Melrose hosted Burlington today at the Middle School and came away with an impressive 3-0 victory.
Melrose's dominance allowed Coach Scott Celli to give extended playing time to many of his charges, which helps determine optimal combinations and court time. Opportunity has always followed production in the Melrose system.
Melrose started slowly, trailing 4-1 with a few uncharacteristic errant hits. Then the Lady Raiders turned it on, with several long runs, from 1-4 to 10-4 and 12-7 to 19-7, sparked by precision setting from Colleen Hanscom and a flurry of kills from Athena Ziavras (4), Hannah Brickley (3), and Siena Mamayek (2) and Laura Irwin (2). Melrose closed it out 25-15.
Game 2 reflected total domination for the locals 25-6. Serving specialist Alex Harlow had a solid run, and Melrose jammed home another eleven kills, with another four apiece for Hannah and Athena. Brooke Bell got valuable setting experience spelling Colleen.
Game 3 found Melrose winning 25-17, although the score didn't reflect the actual margin. The coaches continued to experiment with personnel groupings, alternative hitting strategies, and substitutions. Melrose again had double figure kills including six for Laura, three for Hannah and a pair for Jill Slabacheski having a high attack rate efficiency early this season.
The back row defense spearheaded by senior Jess Farr and Amanda Commito turned in another solid performance. Senior AnneMarie Wiesen got a good look at opposite and Alyssa DiRaffaele shows promise in the middle.
Match Analysis: Burlington showed improvement both at the net and serving, although likely to be a middle of the road team in the Middlesex League, behind Melrose, Reading, Lexington, and Stoneham. Melrose continues to reduce service errors, with only a pair this afternoon. Melrose may have its deepest hitting group ever, with career leader Hannah in the middle, veterans Laura and Athena outside, and rapidly improving Jill challenging for a big role this season. Siena uses her height and aggressiveness to defend superbly in the middle, and Colleen shows why she should be the All-League setter this season.
All that being said, Melrose hasn't been challenged yet this season, and the teams that have beaten Melrose in the post-season have typically done it with explosive offense and unyielding back row defense with All-State type libero play (e.g. Marlborough, Case, Medfield).
Saturday, the Lady Raiders will face their first real hurdle as they host Arlington Catholic at the Middle School at 2 P.M. Local volleyball fans should get a better picture of competitive volleyball when the Cougars come to town for "Catfight Saturday".
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