Melrose Goes on Road, Cooking Canton-ese in Style 3-0

Melrose closed out the regular season with another quality win, defeating the Canton Bulldogs 3-0. Full details to follow, but Melrose won 25-11, 25-19, and 25-20.

Canton came in ranked tenth in Massachusetts according to Maxpreps.com, including quality wins over Brockton and North Attleboro. The Bulldogs were also the Hockomock League champion.

Melrose faced a quality non-league schedule, finishing 5-1, with the only loss a 5 set tussle at number one ranked Central Catholic.

• The Lady Raiders beat both opponents from the Catholic Central - Large division (AC and Bishop Fenwick)
• Melrose beat three top twenty teams, Barnstable, Bishop Feehan, and Canton, all in straight sets.
  
• The Central Massachusetts powers Medfield and Westborough both face Barnstable. The Medfield Warriors travel to Barnstable tomorrow to finish their regular season and Westborough lost to Melrose common opponents Central and Barnstable by identical 3-1 scores.

Melrose heads to the post-season with momentum and balance. Melrose is one of the few teams with a pair of hitters (Hannah Brickley and Laura Irwin) with over 150 kills apiece, three over 100 (add Athena Ziavras) and six over 50 (add Siena Mamayek, Jill Slabacheski, and setter Colleen Hanscom). But the key to success down the stretch has been the evolution of the back row, with All-League libero (2008) Jess Farr, the indomitable Hannah, and underrated Alex Harlow and Alyssa DiRaffaele. Game on.