"Halfway Home" - Game 10: Melrose 3 Stoneham 0

"Oh, we're halfway there, oh, living on a prayer..."

Ephemeral. Short-lived. Excruciating brevity. The preparation for many exceeds three times the length of the season. 

Melrose completed half the regular season with a 25-14, 25-4, 25-18    win over visiting Stoneham. Everyone saw action. 

A Melrose victory closed out the first half with an 8-2 record.

Stoneham has struggled in the ML12 but looked far better than their 1-9 record. 

The first set was tied at eight before Melrose erupted to a 20-8 lead. Melrose continued to have a diversified offense with scoring from both edges and getting timely blocks in the middle. Elise "Maverick" Marchais continued her exceptional play with the service run. 

At 9-8, Elise's serve turns into a free ball and Sadie Smith feeds Adriana Santoriello for a crosscourt smash. From 20-8, MVB closed out the scoring. 

At 5-3, Alisa Dautovic ignited a massive service run, the first point finished off here by Elise. 

At 12-3 she earns one of multiple aces. The set proved to be a rout with Alisa's nineteen point run. 

Melrose showed off its depth in the match. At 12-8 in the third, sophomore setter Leila Kiggundu serves and then makes a brilliant diving dig to rescue the point. Melrose closed out the set in workmanlike fashion. 

Melrose Notes:

"In the house," Sadie Jaggers caught up with former teammates Gia Vlajkovic and Anna Burns. Sadie is one of only eight Melrose players to have appeared in three sectional matches and won the Triple Crown of All-State, Globe and Herald All-Scholastic. 

Melrose will be back in action on Tuesday against Woburn. 

In other ML12 action (per Arbiterlive.com), Winchester swept Reading 3-0. 

Understanding the MIAA Power Rankings (with AI Help)

The MIAA Power Rankings blend Margin of Victory (MOV) and Strength of Schedule (SOS). 

What's vital is their description of "iterative." The SOS averages the rankings of all previous opponents up to the most recent. Here's where ChatGPT Plus steps in (lightly edited).

MOV is easy. If "sets won minus sets lost" is 20 and you played 10 matches, then 20/10 equal MOV of 2. Currently, Melrose is +13/9 = 1.4444. 

SOS is different. The most important passage is essentially this: any game played across the state can affect the ratings of any and all teams, even if only by a few decimal places. That is a more than simply saying SOS is iterative.

For your Melrose example, our earlier calculation after Newburyport was only a first-order estimate. We treated Newburyport’s 4.1719 rating as frozen. The actual MIAA calculation does not. If Newburyport subsequently beats good teams, its rating rises, which raises Melrose’s opponent-rating component retroactively. If Newburyport’s future results disappoint, Melrose’s benefit from that win can shrink. And the same thing happens with every opponent already played.

The MIAA’s published ranking sheets reinforce this definition directly: they label “OPP. RATING” as the average of a team’s opponents’ overall ratings, rather than win percentage or a static schedule score.

This produces an important implication that is easy to miss:

You don't merely root for the teams you are about to play. After you play them, you keep rooting for them.

A win over a 4.2 opponent is not permanently worth “4.2 SOS points.” That opponent might become a 6.0 team—or a 1.5 team—and your rating migrates with it. Personal calculations become estimates. 

It also explains why early-season MIAA rankings can look peculiar. With relatively few games played, one opponent's rating can move sharply, and because the system is interconnected, those changes propagate. As the schedule fills in, the network acquires more data and ratings generally become more stable.

And this is why the new ML12 schedule structure matters even more. Fewer games against chronically weak teams does not merely avoid one low SOS input on the date of the match. Every opponent remain attached to your rating for the rest of the season. 

In shorthand:

MOV is mostly history.
SOS remains alive.

As Coach Scott Celli might say, "You play the schedule." Play well and wish our previous opponents well. 

Bonus Recipe: Massimo Bottura Shares Pesto

The basil harvest is in and I used a fraction to make pesto.

With respect to nut allergy, we don't use pine nuts and I prefer the pesto without mint or thyme, but include Bottura's recipe. I use generic grated Parmesan cheese. Last time I checked (awhile ago) Parmegiano-Reggiano was over $20 a pound, so this is a bit more economical. 

His restaurant in Northern Italy was voted the best in the world.

This was his grandmother's recipe. He recommends fusilli as the pesto adheres to the shape better. 

