The table was set for the Maine Maritime Academy volleyball team well before the 2007 season began.

The Mariners had enjoyed back-to-back successful seasons and landed another solid recruiting class, but the biggest development was the departure of North Atlantic Conference powers – 2007 champ Mount Ida College and runner-up Lasell College – to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

“We met last spring, and since the top two teams moved to another conference with us being third the last two years, we were unanimous in wanting to be NAC champs,” said sixth-year MMA head coach Katrina Dagan. “It wasn’t even a question.”

Neither was her team’s work ethic and drive.

“All through the offseason, the kids were extremely focused, on everything, from their cardio workouts to their lifting,” Dagan said. “I was pretty amazed at how the whole group worked together.

“This was by far the most focused group we’ve had here. They were hell-bent on winning the conference.”

That’s exactly what the Mariners did for the first time in program history en route to a best-ever 19-6 record and their first NCAA Tournament bid.

“It was definitely a learning experience,” said Ashley Tilton, a freshman outside hitter from Lubec. “We played a team that was 34-2 and the No. 1 team in New England. They taught us something!”

The final lesson for the eighth-seeded Mariners was delivered in a three-game sweep (30-13, 30-6, 30-14) by top New England seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The lopsided loss did little to lower the luster of a season in which the Mariners set 16 team and 13 individual records.

It was a dream season for players like Tilton, one of three MMA players named to the NAC All-Conference first team.

“I went to a school where we always had good seasons, but could never quite get to the finals, so this is great for me to be a part of,” said Tilton, who played high school volleyball at Washington Academy in East Machias.

Now the focus turns to repeating the feat and going further.

“We went there and played, but I think we were kind of in awe of it,” Tilton said. “Next year we want to put up a fight and win a game. We all know we have a lot more hard work to put in to do this again.”

The Mariners appear primed for a return trip to the NCAA’s as only two players – All-NAC first-team setter Becca Allen and defensive specialist (libero) Casey Morey – graduate.

All-NAC first-team hitter Michelle Ferry of Princeton and all-NAC second-team hitter Amy Young return. Ferry averaged a school-record 3.87 digs per game in 2007 while Young set records for the highest hitting percentage (33) along with most digs (348), solo blocks (42), blocks (44) and blocks per game (.53).

“It was ironic to me how the All-NAC team selections went because Amy was second team, but she was my one nominee for player of the year,” Dagan said. “I think the coaches based it on statistics and the fact those particular players had great nights on nights we played them.”

That was one of the Mariners’ key traits this season.

“We could hurt you in a number of different ways,” Dagan said. “That was pretty much our formula for success this season. We had everyone contributing in some way and it was different people stepping up in different matches.”

UMFK tips off busy hoop week

The University of Maine-Fort Kent tipped off a busy schedule of basketball action Wednesday night with the opening game of the UMFK Holiday Classic.

The Bengals men played host to rival UMaine-Presque Isle at “The Jungle,” kicking off a series of seven games in five days involving the UMFK men’s and women’s programs.

Today, coach Eric Werntgen’s UMFK men entertain NAIA Division II squad Savannah College of Art and Design at 7 p.m., before the action continues the next two nights.

UMFK will host doubleheaders Friday and Saturday.

Coach Lucas Levesque’s Bengal women open Friday’s play with a 6 p.m. game against UMPI, followed by an 8 p.m. men’s contest between Savannah A&D against NAIA II member Daemen College (N.Y.).

On Saturday, the UMPI women open up play at noon against York College (N.Y.), with a men’s game between UMFK and Daemen slated for 2 p.m.

Saturday’s activities also will include a 10 a.m. youth clinic administered by several coaches and players from the competing teams. The clinic will include teaching fundamentals, instruction and organized games.

In Sunday’s Classic action, the UMFK women face York at 11 a.m.

For more information on the event, contact UMFK assistant athletic director Werntgen at 834-7828.

Castleton State to add football

Earlier this year, the North Atlantic Conference announced it would begin sponsoring football during the 2009 season.

The league ranks has grown to seven teams with the addition of Castleton State College in Vermont, which recently announced plans to start its first football program.

Castleton State will join fellow NAC members Husson College of Bangor and Becker College of Leiscester, Mass., along with associate football members Mount Ida College of Newton Center, Mass., Gallaudet University of Washington, D.C., SUNY Maritime College of Bronx, N.Y., and Norwich University of Northfield, Vt., in the conference.

Castleton is in the process of looking for a head coach, whose tenure will begin in July.

With nine teams, including four core members, the NAC should be eligible for an NCAA automatic qualifier during the 2011 season.

Normann excels at Guilford

Grace Normann of Frankfort recently completed her freshman season on the Guilford College cross country team.

Normann ran in seven of eight meets for the Quakers from Greensboro, N.C. She had the team’s best time in six races, including a 43rd-place effort in the Oct. 6 Haganstone Cross Country Classic. She covered the five kilometers in 21 minutes, 41.5 seconds.

The Belfast High product earned All-State Division II-III first-team recognition with a 13th-place effort in the Old North State Championships.

Normann finished the season with a school-record time of 26:57.72 for a 6K race and later competed in the NCAA Regionals, where she placed 104th in 27:18.0.