Melrose continued its homestand with a convincing three set demolition of Lexington's Minutemen. Lexington usually finishes in the top three in the Middlesex League, and they brought a team that looked long and athletic.
All that being said, Melrose played strong and consistent volleyball with a 25-9, 25-10, and 25-15 thumping. It would be fair to say that after the first five points, where Lexington held a 3-2 lead, it was all Melrose.
The first set saw "Lex" go out to a quick lead, whereupon Melrose went out to a 10-2 and 19-7 lead with solid defense and a lot of Sarah McGowan. Sarah had five first set kills, amply aided by a pair from Jill Slabacheski and two from uber-setter Brooke Bell. Lexington just seem to have the stuffing taken out of the team early by Melrose's runs.
Set two saw no set-to as after the early Lexington 3-0 run, Melrose went on a 19-2 run on of its own, as sophomore Jill MacInnes started to put a threat on Marianne Foley's 2003 twenty-eight point run against the Hamilton-Wenham Generals. Jill ended with thirteen consecutive points and a pair of aces.
Melrose racked up double digit kills in the frame, including five more for Sarah, and a pair apiece from "Slabs", Jen Cain, and Brooke.
Set three saw more of the same early, with Melrose building 8-2, 12-4, and 17-7 leads with Coach Scott Celli substituting liberally. Melrose reserves closed out the win the another round of dozen kills, and good reserve setting from Sophomore Maeve Moriarty. Kayla Wyland and Rachel Johnson put on a "block party" at the net, as Melrose went to 2-0 in the Middlesex and 4-0 overall.
Game Analysis: Melrose put on its most dominant overall performance of the year in a sense, with excellent defense, and continuous aggression offensively as the hitters kept "going for it", even when not in 'perfect' position. This approach is necessary to defeat the elite teams.
Having seen the majority of games during the past ten years, I can confidently say that this team is playing the most consistent early season volleyball I have seen during that time.
Why? I'd guess that there are at least four factors:
- High level play by volleyball-first players playing consistently
- Year round play by many players in the system
- Complementary major improvement in multiple players in the rotation
- Spirited competition for playing time in the "middle class", the group of players in the middle third of the team.
These opinions, of course, are my own, and do not reflect those of the coaching staff or anyone affiliated with Melrose High School.
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