New London — The first thing one notices about the Lyman Memorial volleyball team is a lack of height.

That’s not exactly preferable given that height is kind of a big intangible in the sport.

The Bulldogs proved that size doesn’t always matter, though. Senior Kassidy LaTour had 19 kills, 10 assists and three aces as top-seeded Lyman Memorial downed No. 2 Wheeler in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II final 25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 25-11.

“Kassidy is my tallest (player) and she’s like 5-8, 5-9,” Bulldogs head coach Emily Vigue said.

LaTour said, “Yeah, it’s sad that I’m the tallest one. We used to have height.”

LaTour was a setter for Lyman last season when it won the CIAC Class S title. She spilt setting duties with classmate Carlee DeRoehn this season because Vigue needed another hitter and LaTour, their tallest player and most skilled, was the best fit.

“The last two years we had really good outside hitters,” LaTour said. “I haven’t really had any outside (hitting) experience.

“I’m enjoying it. It’s really fun. And I appreciate everybody helping me when I hit (the ball) out. At the beginning of the season, I had no idea what I was doing.”

DeRoehn had 14 assists, 11 kills and five aces for the Division III regular-season champion Bulldogs (18-5). Senior Nina Gardella added six kills.

Senior Anna Ruggeri had 14 assists and three aces and classmate Michelle Macina added six kills and three aces for the Lions (16-6), the ECC Division IV regular-season champion.

“This is the first time we’ve been here [to a final],” Wheeler head coach Megan O’Connell said. “We’re going to be here again. The girls worked hard all year long. They showed it in every match that they played.”

The match was tied at 1 when Lyman began to disrupt the Lions with their serve.

The Bulldogs led Game 3, 13-9, when senior Mia Attardi stepped to the service line and fired over one serve after another that Wheeler struggled to play. It made five errors as Attardi helped Lyman go ahead, 20-9.

“(We’ve been) really good,” O’Connell said about her team’s serve-receive this season. “You’ve got one of the best serving teams over there (in Lyman). I don’t fault them for (the mistakes).”

DeRoehn stepped to the service line with the Bulldogs leading Game 4, 16-11, and she served out as Wheeler couldn’t set up its attack. LaTour, who was named they tournament’s Most Valuable Player, had three kills during her team’s run and DeRoehn dropped an ace for match point.

“After our first game, we talked about how we had way too many service errors,” Vigue said. “They’re (Wheeler) a tough serving team, so we had to make adjustments and the girls did just that. We moved our defense over to adjust to their hitters and where they’re consistently hitting the ball.

“They adjusted perfectly well.”

n.griffen@theday.com