INGREDIENTS 

• Kosher salt 
• 14 ounces (400 grams) dried fusilli pasta 
• 1 garlic clove 
• 8¾ ounces (250 grams) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more 
• 3 cups lightly packed basil leaves 
• 1 bunch mint 
• 1 thyme branch 
• 2½ ounces (75 grams) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 
• 3½ ounces (100 grams) freshly ground bread crumbs 

1 Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season liberally with salt. Add the fusilli to the water and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about eight minutes. 

2 Make the pesto. While the pasta is cooking, make the pesto sauce: Halve the garlic clove and rub its cut sides along the inside of your blender. Pour in the olive oil, then add the basil. Strip the mint leaves from the stem, add the leaves to the blender, then add the stem to the boiling pasta water. Remove as many thyme leaves as you can from the branch, add them to the blender, then add the branch to the boiling water as well. Add half the Parmigiano and half the bread crumbs to the blender. With the blender on, slowly stream in ½ cup of ice-cold water, adding more water by the tablespoonful, until the sauce blends smooth 

MIAA Rankings Out - Melrose at #3 with a Crowded ML Field

 

MVB 26 held serve at Newburyport. The rankings show MVB remains at the #3 seed in Division 2 and #11 overall (all divisions) power ranking, despite beating the Clippers. 

Whatever.

This will revise as the "math" of MOV and SOS literally not adding up. 

Corrected values from MIAA 

"Chop wood, carry water." 

State Leaders*

Approaching the halfway mark of the regular season, team and individual accomplishments stand out. 

State rankings: Updated MIAA power rankings usually drop at 11:00 AM. Melrose will stay at #3 in Division 2. 

Updated state leaders:

Kills - Elise Marchais #36 with 84.

Assists - Sadie Smith #6 with 243.

Digs - Anna Burns #32 with 113.

Melrose hosts the Stoneham Spartans today. Ancient Spartan mothers were famous for this quote, "Come home with your shield or on it." 

This admonition, recorded by the historian Plutarch in his Sayings of Spartan Women, was spoken by a Spartan mother to her son as she handed him his shield (hoplon) before battle. The saying emphasized that a soldier should either return victorious carrying his shield or die on it, but never discard it in cowardly retreat, as doing so endangered the phalanx formation.* (AI assist)

Stay Hungry for Success

Every day offers us chances and choices. Make it about us or our team. Find problems or solutions. Become a giver or a taker. 

Sport provides you a platform to show who you are as a competitor, teammate, and sportswoman.

Nelson Mandela attended community meetings as a child; his father spoke last. That afforded him an opportunity to hear and process the words and opinions of those who spoke earlier. 

Think about how our words and actions will land on the 'community' around us.

MVB 26 impresses us most because of who they are as people. 

"Stay humble, stay hungry."

"Pleased but not Satisfied"

Phrases stick with us. Coach Ellis Lane told us the same things again and again. Wisdom endures. 

"Sacrifice."

Team first. We over me. Your choices affect the whole team. 

All of you and your families invest time, energy, and money to be part of MVB. Sacrifice is a choice. Hard work is a choice. We control little in life - attitude, choices, effort. Some sacrifices don't show. J-Mac's mom said that Jill was covered with bruises from diving on the court. 

Jill MacInnes - All-State, Globe and Herald All-Scholastic

Sacrifice guarantees nothing, although as Kahlil Gibran said, "It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." 

"The ball is gold."

Gold is precious. You don't give away your gold. Coach meant "take care of the basketball." Teams give away games with bad reads, poor hitting decisions, and loss of focus that shows up in physical or mental mistakes. Warren Buffett said that if you keep all your eggs in one basket, watch that basket carefully. 

"I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." 

Be an "ambitious giver." When you give more, you get more. Coach reminded us that an individual win mattered but less than the big picture. Bring the best version of yourself every day...and do it over the following day.

Lagniappe. Study great players. EDIRx5. Explain. Demonstrate. Imitate. Repeat five times.  

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Cutting Bored - Another Writing Lesson

"The sentences you write are in flux. You go over them, trimming, revising, and auditioning words, until you arrive at the sentence you were after all along." - Anne Lamott in Good Writing

Writing differs from volleyball. The "short game," tips and rolls, owns a place in your toolbox.

"In point of fact" becomes "in fact." "Put a finger on it" suffers compared with "point out." Having written much, I abused readers often.

Lamott's husband, Neal Allen shares: "A new dawn" becomes "Dawn." "Tax haven of the rich becomes "tax haven." "Bedridden in a hospital" becomes "hospitalized." 

Soccer or rugby enthusiasts say, "Into touch." Volleyball says, "Out." 

In baseball, a player leading the league in average, homers, and runs batted in becomes "Triple Crown winner." For MVB, All-State, Globe and Herald All-Scholastic (Gia), becomes "Triple Crown winner." 

