Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Playoff Round 1: Melrose 3 Winchester 0

Melrose (22-1) defeats Winchester (13-8) in a quarterfinal D2 North playoff tilt at the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.

Melrose came out a bit rusty after a one week layoff.  Set one had ties at points one through four before a Sarah McGowan service run opened a 9-4 margin. After the Sachems scored at 9-5, they never got closer than six at 12-6 as Melrose coasted to a 25-15 win in somewhat lackluster action.

Sarah had four kills, as did Rachel Johnson, while Jen Cain chipped in a pair for the set. Melrose had three service errors.

Melrose came out with more energy for the second stanza after hearing Coach Scott Celli's message, which likely suggested more aggressive play.

Melrose led 5-0 and 11-5 and Winchester couldn't get closer than 11-6. Melrose extended leads to 14-7, 20-8, and 23-10 before closing out Winchester 25-12.

Annalisa DeBari heated up from the outside, as she and Rachel both added three kills and Sarah delivered another four. Kayla Wyland added a blocking presence throughout the set.

The third set was all Melrose with 6-0, 9-3, and 13-4 leads knocking Winchester against the ropes early. The Sachems got no closer than 14-8 as Melrose kept scoring without a specific knockout punch. Melrose captured the set 25-15. Kayla Wyland had a pair of early kills, and Sarah added another four, along with another pair from Jen and Annalisa.

The back row defense of Amanda Commito, Jill MacInnes, and Allie Nolan was solid throughout along with the usual steady setting and defense of Brooke Bell.

Melrose            25   25   25

Winchester      15   12   15

Game Analysis: Melrose had too much offense for Winchester, as Winchester had problems attacking and didn't have enough defensive consistency to hang in with Melrose despite great effort.

Coach Fabe Ardilla's Weston has sprung an upset over number three seed Fenwick and will face AC at Arlington.

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