Stirrings

Signs of life emanated from the Melrose High School today, with the football team back in fall action.

Volleyball tryouts will begin Thursday, August 26th as the Lady Raiders seek another Middlesex League title and defend their Division II North championship.


Projecting the roster at this point is impossible, with the team having to replace so many quality starters, and over 550 kills from Hannah Brickley, Laura Irwin, and Siena Mamayek. In addition to Siena's offense, she was a dominant defender with superior blocking skills.

Coach Scott Celli has a lot of questions to address:

• After Athena Ziavras, who will become the team's secondary offensive threats?
• Who will replace Jess Farr and Alex Harlow as the primary back row defensive specialists?
• Who will emerge as a primary middle blocker?
• Can anyone approach the passing skills of Hannah Brickley, facilitating the ideal "bump-set-spike" offense?
• Will the offense attempt to diversify with the short set without as much height?

The season will present special challenges and opportunities with less experience at the front end of the roster and more experience at the back end as more girls have started playing volleyball earlier and an enormous number are playing off-season volleyball.