The threepeat of sectional championships from 2003-2005 becomes "The First Dynasty" and the fourpeat from 2009-2012 the Second Dynasty, the Second outshining the First. 

Winning big carries an enduring luster. Legendary hoop coach Don Meyer saw a disconnect in that "most parents would rather see their son be All-State than see the team win States." Each of the Second Dynasty years had great players (e.g. Hannah Brickley, Athena Ziavras, Brooke Bell, and Sarah McGowan). The 2012 team gets more ink for a State Title. 

Remember what Abraham Lincoln wrote, "I apologize for having written such a long letter because I did not have the time to write a shorter one."

Lagniappe. Be seen, be heard, and make a difference. 

Lagniappe 2. Sometimes being there for someone means "being there." 

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Textbook Volleyball Highlight

Go to the link; next to Newburyport is WATCH REPLAY

At 1:50:15, Newburyport serves into the "pass, set, hit." 

1. Anna Burns delivers the serve receive pass

2. Sadie Smith sets the "quick set" or "short set"

3. Sabrina McArt hammers a perfectly timed winner 

Stats - Melrose vs Newburyport

Link 

Kills 

Elise (17), Adriana (9), Sabrina (6), Lorena (5)

Assists

Sadie (32)

Service points 

Dani (23)

Digs:

Anna (11)

Receptions:

Anna (23), Dani (12), Adriana (10)

Kudos to Ella Friedlaender assisting the coaching staff with statistics

Maxpreps.com updated rankings

A Greek Concept - "Arete"*

*Some AI assist

After a pleasing win, the best advice stays unchanged - "Chop wood; carry water." Remain grounded to the process. 

The Greek aretē applies - translated as excellence, virtue, or fulfilling obligations well. 

Screenwriter David Mamet’s points out: you cannot award yourself reputation or recognition. Those depend on others. 

Control the quality of your work - commitment, discipline, integrity. In Greek ethical thought, aretē is less about praise than excellence.

A neighboring concept belongs, too: kleos, meaning glory or renown. It means the reputation others give you. 

Aretē = what you do.

Kleos = what others say you did.

Mamet’s MasterClass returns to the same philosophy: action reveals character. The writer tells the truth; the work itself explains itself. 

Coaching lesson: 

You cannot award yourself championships or All-State. Practice hard, compete honestly, support teammates, and play with courage.

Someone else owns awards. You own your standard.

September wins deserve celebration overnight. Earn November wins today and tomorrow and the next day. 

Anatomy of a Block

MVB 26 blocking continues a growth arc. Sabrina and Sadie jump for the block. Note how Sabrina "presses the block" over the net. In the highlight reel it appears at 1:21:11. Pressing the block forces the ball back at the attackers and cuts off angles for the attack.  

Highlights of Melrose-Newburyport

Three-minute highlight reel from NFHS Network 

Link to full replay (no scoreboard) on this page 

Unofficially (pending published stats), Elise Marchais had a career-best seventeen kills. 

Create Your Own Rules to Live By

HOW TO BE MENTALLY STRONG: pic.twitter.com/LMIEhw9U7w

— Book Therapy (@Book_therapy223) September 26, 2026

Imagine that you were the coaching staff. What "absolutes" would you instill in your players? How. The shorter the list, the better. 

1. Be a great teammate. "The strength of the wolf is the pack." 

2. "Always do your best." 

3. "Play harder for longer." Be relentless. 

 

Said So

All opinions expressed in the blog are solely my own. The blog is not an official publication of any City of Melrose organization. 

 

Another suggestion from "Good Writing" by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott advises using "said" for dialogue.

"Said" doesn't impose your intentions on the reader. Let the character speak for herself. 

What else would you write? They suggest no to use chuckled, observed, stated, declared, avowed, or whatever. 

Which reminds me of the truckload of Thesauruses that overturned. Passersby were "amazed, bemused, confounded, dumbfounded, horrified, stunned..." 

To review the early chapters:

• Write better at the sentence level. 
• Verbs carry the action.
• Avoid abuse of adverbs and adjectives. 
• The "active voice" works better much of the time. 
• Limit "is" and "has." 
• "Says" allows the speaker freedom to express their emotion. 

Lagniappe. Sports parents punch above their weight. Sacrifices land on them first. Sportsmanship dicta fly away when a child struggles or gets hurt. Ellen set a standard I could never reach. She cheers for both teams. She assured the other team got flowers on Senior Night. "How can I help?" was always her mantra. She is the "nice one" in the family. 

