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BAR HARBOR – This was unfamiliar territory for the Calais Blue Devils, but for the Mount Desert Island Trojans, Wednesday afternoon’s Eastern Maine volleyball championship match was just your normal, late-season event.
And it showed.
While the No. 3 Blue Devils played very well in spurts, it was the top-seeded and undefeated Trojans who used a steady, consistent style of play to make it look easy in a three-game sweep of Calais, 25-19, 26-24, and 25-19 at Parady Gym.
“It may have looked easy, but it wasn’t,” said senior outside hitter Hannah Adelmann, who helped the 16-0 Trojans make it 5-for-5 in regional finals play since 2003.
The Trojans earned a rematch with defending state champ Greely of Cumberland Center in a 1 p.m. state final at Ellsworth High on Saturday.
“It doesn’t feel like a huge game only because we’ve had a perfect season and we were in states last year, so it’s kind of been all about getting back to states,” said MDI junior Mollie Strout, who was 13-for-15 on serves with six aces.
It was Strout’s service that helped the Trojans make up a six-point deficit – their biggest of the entire match – and close the Devils out as she ran off six straight points to get the Trojans to game and match point (24-17) in the third game.
“Normally, when people serve diagonally and opposite, they don’t serve it that deep, but she has a really hard serve that goes all the way into the opposite corner and we don’t see that too often,” said Calais coach Stephen McGinley, whose Devils finish up 11-6. “We did have a tough time adjusting to that. As a team, they served very well overall.”
That’s been one of this team’s strengths all season.
“We set a record for aces as a team with over 400,” said MDI head coach Todd Brophy.
Not bad for a team that lost five starters – three all-state selections – to graduation.
“When we first started tryouts, I was just praying for some height,” Brophy said. “Fortunately, we got that. I’m playing a freshman and two sophomores, but we also have several players with three years of state championship experience.”
That experience was obvious as the Trojans seized momentum early by taking a 9-3 lead in the first game and never let it get away for too long afterward.
“This is the most momentum-based sport I’ve ever been involved in. Things can change on a dime,” said McGinley. “We made some great runs to get back into it, especially that second game, which could have gone either way. The second game can really be the key and it was for us today.”
The Trojans took leads of 7-2, 14-7, and 21-14 before Calais rallied with four straight and five of the next six points to make it 22-19. Calais tied it up at 24-all by scoring five straight as Rebecca Blake served four of them. A stuff at the net made it 25-24 MDI and Adelmann served it out with an ace.
“Our defense this year has gotten a lot better, which is good because that was our iffy point last year. It’s pulled us through a lot of games,” said Adelmann, who was motivated by pressure as well.
“I definitely didn’t want to be part of the senior class to ruin the Eastern Maine championship streak we have going,” she said with a chuckle.
Game three looked like another gut check for MDI as Calais jumped out to an 8-2 lead.
“That game was probably one of the hardest I’ve had to coach because I did not want to call timeout and let them know they were getting to us,” Brophy said.
The match was still a positive end to a great season for the Devils, who beat Washington Academy – a team they’d lost to twice – in the semis to get a shot at the Trojans.
“This is the furthest we’ve advanced. I thought we had the size, athleticism and talent to do it, but we had to iron out a few kinks early in the season and find our identity,” McGinley said. The last few weeks, we’ve played great volleyball.”
aneff@bangordailynews.net
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