Lucky Seven, Melrose Whips Tanners, 3-0

While unevenness in schedule quality has always been a problem for local volleyball, today brought a solid opponent to the Marcoux Gym, only to see Melrose wear down the visiting Peabody Tanners, 26-24, 25-22, and 25-15.

Melrose, sporting new home uniforms, got off to a slow start in Game 1, trailing 9-5 and 12-7 before the locals could get in gear. The secret to winning volleyball remains aggressiveness and prudent risk-taking, bringing the attack to the defense and forcing errors. Defensively, you must challenge every ball at the net, regardless of whether you are outsized. At the outset, Melrose let Peabody carry the play, but that changed with a 7-1 spurt spearheaded by service points from Middle Hitter Leslie Hirschfeld. Leslie played one of her stronger offensive games carrying the play from the middle to the taller Tanners.

Down the stretch it was a team effort as the teams were even at 24 before a Hannah Brickley kill gave Melrose the lead and Colleen Hanscom's serve forced an error to seal the victory. Nicole Glavin (unofficially) had three big kills in the game also.

Game 2 had Melrose jumping out 4-0, with Brickley and Laura Irwin thundering kills opening the lead, followed by a Hirschfeld ace. But Peabody gamely fought back to level it at 4. Hannah had another four kills to spark the hosts, while Nicole had a pair of overpowering slams down the stretch and a service point to ice it. Glavin clearly was the deciding force in the second stanza, as the Senior Outside Hitter comes into her own.

Game 3 found Peabody wilting under the Melrose attack, again led by Hannah's five kills. Peabody closed to within 15-13, but Melrose closed them out with a 10-2 run to stretch their undefeated streak to seven. The Lady Raiders are now 3-0 in interconference games in the North Shore League and 4-0 in the Middlesex League.

Score by Games

Melrose 26 25 25

Peabody 24 22 15

Lady Raider Notes: Coach Scott Celli was pleased with how his team met the challenge of the tall Peabody team, especially with the more difficult portion of the schedule coming up next week. Sophomore Hannah Brickley remains a force offensively and defensively in the middle, and the Seniors, Gina Ciccone, Lauren Howe on defense, Leslie Hirschfeld, and Nicole Glavin have all been active.

Unofficially, Melrose had only three service errors for the match, a big improvement. The team still battles the 'overpass' which Peabody translated into a number of easy points. Passing skill inconsistency also 'trapped setter Colleen Hanscom at the net more than we'd like to see. Taller, experienced front court players are not fooled by setters either tied up at the net or trying to find holes in the opposition defense...turning 'dekes' into points.

Melrose won the match because of greater consistency, particularly in the serve-receive part of the game. Beyond the libero, Peabody struggled with their serve-receive game, allowing Melrose to become the aggressor, setting up the front row for kills.

Conversations with Pat Ruggiero couldn't yield much news on the 'phantom bleachers' for the new Middle School Gym. Fortunately, local fans have the improved Marcoux facility to compensate for their disappointment at not getting into the fabulous new facility.