A Facebook influencer shared her wisdom. "High school is where you look for your bridesmaids, not your spouse." She said so.

Lagniappe 2. Another in the "women being seen and heard" series... just watch a few minutes now. Distilled, Ms. Adichle wants women to be taken seriously. That will require raising children differently. It has well over five million views, necessary views. Adult topics are discussed which may make us uncomfortable. Maybe we need to be uncomfortable. "By being born female they are already guilty of something." 

The Big Four (Agreements)

Fill our toolboxes...and fill them some more. If needed, get a bigger toolbox or discard some that you find unhelpful or dated.

CLAIM: Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements never goes out of style. Ruiz shares 'timeless wisdom' that improves our lives. We don't have to read the whole book. Understand and embrace the concepts.

The Four Agreements  

• Be impeccable with your word.
• Don't take anything personally.
• Don't make assumptions.
• Always do your best. 

Be Impeccable with Your Word

Be honest with others and with ourselves. When we're unhappy with our performance or role, own it. Players make out the lineups. 

EXAMPLE: Belichick assistant Ernie Adams had a sign on his desk, "Stamp out bad football." Simplify. Stamp out negativity. Be positive. Support the team and your teammates. 

Don't Take Anything Personally

Negative or harmful comments to you say everything about the source and nothing about the target. Don't take the pain of the "second arrow," self-inflicted emotion. 

EXAMPLE: Coach Ellis Lane kept it simple for us. Any correction that I share with you applies to everyone on the team. If Coach has corrections - e.g. "talk more" or "be intentional with our serves" it's professional not personal. 

Being professional means being prepared, punctual, and open to coaching. Everyone makes mistakes. Good players and good teams don't make mental mistakes or repeat physical ones again and again. 

Don't Make Assumptions

There is no lineup in May. There is no lineup in June or July. As a junior, late in 1972 in a game against Melrose, I played eight seconds of mop up time. That's slightly better than DNP-CD (did not play - coach's decision). The next year I probably played the most minutes of anyone on the team. Don't presume that 2025 carries over to 2026. 

MVB 26 will still be young, but not young and inexperienced. There's no 'guaranteed position' for anyone. That's not 'lip service' to competition. 

EXAMPLES: Can you bring more "competitive fury" to the court like Dr. Victoria Crovo or Hannah Brickley? 

Always Do Your Best

How you do anything is how you do everything. When your parents hand out chores, do them willingly and well. When you're doing homework, focus, learn, and grow. When you work out, alone or with a teammate, be fully engaged. Your coaches are a lot like Santa Claus - they know who's been bad or good so be good. 

EXAMPLE: Mad respect to the players who show up every day, work to win every sprint, every drill, every point. Sometimes that won't be enough to earn a lot of playing time. Respecting a player's work matters. 

EXPLANATION: More often than not, you get what you earn. 

Lagniappe. Consistency works across sports... release point for pitching, swing path for hitting, free throw mechanics, approach footwork for volleyball, proper steps for quarterback drops... make your toss consistent. 

Lagniappe 2. Block better. 

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Game 9: Melrose 3 Newburyport 1

A trip to Newburyport called for intestinal fortitude. Melrose knocked the Clippers from the unbeaten (9-0) ranks with a come-from-behind 23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-22 victory. 

The win upped Melrose to 7-2 on the season. 

This represented a signature win against the top-ranked team in Division 3 (10th overall) in the initial MIAA rankings. Area fans and coaches also got to watch on the NFHS Network. 

A raucous home crowd supported the Clippers and built a second or third-round playoff atmosphere. 

Melrose got off to a slow start in the first and was playing uphill most of the set. Nine service errors proved a hurdle too great to climb. Melrose showed promise with a lineup designed to get more blocking force with Sabrina McArt and Lorena Contin in the middle, and Elise Marchais pushed outside to compensate for injuries. 

The second set didn't go as planned either as Melrose struggled against the 'Port block and trailed 15-21. Melrose injected a big dose of mental toughness as Sabrina got on a service run and evened the score. Down the stretch Melrose lost a set point at 24-23, but scored twice to even the match. Sophomore Lorena came through with a couple of key kills late. 

Elise Marchais owned the third set with a mixture of smashes, line hits, tools, and tips. Only guessing that she had about nine kills and finished the set with an ace. She may need Daniel Webster in a legal battle to reclaim her soul after that performance. Melrose dominated the set with wins across the board and great work in the back from Anna Burns, Gen Overlan, Dani DiGiorgio, and Adriana Santoriello.

