Our passes went to the 10-foot line, and they were right there waiting for it, and they had a good setter who dished it off and they were able to put it away.”

Biddeford has one game left in the regular season on Thursday, a showdown with perennial powerhouse Scarborough. The Red Storm (11-2) beat Biddeford 3-1 at the Tiger Gym back on Sept. 19. It appears that the Tigers will enter the postseason as either a No. 4 or a No. 5 seed, depending on their game with Scarborough and how Falmouth fares in its regular season finale against No. 1 seed Greely.

Thursday’s game will be in Scarborough and is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.

The Rams, who are just one spot shy of a playoff berth, host Gorham in their regular season finale on Friday.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318 or follow on Twitter @Dave_Dyer.