Melrose's fourth consecutive trip to Andover's Dunn Gymnasium to the Division 2 North Finals proved to be exciting, but the Lady Raiders fell to the AC Cougars, 3-0. AC got something of a monkey off their back, as Melrose had stuffed them in 2003 to win its first D2 North title, and beaten AC twice last year en route to the state finals, and eliminated the Cougars (many on the basketball team) in the state basketball playoffs as well.
The first and second games were nailbiters, with AC winning 25-23 and 25-22. Melrose had their chances, but couldn't come up with the answers to a pair of legitimate All-Scholastic possibilities in Maria Scocca and Elise Caira. Melrose had a 13-5 lead in game 2, but AC powered back behind a series of Scocca kills.
In the third game, Melrose simply ran out of gas, AC went up 17-8 and 21-9, and Coach Scott Celli gave the entire team a chance to get on the court, as Melrose fell 25-11.
The Lady Raiders had a wonderful season, finishing as D2 North runnerups, with an 18-5 record, bringing their four year record (including playoffs) to 84-12. Exclusive of playoffs, they've been a remarkable 72-8, winning ninety percent of their matches.
The Lady Raiders got excellent coaching from Coach Celli and Assistant Steve Wall, leadership from Rachel Towle, Laura Dillon and all the five seniors, and will return a strong contingent with five juniors, one sophomore and three freshmen on the final roster.
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