Melrose started slowly in the final frame, before rallying. It was a total team effort without weaknesses. Melrose led 23-20 when a Clipper serve slammed into the net. A final point secured the victory. 

Melrose Notes:

A strong contingent of Melrose fans made the trek to Newburyport.

With a "total team win," everyone shares credit. MVB 25 tended to be predictable with future D1 commit Sabine Wenzel. This year, the offense attacks from all three front slots. I'd guess that Elise, Adriana, Lorena, Sabrina, and Amelie Johnson all had at least five kills. 

Alisa Dautovic continues to see limited action with injury. Shout out to Ella Friedlaender, fully invested while awaiting surgery. 

Melrose's six sophomores are young but experienced, five having played varsity last season and all six played in the Nationals this spring. 

In other Middlesex League action:

Powerhouse Franklin upset Winchester, 3-0. 

Reading topped Lexington 3-1. 

Wakefield beat North Reading 3-2. 

State Leaders

Maxpreps.com publishes updated state leaders. 

Kills:

Elise Marchais ranks #48 with 67.

Assists:

Sadie Smith checks in at #6 with 211

Digs:

Anna Burns en fuego at #24 with 102 

More Than Meets the Eye

Bring your writing to life. 

Writing serves many masters. Empower your storytelling. You must earn skill; nobody awards it. 

Hemingway said, "Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

Typewriter image created with ChatGPT Plus

Neal Allen and Anne Lamott share "Good Writing," awarded New York Times Bestseller honors. The book amplifies Mr. Allen's "36 Rules."

A partial table of contents:

Strong sentences shoulder the load, as powerful verbs chop adverbs and adjectives. "See Spot run" works for Dick and Jane. "Spot raced around the course, prepping for the days when helicopter assaults exhausted everyone except him." 

Write so well that everyone believes that AI wrote your story. Bring readers tears of agony or ecstasy. Craft stories that keep readers engaged and turning the page. 

Overcome the 'tyranny of the blank page'. Then let it sit. Some authors like Joyce Carol Oates allow a piece to marinate for months. She revises the draft into finished craft. 

Sometimes, you will struggle to finish a piece. Just as in volleyball, keep going. Finish the job. 

Remember, "the strength of the wolf is in the pack." 

Lagniappe. Protect your standards. "Leave the jersey in a better place." 

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Newburyport Today

Today's action is why you play. Melrose (6-2, #3 in D2 MIAA rankings) travels to Newburyport (9-0, #1 in D3 MIAA rankings).

Big opportunity for both clubs to battle quality opposition. 

The Clippers notched meaningful wins against potent Lynnfield and Marblehead. 

Melrose wants to build on recent wins as it returns players from injury. 

The game is broadcast on the NFHS Network (subscription). 

Good Lives

"There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by." - Annie Dillard in The Writing Life

The principal advantage of youth is the expectation of having a long life to accumulate experiences and wisdom. Having a philosophy to guide you along that path helps create those good days and good lives.

An ICU physician's assistant asked those he met for an idea. He didn't specify from what domain. Perhaps he got recipes for Brussel sprouts, movie or book recommendations, or famous quotes. I told him, "share something great."

Image created by ChatGPT Plus

Your Volleyball Life

Drink deeply from the wellspring of coaching around you. You never know when a nugget of wisdom will change everything. It might be, "Speak up. Don't be a church mouse." The best ideas, unseen and unheard, are invisible and wasted. Or as Gia told Sadie Jaggers, "Make a good pass, not a great one." Good passes won't become overpasses or trap the setter at the net. Or "press the block."

Your Home Life

My father described some children as "street angels, house devils." Make your first priority being a good person everywhere - home, school, sports. "How can I help?" crafts a lot of good will. Thank your family for the opportunities that allow you to become the person you are today. 

Your Academic Career

A patient came in with a complex problem and a difficult personality. The two best answers are often "I don't know, but I'll find out" or "That's a good idea, we should do that." Mine was, "I'm just a simple suburban doctor; you need to go to Boston." She said, "We both know that's not true, I do my research." 

Your "burden of proof" is your track record. You cannot plead ignorance. The seniors left early last year for National Honor Society induction. Many of you 'frequent' the "Excellence" list or Honor Roll at MHS. "I do my research."

The Mr. Robinson Standard 

You are not an island, a recluse, or a "lone wolf." What you do impacts those around you - what you think, what you say, and what you do. As the poet Maya Angelou said, "People will never forget how you made them feel." None of us can choose to be perfect; all of us can choose to be better. 

Lagniappe. Shoulders are vulnerable to the forces applied to them. Warm up well. 

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