BAR HARBOR – Todd Brophy remembers the days when the Mount Desert Island High School volleyball team resorted to rudimentary measures in order to hold practices.

“They made their own shirts and they had a badminton net with some lobster rope holding the holes,” said Brophy, who is in his first season as MDI’s head coach after five seasons as the assistant. “We were really beginners.”

More than five years later, the Trojans are one of the top teams in the state and are in position to advance to the state championship for the second year in a row.

First, though, top-ranked and undefeated MDI will have to face No. 2 Woodland for the Eastern Maine title today at 5 p.m. in Parady Gymnasium.

The winner advances to face the Western Maine winner in Saturday’s state championship at Windham High. MDI lost to Greely of Cumberland Center in last year’s state final.

This could be the year for the Trojans, who have nine seniors who have helped the program grow from a 9-5 season in 2002, 12-2 seasons the following two years, and this fall’s 15-0 effort.

Senior tri-captain Mackenzie Lee credited former coach Amy O’Brien, who moved to New York recently, with the growth of the program.

“Amy was so passionate about the game that she just drew in people who loved the game, too,” Lee said during practice Tuesday. “This senior group, people call us a cult because we’re always hanging around each other and talking about volleyball. But we’d hang around together anyway. We’re just so close-knit.”

The senior class has a 53-12 regular-season record and is 7-3 in the postseason over the last four years.

Among MDI’s top seniors are captains Brianne Records, Lynne Bowden and Lee. Records was second-team all-state and Bowden was honorable mention last year.

Bowden, an 89 percent server, has racked up a team-high 52 aces, 58 kills and 18 blocks. Lee leads the Trojans with 71 kills and has 42 aces. Records has recorded 21 kills, 15 aces and 12 digs.

Brienna Tinker, a defensive specialist who has a team-high 40 digs, leads the regular players with 96 percent serving as well as 28 aces. Tinker also has an 87 percent attack rate. She was named all-state second-team last year.

Other top players include Nia Megquier, who has a team-best 52 aces; Robbin Dilley, whose 110 assists lead the Trojans and is 91 percent in serving; and Lauren Smith, who has recorded 61 assists.

Another key senior contributor has been Emilynne Bell, who Brophy considers his on-the-spot defensive specialist. She will often go into a game for the first time in pressure situations, and has responded with 20 digs and 94 percent on attacks.

Karen McGarr rounds out the senior class.

Another stat of which Brophy is proud: The Trojans had nine academic all-state players and as a team were named academic All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for having at least a 3.3 team grade point average.

They’re mature, too. When Brophy showed up late to practice last Friday – his wife, Contessa, had their first baby at 2:45 a.m. that day – he allowed the captains to pick what drills they wanted to run.

The Trojans are excited to have home-court advantage for Wednesday’s match. In the match at Woodland High, MDI had to rally for a five-set win in front of a packed gym.

Woodland (12-2) lost its only matches of the year to MDI and brings plenty of tradition. The Dragons won three straight state crowns from 2000-02 with a runner-up finish in 2003.

“It’s huge for us to be able to play here,” he said. “We’re going to have our band here and we have a little pep cheering [group], which we’ve never had.”

If all the seeds hold up, MDI would face 15-0 Greely, the two-time defending champion. The Rangers beat MDI in three sets last year.

“It’s just overwhelming that we have a chance of being there again and playing the same team,” Lee said. “It’s scary but it’s exciting. We just want to be able to finish off our year well and do as best as we can.”