Let's See

Click photographs to ENLARGE (photos courtesy of Don Norris)

The Melrose Lady Raiders volleyball team has enjoyed a wonderful start to the 2007 campaign, going undefeated so far, and qualifying for the state post season tournament.

Season Summary


North Shore League 11-0

Middlesex League 7-0

The New England Patriots, winners of three Super Bowls in six years, award the practice player of the week the 'black jersey'. Coach Belichick recognizes that In addition to honing their own skills, players who work hard simulating specific opponents or just challenging starting players make great contributions to victory.

And so it is in all levels of athletics. Not every player will get as much court time, face time, or 'statistics' but everyone can contribute to winning through positive attitude and teamwork.

A successful team has a lot of moving parts contributing to its success...we celebrate just a few of them here. Lydia Ciccone has spearheaded the MMTV production seen on Melrose Channel 15.
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Everyone knows how much time coaches sacrifice to prepare their team for every opponent. Not everyone knows how much work that means for their families. Here Coach Steve Wall's wife Heidi ponders the action.
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Just as in life, you can never know what each game will hold
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Melrose has enjoyed a strong relationship between the volleyball and the basketball programs, as both enjoy perennial success in both the regular season and tournament play. This season the Lady Raiders again have numerous multisport athletes. For example, Laura Irwin (17), Hannah Brickley, Colleen Hanscom, Annmarie Wiesen, and Siena Mamayek all play important roles in both the volleyball and basketball programs. Gina Ciccone is a terrific softball player. Melrose has been lucky to have a history of versatile athletes succeeding on and off the court.
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Colleen Hanscom (14) and Hannah Brickley go up for the double block. Colleen's height and jumping ability has added additional versatility for her defensively. Hannah has been Melrose's most consistent blocker for the past two seasons. Both are sophomores with many more battles ahead of them.
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Everyone has a defensive role. Here Gina (5) goes up to block the tip, Leslie Hirschfeld defends the middle, and Colleen (14) is ready in case the dink gets over the front row.
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The volleyball net is 7'4" in women's volleyball. Here you see Hannah getting up with good timing to block. Defenders ideally have spread fingers and penetrate the net.
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Coach Scott Celli recently notched his 200th varsity win. Celli coached at Avon before coming to Melrose. The coach has led Melrose to the D2 North title game for the past four seasons, including three D2 North championships. This year he has guided a very young Lady Raider team to eleven consecutive victories.
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Sophomore Libero Jess Farr has had an excellent campaign for Melrose. Read about the Libero here. Jess follows in the tradition of excellence for Melrose's libero, succeeding the Dillon sisters, Kerry and Laura.
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Volleyball has a tradition of each team congratulating the other following the match. The Lady Raiders have been fortunate to be on the winning side more often than not. Over the past five seasons Melrose has an 83-8 regular season record and a total record of 95-12.

Even more important, Melrose has won the MIAA Sportsmanship Trophy for team sportsmanship and spirit in the past. The ladies thanks the community for their fantastic support during the regular season, annual car wash fundraiser, and tournament games.
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Successful coaches are educators. The three hallmarks of Melrose's program have been emphasis on family, school, and sports, in that order. Here Laura Irwin hits the books as hard as she hits the volleyball.

Let's see how far we've come...