Championship Friday

Melrose hosts Reading Friday at the Middle School Gymnasium on "Championship Friday". Both teams enter the contest with winning streaks, and both have plenty on the line. A victory by Reading would likely give them a share of the Middlesex League title. A Melrose victory would likely give the Lady Raiders the undisputed title.

Melrose defeated Reading in their earlier match in a tightly contested game.

Melrose dropped four places in the most recent Maxpreps.com standings.

Reading always brings a tall, talented, well-coached team and either Melrose or Reading has won or shared the ML title since 2003. Reading comes in on a roll after beating Watertown earlier this week.

Melrose has relied on a diversified offense led by Senior tri-captain Athena Ziavras and tri-captains Jill Slabacheski and Alyssa DiRaffaele, the blocking of sophomore Rachel Johnson, and the all-around excellence of sophomore setter Brooke Bell.

Wednesday, fans got a preview of what next year's team might look like as with Athena out with a minor injury, Coach Scott Celli started four sophomores and two juniors.

Senior Athena Ziavras leads Melrose in kills.

Jill Slabacheski had a monster game against Reading earlier this season.

Alyssa has provided steady serving and solid work in the back row all season in addition to her work at the net.

This is a huge game for the Lady Raiders; come out and roar for your team. The JV game usually tips off about four o'clock with the varsity to follow.