Week in Review

Melrose had the week's action compressed with a late game on Monday and a pair of league games on Wednesday and Friday.

Central Catholic handed Melrose their lone defeat of the season in a very tough, five set match at the Middle School. Central had a little too much offense down the stretch and kept their winning streak alive against Melrose. Still, the protracted effort against Melrose may have taken something out of Central, which lost later in the week to strong clubs in Bishop Fenwick and Andover.

Kayla Wyland earned a promotion to the varsity based on her strong front row play for the JV. She's the tallest Lady Raider and adds some valuable length up front.  Melrose came back to win the latter pair of contests to stay atop the Middlesex League.

Don Norris shares some of his great candids.

However good Kayla is on the court, she's equally pleasant off of it. One of the joys of following the youngsters' careers is to meet some wonderful families and local sports enthusiasts.
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Two of Melrose's three captains, Jill Slabacheski in the foreground and Alyssa DiRaffaele are ready on defense.
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Sophomore Rachel Johnson gets good extension at the net. She has developed at an early age into a strong defensive front-row player.
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Optical illusion? Having three legs helps you cover more territory? Not so much. Another promising sophomore, Sarah McGowan bumps while the third Melrose Captain, Senior Athena Ziavras looks on.
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Sophomore setter Brooke Bell looks relieved to escape the "choke hold" of older sister Teagan...a former Lady Raider herself on the basketball and lacrosse teams.

Here are the latest Middlesex League standings according to Maxpreps.com.  Since 2003, Melrose and Reading have either won or shared the ML volleyball crown. That streak appears probable to continue through 2010.