Countdown to Tryouts

Melrose volleyball has become one of the most popular sports at the high school and the most successful sport over the recent past.

The coaching staff of Scott Celli (Massachusetts Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame), Steve Wall, and Andrea Basteri have developed teams that have talented players top to bottom each season. Melrose has appeared in eight consecutive Division II North finals, winning five, and goes after its second "three-peat" with teams from 2003-2005 accomplishing the triple.

The graduation of All-State outside hitter Athena Ziavras leaves a hole in the Melrose offense, with plenty of candidates looking to fill the spot. But don't expect Middlesex League opponents to feel any sympathy for the Lady Raiders.

This season introduces the ML Large and Small divisions, and therefore Melrose faces perennial rival Reading early in the season.

Melrose returns a youthful but experienced group of players competing for both roster spots and court time.

Former Captain Athena Ziavras (left) poses with tri-captains Alyssa DiRaffaele, Brooke Bell, and Jill Slabacheski (click photo to enlarge).

Local volleyball fans look forward to another exciting season, with a group of talented, enthusiastic scholar-athletes representing Melrose. In addition to Reading, expect Stoneham to improve, and the team has an attractive nonleague schedule including AC, Central Catholic, Bishop Fenwick, Westborough, and Lincoln-Sudbury.

The Maxpreps.com rankings give us a general idea of how things stood. Obviously, strong teams like Reading and Fairhaven were underrated by their computer analysis. But you can see that Melrose will face particularly strong non-league competition this season.