BIDDEFORD — The Biddeford Tigers’ Renee Trottier isn’t bashful when talking about volleyball.

“I love it,” she said.

Her love of the sport showed this year when, as a senior captain, she led a young Biddeford team back to the Class A playoffs. She did it by playing any position of which coach Ruth Shaw asked her to play. She did it with experience. She did it, Shaw said, with passion, which is why she has earned the Journal Tribune’s 2011 Volleyball Player of the Year Award.

“She was an all-around player, meaning she could hit, serve, set and dig,” Shaw said. “On any given day, I would have to put her in a position that would most benefit the team.”

That meant some days Trottier played setter, other days she played outside hitter. Either way, it didn’t matter to the 17-year-old, who as a junior in 2010 played an important role in helping Biddeford win its first Class A state title.

“I was told last year during the awards banquet that I would be made the captain this year,” Trottier said. “Once I was told that I knew I had a lot of responsibility.”

She stepped in for graduating seniors Keila Grigware and Alyssa Drapeau, which wasn’t easy, Shaw said.

Gatorade named Grigware the Maine Volleyball Player of the Year in 2010. Drapeau earned the Journal Tribune 2010 Player of the Year Award.

“I looked up to Keila and Alyssa,” Trottier said. “We played together for a long time. This year, I knew we probably weren’t going to make it back to states, but I wanted to be a good role model for this team.”

Trottier began playing volleyball when she was 12. Her father, Rick Trottier, coached volleyball at Bowdoin College and the University of New England and has played the game for 30 years. Her mother, Sandra, also plays competitive volleyball.

“The game is just so much fun,” Trottier said. “It’s definitely my favorite sport.”

Trottier has also been successful away from the Biddeford program. Last year, at 16, she played for the New Hampshire Juniors 18 Gold Team. That squad is a Junior Olympic team for older players. Trottier, who had played for Junior Olympic teams in Maine prior to last season, wasn’t allowed to try out for the Maine Junior 18 Gold Team because she wasn’t 18. New Hampshire allowed her to try out, and she made the squad.

This weekend, she will participate in the Mass Pats Volleyball Club’s college showcase in Quincy, Mass. Trottier, who participated in the event last season, is one of 75 girls who were invited to participate after 140 competed for spots in the showcase. Sixty-two college coaches from across the United States will be there scouting talent.

“They’re there to watch and observe,” Trottier said. “It can make you a little nervous.”

She will showcase her talents as a setter, but will also play outside hitter. She said she wants to be a setter, because colleges need more players in that position.

Schools such as Endicott, University of Southern Maine, Roger Williams and UMaine Farmington have shown interest in Trottier. She said she hopes that number will grow after this weekend, but she is considering Endicott.

“I think it’s a beautiful school, and I really want to go there,” she said. “We’ll see what happens after this weekend, though.”

— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535, Ext. 323.