Trojans defeat Dragons for East crown

BAR HARBOR – The good timing of Sophia Grace Brophy played a role in the Mount Desert Island Trojans victory over the Woodland Dragons for the Eastern Maine volleyball title Wednesday night.

Contessa Brophy gave birth to Sophia Grace at 2:45 a.m. Friday. She’s the first child of Contessa and Todd Brophy, who is also the MDI volleyball coach.

Sophia likes to stay up nights while being fed by her mother. Her father also stays up to lend assistance like changing diapers.

However, during the feeding time, Todd Brophy had some free time.

He used it wisely.

“I’ve been watching a lot of tape of Woodland,” he said. “Normally, I never would have stayed up that late.”

After the hours of watching tape, Brophy made a strategic change in his lineup as he used sophomore Erica Kane and junior Amy Harrison as blockers opposite Woodland’s big hitters, limiting their effectiveness.

That change, coupled with “huge contributions from probably 10 of the 14 girls” helped the top-seeded Trojans beat No. 2 Woodland for the third time this season, this time in three sets, 29-27, 25-17, 25-23.

MDI advanced to the state final against Western Maine champ Greely of Cumberland Center, which defeated Gorham. The final is 1 p.m. Saturday at Windham High School.

Entering Wednesday’s match, Brophy and his team tried to put the last two victories against Woodland in the past. The Trojans beat Woodland in four sets in Bar Harbor and were pushed to five before winning in Woodland.

“To think you could beat Woodland three times in one year – we’d never think that,” Brophy said. “Each time we played them we approached it as a whole new game.”

Enjoying strong efforts for the Trojans were: Lynne Bowden (8 of 8 serving, 20 of 22 attacks, 11 kills, 1 block), MacKenzie Lee (12-15 serving, 6 aces, 13-17 attacks, 6 kills, 3 assists, 1 dig); and Robbin Dilley 7-8 serving, 1 ace, 18 assists).

“Our hitters hit very smart today, we used a lot of angles. Our defensive people played excellent,” Brophy said.

Leading Woodland were: Michelle Ferry (13-15 serving, 4 aces, 10 kills, 2 blocks, 8 digs), Courtney Cochran 6-7 serving, 1 ace, 11 kills, 1 block, 17 digs), and Ashleen Sullivan (16-17 serving).

Another benefit for the Trojans was the use of their defensive specialist, Emilynne Bell. A new rule allows use of the defensive specialist without the player counting toward the team’s substitutions.

Brophy said other key contributors were: Nia Megquier (14-16 serving, 4 aces, 2 kills), and Brieanne Records (11-11 serving, 2 aces, 4 kills a block and dig).