Going to the 'Ship

Melrose defeated a surprising Bedford team 3-1, to move on to the Division II North finals for the fifth consecutive season.

Bedford captured game one 32-30 with a superb effort, as Melrose showed some rust following their lopsided victory Monday against Charlestown. The game was tied at 5, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 before Bedford sealed the win. Four service errors by Melrose hurt and Bedford outplayed the Lady Raiders at the net in the game. Unofficially, Hannah Brickley had six kills in game one.

Melrose and Bedford were tied at 7 in game two, when Melrose went on an 8-3 run to open the lead. A service run by Leslie Hirschfeld stretched the lead, and Melrose finally prevailed 25-14. Melrose had only six kills in game two, living off of Bedford errors. Nicole Glavin had several crafty kills, but Melrose had another three service errors.

Game three really started to show Bedford the exits. Melrose had fifteen kills, only one service error, and dominated with leads of 8-2, 14-4, and 20-9 before winning 25-12. The locals had a key point at 5-2, with a pair of Brickley blocks, followed by a quick rejump into the kill for Hannah. Brickley had another five kills and three blocks and Laura Irwin added another three kills.

Game four marked Melrose's return to the finals, as the Lady Raiders again resumed domination with a 25-13 rout, leading 5-1, 9-2, 15-7, and 19-8 en route to the victory. Hannah, Colleen Hanscom, and Laura each had a pair of kills. Lauren Howe was the Unsung Hero in tonight's match with very 'clean' play from the libero position.

Score by Games

Melrose 30 25 25 25

Bedford 32 14 12 13


Lady Raider Notes: The Lady Raiders first captured the D2 North title in 2003 at Andover with a stunning upset over undefeated Arlington Catholic, and proceeded to top Dracut in 2004, and North Andover in 2005 for a threepeat. Last year the young Lady Raiders lost to state runnerup AC.

Senior Gina Ciccone will play in her 11th volleyball post-season game for Melrose Saturday. Paula Sen holds the Melrose volleyball post-season games record with 15.

Coach Scott Celli runs his post-season record for the past five seasons to an impressive 14-4, a .778 winning percentage.

The Division II North Championship game is scheduled for Andover High School at 4:00 PM, versus Central Catholic which defeated AC today, 3-0.