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PORTLAND — Lauren Dunbar strode to the service line Wednesday with the opportunity to close out yet another trip to the state final for her Gorham volleyball team.

It was just the kind of chance she hoped to receive.

“It felt amazing,” she said. “This is in my hands? I’ve got to bring it for my team.”

Bring it she did. Dunbar notched back-to-back aces to put the finishing touches on a 3-1 victory for the third-seeded Rams, lifting them past No. 2 Cheverus and into the Class A final for the fourth straight year.

Gorham won the first two sets 25-16 and 25-22, then closed out the win with a 25-21 victory in the fourth. Abigail Stevens led the Rams (13-3), the two-time defending state champions, with 12 kills, while Dunbar had eight and three aces, and Luna Button (seven kills) and Liana Edwards had four aces apiece.

Gorham, ranked fourth in the Varsity Maine polls, will play No. 4 Thornton Academy, which upset No. 1 Scarborough, in the final Saturday.

“I’m even more emotional than I’ve ever been,” said Dunbar, a senior. “I’m just so proud of my team.”

Even the set Gorham lost, 25-21 in the third, was noteworthy. The Rams trailed 16-2, then narrowed the deficit to 23-21 before Cheverus (13-3) pulled out the victory.

The Stags got 10 kills from Eleanor Snyder and eight from Mary Hackleman, as well as three aces from Anna Grace Hebert.

“It’s so wild. I have just had butterflies in my stomach. It doesn’t get old,” Rams coach Emma Tirrell said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, we can’t get cocky. It never, ever gets old.”

Gorham showcased its big-game poise, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first set behind three aces from Edwards as the Stags looked tentative and unsettled. The Rams never trailed, and while Cheverus steadied itself to take a 15-13 lead in the second set, Gorham got five straight points on three aces from Button, and kills from Stevens and Dunbar to take the lead for good.

“The first two games, we just were too nervous. We’d never been seeded this high before,” Stags coach Gary Powers said. “I told them to … forget the crowd, this is the biggest crowd we’ve had, and just play. You have nothing to lose.”

Cheverus surged at the start of the third set, but then nearly collapsed as Button had two aces and Stevens two kills during a 10-0 run that trimmed the deficit to 22-19. The Stags recovered and hung on, but momentum had swung.

“It just felt like we could do anything,” Stevens said. “I’ve never played a game where I’ve had that much of a comeback. It gave me, and I know every other person on the team, so much motivation to win the next set.”

Cheverus kept up the fight in the fourth, taking a 19-18 lead on a Frida Gray kill after trailing 16-11, but Gorham again prevailed under pressure. Edwards had a hard kill to give the Stags a 22-21 lead, setting the stage for Dunbar to finish it.

“It’s nerve-wracking, it’s super nerve-wracking. We’re almost like ‘This is terrifying,'” Dunbar said. “But we overpower that feeling with confidence. We just believe in ourselves.”