SOUTH PORTLAND – New roster. Same result.

A Gorham High volleyball team that underwent many changes from last season is again the Class A state champion.

Led by a big game from sophomore Liana Edwards, third-seeded Gorham won its second straight title Saturday, defeating No. 1 Biddeford, 3-0, at Southern Maine Community College.

The Rams (13-4) swept the match by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-16.

Biddeford finished 15-2.

“It feels amazing,” said senior Vanessa Walker, a key defensive presence for the Rams along with senior libero Natalie Smith. “I’m just so proud of us for how far we’ve come from the beginning of the season until now. We’ve really rebuilt ourselves into something we should be super proud of.”

It was indeed a rebuild. Gorham graduated 10 seniors from last year’s championship team, and while the Rams were a popular pick a year ago to win that first state title, Gold Ball No. 2 was a far greater surprise.

“This year was so surreal. … I didn’t know where we were going to stack up,” Gorham Coach Emma Tirrell said. “As we started playing really well against hard teams, we realized that we were stronger, maybe, than we even thought we would be. … It’s just as emotional, just a little bit different.”

The Rams provided a big hint late in the regular season that they were regaining their championship form, handing the Tigers their first loss. Gorham dropped two of it last four matches of the regular season but was ready for the rematch, expertly handling Biddeford’s serve and letting the Tigers hurt themselves with errant hits.

“Gorham did a really good job of not letting us play our game,” said Biddeford Coach Andrew Glenn, who, in his first year at the helm, guided the Tigers to their third Class A final in four years. “We did a really good job this season of scoring points on our serve, and they were denying us opportunities and made it a lot harder for us to generate momentum.”

The Rams also tried to steer the action away from star hitter Maeve Donovan and ace libero Beks Hatch.

“Their libero and (Donovan) don’t let the ball hit the floor, so we kind of had to play keepaway,” Tirrell said.

Aces by Walker, Smith and Edwards helped Gorham turn a quick 7-1 lead into a first-set win, and the Rams held on after Biddeford scored four straight points to close to within 22-21.

In the second set, the Tigers got kills from Gabrielle Diggins, Donovan and Olivia Hunter, and Diggins had an ace en route to a quick 6-1 lead. Gorham, though, rallied back on the strength of Edwards, who had four kills and an ace in the set.

“We all kind of lost our momentum, and we needed to get it back up,” said Edwards, who plays both setter and outside hitter. “So I had to take all my effort and 110% of my energy and put it back into the team.”

Biddeford jumped ahead again in the third set, 4-0, with Clarice Cote serving, but six straight points with Addyson Simcock serving put the Rams ahead, 7-4. Gorham pulled even at 7, but an Ava DeVinney ace – one of two she had in the third set – helped the Rams score four straight points to take the lead for good.

The Rams then kept their calm as they closed in on the championship.

“Once we have the flow going, it tends to just keep going,” Walker said. “And our coach is amazing. She knows exactly what to do, timeouts and when we need pep talks, harsh feedback. We love her.”

With the title one point away, Edwards set up Dunbar for a final kill, setting off the celebration.

“I think a lot of people expected us to not be the same as last year,” Dunbar said while holding the trophy. “But we came out strong and we worked really hard through this season. It feels unbelievable.”

With only one senior on the Biddeford roster, Glenn said the Tigers will be positioned for another bid next year.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “We grew a lot this season as a team.”