Game 5: Melrose 3 Masconomet 2

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." - Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities"

I described the win as Dickensian. 

Melrose traveled to Masco (5-4) with their superstar Cate Wettstone, looking to derail Melrose's two-game win streak. Melrose left bruised but victorious 25-16, 25-19, 16-25, 22-25, and 15-13.

The win lifts Melrose's record to 5-3 and extends their winning streak to three.

Melrose dominated the first two sets with consistent and aggressive play with superior play from Sabine Wenzel, strong serving from Emme Boyer, and at least six kills from Adriana Santoriello. 

Masco refused go away. They opened the third set with a 15-2 edge, unabated by a pair of Melrose timeouts. Melrose went ice cold defensively in the third set, but closed on a 14-10 edge to restore hope. 

Melrose played the fourth set playing mildly uphill with several point deficits. MVB fought back to lead 21-20 but couldn't close out the Chieftains. It felt as though service errors were an issue. 

Melrose trailed the tiebreaker 0-1 but erupted on a 7-1 spurt to lead 7-2, only to squander it leveling the score level at 7. Melrose took the edge 8-7 at the switch but the teams traded points to a tie at 10. Elise Marchais had the biggest kill of her career to put Melrose up 14-12. Masco then narrowed it to 14-13. With All-Scholastic Wettstone serving cautiously to avoid an error, Melrose got a clean receive and pass to setter Sadie Smith. She delivered a strike to Sabine Wenzel who slammed home the game winner. 

Melrose notes:

• The Sadie to Sabine connection delivered the expected high number of kills necessary for Melrose to compete against winning teams. Sadie also showed spectacular defensive hand-eye coordination. 
• Coach Scott Celli continues to tinker with lineups looking for more scoring punch without sacrificing defense. Sophomores Ella Friedlaender and Elise Marchais both got more action. Ella is a powerful athlete who generated some big swings. 
• For the most part junior libero Anna Burns and freshman Danni DiGiorgio took care of their business in the back. 
• Emme Boyer had a strong service game at times and her blocking helped keep Wettstone below her usual hitting average. 
• Freshman Alisa Dautovic had another solid effort serving. 
• The biggest beneficiary of the Wenzel-Boyer middle attack is freshman outside hitter Adriana Santoriello. Freed from "double block jail," she likely had 8-9 kills and several service aces. She also has the responsibility of playing "all-around" without substitution. 

Melrose's youth movement is apparent. During crunch time they had senior Sabine, junior Anna Burns, three sophomores with Sadie, Elise, and Ella, and freshman Adriana on the court. 

Melrose travels to Watertown Monday. 

Next week's schedule: