GORHAM — Biddeford got its first victory of the season on Thursday against Gorham, and though it was a three-set win, it wasn’t easy for the Tigers. The Rams proved to be tough with their backs against the wall, but Biddeford was able to grind away a 3-0 win in an SMAA volleyball match.
The Tigers jumped out to leads of 16-7 and 19-9 in the first set, thanks to some impressive serving from Jocelyn Moody, Dalani Roy, and Bri Collard. The three Tigers combined for four aces in the early run, but the Rams fought back before falling 25-20 in the opening set. Gorham hurt its own cause with two bad serves that ended runs of four and three points, respectively. The second bad serve gave the serve back to Biddeford, and senior Bailey Cote closed it out.
“I think we got a little nervous, probably. But we found our sweet spot and finished it,” said Cote.
The Tigers got off to an even better start in the second set, pulling out to an 11-2 lead, and then extending it to 17-5. Roy had two aces during a run of six-consecutive points after Gorham’s first point, and Cote had an ace of her own during another six-point run before it ended with a bad serve. That serve started a trend of unforced errors for the Tigers, who didn’t win consecutive points until winning the final two of the set to win 25-16.
While closing out the first two sets was a chore for Biddeford, closing out the match in three sets proved to be quite trying. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead with Moody serving, but they never led by more than three points, and never won more than three points in a row.
The Rams had runs of three- and four-consecutive points early in the set, with senior libero Hallye Anderson getting three-straight aces to put Gorham up 12-9. Maldonado called a timeout to get his team back on track, and Anderson had a bad serve out of the break to slow down the Rams’ momentum.
“It wasn’t that we needed to be more intense, we were just as intense,” said Maldonado. “It was just that Gorham became a lot more intense than they were in the first and second games.”
After the teams traded off back-and-forth points twice, the Tigers won six of the next seven. The teams traded the lead as the score climbed into the 20s, with the Rams taking a 22-21 lead to put the match on the brink of going to a fourth set. The Tigers then won three-straight points with Roy serving to make it 24-22.
“Dalani has helped us quite a bit with her serve,” said Maldonado.
The Rams, however, won the next three points to put themselves in line to win the set. But the Tigers held on, and held off a challenge by the Rams, to win the set 27-25.
“It took a lot of hard work, and a lot of energy, but we found it,” said Cote. “It feels pretty good. Definitely a little bit of a confidence-booster.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323.
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