Lady Raiders Finish Strong, Beat Bishop Fenwick, 3-0

Melrose hosted Bishop Fenwick (4-2) at the Middle School Gym, and came away 7-0 with a 25-15, 25-6, 25-10 victory.

The Lady Raiders looked sluggish in the first game, leading 4-0, before succumbing to sloppy volleyball and trailing 9-8 before Coach Scott Celli took a time out to rally his troops from their numbness. Melrose picked it up from there, losing another point before going on a 17-5 run to capture the game. Laura Irwin (4) and Hannah Brickley (3) converted Colleen Hanscom assists into kills to ice the game. Unfortunately Melrose had four service error.

The second stanza saw more typical Melrose play, although with a new wrinkle as Alyssa DiRaffaele got a start in the back row. Melrose responded with both better offense and defense, including five players with kills including Laura, Hannah, Colleen, Siena Mamayek, and Jill Slabacheski. Melrose also trimmed the service errors to one, holding leads of 7-1, 14-2, and 18-4 en route to a dominating win. Freshman Brooke Bell came in to pile up some assists of her own.

Game three again saw liberal substitution and Melrose racing out to 9-3 and 16-5 leads. Melrose won the point of the year at 10-4, with Hannah making a sprawling, diving cross-court one-armed get during a long rally culminating in a Melrose point. Again Brooke came off the bench to set effectively, and Siena had a couple of athletic blocks and kills. Melrose had an additional two service errors.

Match analysis: The cartoon strip 'Pogo' has a famous line, "we have met the enemy, and he is us." Early in the match, Melrose struggled not because of Bishop Fenwick as much as through unforced errors and service miscues. As the match progressed, the girls got their footing, although it took about half the contest for the team to get in sync.

Hannah's defensive play in the third was the match highlight, but other players had their moments. Jess Farr continued her remarkable steadiness at libero, Siena looked strong defensively in the middle, and Colleen and Brooke both set very cleanly. Everyone on the team continues to do their job whether starting or coming in off the bench.