GARDINER — Two longtime rivals entered the gym on Tuesday night not only trying to get in the win column, but trying to find an identity early in the 2023 season.

Gardiner and Cony — both in transition stages entering the year — hit the floor with 0-1 records. Less than an hour later, Gardiner cruised to a 3-0 victory.

A year ago, Gardiner (1-1) had one loss for the entire season, in the Class B final to Yarmouth. Gardiner lost seven seniors from that squad, including 6-foot-4 star Lizzy Gruber, who is now playing at Division I Saint Joseph’s on a basketball scholarship.

Gardiner enters the season with 13 players, including five seniors, trying to shepherd younger players into the winning routines that brought success to the program a season ago. The Tigers had a tough draw to start the season, falling 3-0 to Yarmouth in the opener Aug. 31.

“With a lot of new people, we spend a lot of time talking to each other and communicating,” said Gardiner’s Yana Montell, a senior captain. “Just making sure we can trust each other. We’ve got six girls that are brand new this year. It’s really important to learn to work well together and communicate. That’s what our goal is.”

There were signs of progress Tuesday night. The Tigers showed sound communication on the floor, setting up several shots. Montell made her presence known with some solid spikes near the net. Junior Camryn Chadbourne had some successful serves. And Gardiner showed some resilience, down early in the second and third set, to get momentum back in its favor, take the lead and, eventually, the set and the match.

“We worked hard this week,” Gardiner head coach Tiffany Ouellette said. “We just came to practice and we said that we’re going to fix some things and clean some things up. Communication was a big thing we needed to work on, and I felt like they had highs and lows tonight communicating. But overall, I’m happy.”

“It feels great (to beat Cony),” Montell said. “Our rivalry is 24/7, so it means a lot. Not only for my team, but school pride in general. It’s a good feeling.”

Cony (0-2), with a roster of 10, is young this season, with four first-year players.

“We have one senior that came back and three (swing players) that came up late (last season),” Cony head coach Lindsey Morin said. “It’s really about finding our rhythm as a team and learning the positions. The girls who are in their first year of varsity but not on (junior varsity) last year, they have the drive and the want-to, but it’s harnessing their capabilities and trusting each other in their spot and communicating.”

The Rams proved to be game throughout the match. Addi Lebel, one of Cony’s three captains, made a difference throughout the match both with her serve and near the net.

“We have a lot to build on,” Morin said. “I thought we had some great serves and some great sets and hits when we could line up and just trusting the process and trusting themselves. That was huge.”

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