Afternoon Delight, Melrose 3, AC 0

Melrose played a rare Saturday afternoon contest before a large (estimated 300) crowd at the Middle School Veterans Memorial Gym, defeating the Arlington Catholic Cougars 3-0. AC had only a single loss coming in, and Melrose remained undefeated at 9-0.

Melrose has a long history with AC, dating back to a postseason division semifinal loss in 2002 to the Cougars, and its first Division II North title in 2003 defeating AC's 22-0 team.

Melrose came out with solid play with an Athena Ziavras bomb opening the game.  The Lady Raiders scored the first five points of the game before AC struck back. During the early going Athena dominated with a trio of kills, abetted by strong blocking from Rachel Johnson.  Melrose then assumed control, going service-error free, and gradually extending the lead to 15-8. AC clawed back to 17-14, and then Melrose went 8-4 to capture the set 25-18.  Unofficially Melrose had eleven kills and a pair of aces.

Athena had four kills, and Alyssa DiRaffaele had three, aided by a pair from Rachel.

Game 2 started much like the first with a quick 7-0 advantage, followed by leads of 10-1 and 19-5. They coasted to a 25-10 victory. Again the team had no service errors and Athena had another four kills. Five other players had one kill apiece and Sarah McGowan, the player of the match was brilliant defensively, and also had some powerful attacks.

Game 3 had an anticlimactic feel to it, as after a seesaw start, leading 6-5, Melrose took hold at 9-5, 14-8, and 17-11. Melrose went up 23-13 and AC hung around with a mix 'n match substitution and Melrose won 25-19.

Game analysis: Although Athena Ziavras had her usual dominant game, the flash and dash came from Sarah McGowan who was simply everywhere, playing with reckless abandon. As usual, unsung setter Brooke Bell defensed and distributed to the hitters, and the trio of Jill, Rachel, and Alyssa were more than competent. . Melrose had only a pair of service errors, neither critical, and they played their best overall defense of the year, with numerous athletic plays.

Melrose faces Division I powerhouse Central on Monday.