MDI High School Girls’ Volleyball Brings Home Its Golden Crown, and MDI Girls’ XC Takes State Silver!
Nov 02, 2025
BAR HARBOR—The MDI High School Volleyball Team came back to Mount Desert Island with something pretty special Saturday, November 1: a state championship crown. It was the team’s first.
The girls defeated Gardiner, 3-1, at the championship game, played at Hampden Academy. The team consists of Lily Byer, Phoebe Dunbar, Thalia Thomas, Janiece Anderson, Cora VanDongen, Samantha Parkin, Bixby Hawkins, Lanaia McDaniels, Kiera Young, Ella Watson, Annabel Curry, Grace Sinclair, and Madie Watkins.
According to a story by the Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander’s Ryan McLaughlin, “The Trojans roared back from a 19-11 deficit in the fourth set and Cora VanDongen and Janiece Anderson were forces at the net as MDI outlasted the Tigers 3-1 to claim the Class C state title at Hampden Academy.
“Coach Whitney Walls’ Trojans, the No. 2 seed in Class C, had dominated the opening two sets 25-14 and 25-12, but Gardiner, the top seed in the division, battled back to take the third set 26-24 and appeared to be on its way to forcing a deciding set.
“But trailing 19-11, MDI settled down and regained the form that had won the Trojans the first two sets.”
Whitney Walls coaches the girls and Corinne Baita and Michael Curry assist.
At the Saturday Class B state championship, the Mount Desert Island girls’ cross-country team raced to second place on the Cony High course in Augusta with 67 points, just behind Freeport (60 points).
Much like the Trojans, the Freeport Falcons have had a fantastic season winning the Southern Maine Classic, the Festival of Champions, the WMC Conference and Southern Maine Regionals. Previous four-time Class C champions, Saturday was its first Class B title.
The Trojans almost stopped that. The girls’ team had a close second place at Festival of Champions (behind Freeport) and then won the PVCs and Northern Maine Regionals.
At Saturday’s state meet, sophomore Kulani Granholm was the top finishing runner for the Trojans with a fourth-place run. Rebecca Rand (sixth) and Marlee Catanese (10th) also pulled in top-ten finishes with Antonia Burns (11th), Christina Mobley (44th), Seneca Haney (49th) and Tessa Kane (59th).
The MDI boys’ team came in eighth in the state. Chris Cooper led the Trojans with his 29th-place finish. Yarmouth won Class B boys’.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Unless otherwise stated, photos courtesy of Chris Popper of WDEA with many thanks. You can see more of his photos of the state champs here. We really appreciate his kindness.
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