BIDDEFORD — Come the morning of Nov. 1, the two best Class A high school volleyball teams in Maine will enter Biddeford High School’s Tiger Gym with the state championship on the line.

Even with that date three months away, Jocelyn Moody and her Biddeford teammates expect to be one of those two squads.

“States is the goal,” said Moody, a junior outside hitter and team captain. “We’re hosting states, it’s going to be in this gym, so that’s really pushing us to play in our gym in front of all our home fans.”

It’s the kind of goal that is more a yearly expectation for the Tigers, who over the past decade have been one of the most consistent teams in the state, never failing to miss the playoffs and winning the state championship in 2010.

That run also included a tremendous fall in 2012, when an experienced and deep Tigers team went undefeated through the season before being upset by Greely in the state final.

But stripped of the nine seniors that led that state runner-up squad, Biddeford struggled with inexperience last season, managing an 8-8 record and falling in straight sets to Falmouth in the state quarterfinals.

“We knew going into last year it was going to be a rebuilding season,” Moody said. “We weren’t going to be the best, but it was just something we had to get through.”

The lumps taken last year could turn into dividends for Biddeford this season, as the team returns all but two players from its rotation last year, including first-team all-conference selection Moody, second-team all-conference selection Kayla Fournier and honorable mention all-conference selection Kendra Cote. The three players are building blocks for what the Tigers hope is a bounce-back season.

“We’ve always wanted to get back and get on top, be the team to beat,” said senior captain Bri Collard. “Last year we struggled a little bit, but this year a lot of people are experienced. It’s really good that everyone is back and knows what they’re doing from the start.”

But perhaps the biggest return for Biddeford comes on the sidelines, where longtime head coach Ruth Shaw returns after a one-year sabbatical for health and personal reasons.

It was the first time in a decade and a half that Shaw, who founded Biddeford’s volleyball program in 1999, hadn’t spent a good part of her fall coaching volleyball.

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years now, so it was just like, ”˜What am I going to do in the fall?’ Shaw said of her decision to return. “It was a difficult year for me last year, but (stepping away) was the right thing for me and the right thing for the players; I want to give it all, and if I can’t it’s not fair to them.

“Now I’m ready. I’m ready to give them everything they deserve from a coach coming in and I think we can be a wonderful team. We have a lot going for us.”

That starts with the athletic Moody, a significant player as a freshman who stepped into a main role as both a leader and the team’s top offensive threat a year ago, leading the Tigers with 152 kills at a .241 hit percentage while also compiling 114 digs on defense.

“Jocelyn has always played like a senior, right from her freshmen year. One person will always rise to be the voice for the team, and Jocelyn’s really done that and motivated people so far,” Shaw said.

“She’s starting to know where she should be and where she wants everybody else to be, and also knowing how the defense is playing on the other side of the court. When she was a freshman, she could serve hard and she could hit hard, but she wasn’t always as attuned to what the other team was doing and where she should put the ball. Now she’s starting to look on the other side of the court and knowing where she should hit the ball.”

Much as Moody did last year, Cote is expected to take a big step forward this season after making an impact as a freshman, which was her first year of playing volleyball. Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, she’ll be the team’s main middle hitter and middle blocker at the net, where she compiled 67 kills and 19 blocks last season.

“Kendra has improved tremendously from playing through the winter and the spring into the summer,” Shaw said. “She’s put in the time and she has natural thought process to hit.

“She’s a strong server and she’s really been working on her receiving and her passing. I think she’s got a lot of potential and she’s also one of the best sophomores I’ve seen. She’s going to be a big impact player for us in the front row.”

Shaw said Cote has come in as a much more seasoned player thanks to plenty of extra experience gained during the winter and spring, when she played with Maine Junior Olympic Volleyball Club. Moody, Cote’s travel team teammate with the club, said that Cote had “improved so much in the fundamentals” from the end of last fall to this point, making her a threat to dominate games with her size and power up front.

“It’s nice because now I have even more experience now,” Cote said. “I know the timing better. I have a lot more power now because I know how to use the power better. It’s just the fundamentals now.”

Fournier is another Tiger who spent a good part of the offseason getting reps and refining her game. The team’s quarterback as the setter, Fournier stepped into big shoes last season as she took over for Mariah Hebert, the graduated 2012 Maine Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year.

Fournier filled the role admirably, earning the all-conference selection thanks to 310 assists, but expects to be better in her second season running the show.

“Last year I was nervous coming into it and taking Mariah Hebert’s place because she was so good,” Fournier said. “This year, I feel like I definitely can do it. I’m ready and I feel more confident going into it.”

“Her setting technique has improved,” Shaw said of Fournier. “We have to work on her with her defensive positioning when she’s not setting and knowing what the other side is doing so she has the whole game. That’s the intelligence side that we’re going to work a lot with her on. Kayla is going to be a huge factor for us in that way.”

Collard, who Shaw described as her “tough-as-nails girl,” will lead the team’s defense as the libero, while seniors Sam Daigle, Alisha Proctor and Hayley Lefebvre, junior Katherine Dumoulin and sophomore Faith Tourigny will also all be relied upon as key supporting pieces.

If everything comes together, it’s possible the Tigers could be entering their home gym in three months time, playing in their third state championship game in five years.

“I think we’ll be right up there in the top three this year,” Shaw said. “It all depends on their mental toughness, because they have the skills.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.