MACHIAS – After back-to-back state runner-up seasons, it seems this state championship stuff is really starting to agree with Woodland’s volleyball team.

The Dragons won their second straight state title Saturday night at the University of Maine-Machias largely on the strength of their senior starters. In fact, it was that veteran leadership and poise which seemingly made the difference as they brushed aside a gutsy effort from Bucksport en route to a 15-4, 15-17, 15-9, 15-0 victory.

Chief among those senior leaders were hitters Julia Knights and Ashley Marble, who were a combined 44-for-46 on service.

It was Knights who took control at the outset of game three, just after Bucksport beat back a Woodland rally to edge the Dragons in the second game. Knights served up 11 straight points to stake an 11-0 lead in Woodland’s 15-9 win.

“They told me to block out the crowd and just focus on hitting the ball. I just really focused on getting my hand on the ball and getting it over there, and it worked… Thank God,” Knights said with a laugh.

Knights started things off in the final game as well as she notched an ace and served Woodland to a 7-0 lead. Two change of serves later, Marble came on to close things out as she notched two aces and seven straight service points.

Ever the perfectionist, Marble was a bit disappointed with how she closed out the match.

“It was good, but … I wanted an ace,” she said with a mischievous grin. “I wanted an ace, but I’ll take the win.”

Marble had 37 kills and nine digs while Knights had 23 kills, eight aces, seven digs and four blocks in Woodland’s two matches.

The Dragons knocked off No. 4 Calais in the Saturday afternoon semifinal round 15-9, 17-15, 12-15, 15-6. In the other semi, No. 3 Bucksport staged another, patented Golden Bucks’ comeback to eliminate No. 2 Machias 16-14, 3-15, 10-15, 15-8, and 15-10.

“They were just not willing to let down all year. We came back to win some when we could have easily lost,” said head coach Mike Carter, whose Bucks wind up 13-4 after back-to-back rallies from 2-1 game deficits.

All that rallying by Carter’s cardiac kids seemed to eventually catch up to them as the Dragons patiently looked for opportunities when they presented themselves and exploited them – switching from a power game to finesse as the match wore on.

“We realized where the holes were and once we started hitting there, things started working well,” said Knights. “They cover the middle really well. It’s normally just the corners and the tips that were open. We tried to get them to come up a bit and then hit it over them.”

A big key to that strategy was the play of junior middle blocker Kati Holmes, who set a single-match record for Woodland with five blocks in the final.

“We figured we could chip them real good and we did with some real big points off chips,” said Nutter. “Kati Holmes did a big job for us at the net today.”

Holmes wound up with seven blocks and 12 kills.

“Kati came into her own in the last game of the Calais match. She hasn’t played like that all year long and she really stepped up today,” said Marble, who set several records of her own.

Bucksport was led by senior setter Kelly White, who was 15-for-17 on serves with seven digs and five assists. Carter’s daughter Jessie was 12-for-13 on serves with nine kills, four digs, and four blocks, but even she was showing signs of fatigue down the stretch.

“We tired, especially after game three,” Carter admitted. “Fatigue was a big factor because it was a long day for us. That fourth game, we were tired and we showed that. Plus they had great momentum going and we couldn’t get it back.”

Bucksport senior hitter Abrina Bishop had a good all-around game with 14 digs, seven kills, and 5-for-7 service. Senior setter Sam McGuire chipped in with eight assists and 9-for-12 service.

For Woodland, senior setter Alicia Guptill had 20 assists in the finals and 44 on the day plus 11 digs and 15 service points. Sophomore setter Kelsy Snowman was 7-for-7 serving with seven assists.

Marble tied her own season mark for kills with 184 and broke hers for match kills with 26 in the semifinals. Knights’ 29 good serves in the final is a single match record and her 197 good serves in 223 attempts is tops for the season. Guptill set season marks for assists – smashing her old mark of 97 with 236 this year – and digs (74).