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BIDDEFORD — No. 1 Biddeford Tigers girls volleyball team continued its unbeaten streak as it spiked the No. 5 Gorham Rams Wednesday advancing to the Class A state championship game against Greely.

The match, held at Steve White Gym in Biddeford, lasted just over an hour as Biddeford took all the sets 25-19, 25-16, 25-10.

The Tigers never relinquished the lead in each set as they got up early and kept winning points.

“We have a lot of depth. I had nine in the rotation tonight. If there is anyone that would have faltered, there’s always someone on the bench that could take over,” said Biddeford coach Ruth Shaw.

Set one was the closest of the match with a final of 25-19. Both teams went on small runs, but Biddeford jumped out early setting the pace at 2-0. The Tigers started distancing themselves when Katelyn Lebreux had three straight kills at 12-8, 13-8 and 14-8. Gorham slowly started chipping away at the six-point deficit, but Biddeford rallied at 22-17 to win two straight points to 24-17. Gorham gained a few more points until it served the ball out of bounds to end the set.

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Biddeford opened up set two with two kills by Lebreux and an ace by Mariah Hebert to take a 3-0 lead. Gorham didn’t score a point off a serve until the game was at 14-9 on a Samantha Robinson ace. Biddeford then won the next six points to open up its lead to 20-9. Jocelyn Moody had two kills in the sequence and Lebreux added an ace. Gorham did go on a four-point run, but an ace on the last point by Biddeford won the set.

In the third set, Gorham kept the game close until 12-8 when Biddeford won eight straight points for a 19-8 lead. In the sequence, Bailey Cote had two aces and a kill, and Justine Bouthot had two kills. Gorham scored twice after, but the Tigers went on a long run again to end the set and take the match 3-0.

Hebert was key to the Biddeford offense. While she had several aces on the night, she got the offense going setting balls for the kills.

“Hebert has always been the center of our offense. If we didn’t have her we wouldn’t have the hits. She is just an amazing setter, and she has really worked hard throughout this past year to become the setter she is,” said Shaw.

Cote and Lebreux were also instrumental on both the offensive and defensive side. Cote’s serves wreaked havoc on Gorham’s defense, causing miss hits and easy kills. Lebreux hit several hard shots at Gorham as she had several kills all night.

“Bailey Cote’s serving, and front row blocking and hitting was excellent,” said Shaw. “Then you have Katelyn Lebreux who was a machine in the back row. For a little girl, she can hit the ball hard.”

Biddeford will play for the state title Saturday against No. 2 Greely, who won its match against No. 6 Scarborough Wednesday 3-2. The game is slated for 7 p.m. at Husson College in Bangor.



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