Melrose traveled to Central Catholic and played the dragon slayer with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory to go 10-0 and clinch a post-season spot.
Central Catholic (7-2) came in with a solitary defeat and was ranked 6th earlier in the Maxpreps.com state rankings.
The hosts had the upper hand in set one. After capturing the opening point, Melrose led 201 but Central opened up a 5-2 lead. Melrose fought back with a Sarah McGowan service run to go up 13-10, only to see Central take eleven of the next fifteen points to go up 21-17. Melrose never got closer than three and lost the opener 25-20.
Melrose had thirteen kills, including five each for Sarah and Rachel Johnson.
Set two had a lot of back-and-forth action, with ties at 1, 3, and 4, before Melrose double up their hosts 8-4, but Central went on a 9-1 spree to lead 13-9, only to see the Lady Raiders battle back to lead with a five point run. But Central took a 17-15 lead, only to have Melrose put on a finishing flurry with a 10-2 run, including a big six point service run by Alyssa DiRaffaele to win 25-19.
Melrose added another dozen kills, five by Sarah, two each for Rachel, Jill Slabacheski, and setter Brooke Bell. Melrose went error-free from the service line in the set.
Set three will go down as one of the epic comebacks of Melrose volleyball, along with the third set 23-16 comeback against Medfield in the 2005 state championship.
The set began with counterpunching, a tie at four. Central then steadily built a lead, going up 9-4, 16-9, and 23-13. A costly service error got Melrose the serve, and Melrose narrowed the gap to 23-16, only to see Central have set point at 24-16. But Melrose scored nine consecutive points on a McGowan service run, with ties at 25 and 26, before Rachel and Jill closed out the frame with kills to win 28-26.
Again Sarah and Rachel added five kills each and Brooke had a deuce.
The final stanza saw the most back and forth set of the match with CC going up 8-3, before Melrose began to chip away. Melrose got within three several times before Central led 15-10, but a five point Melrose run behind great defense got Melrose even. Melrose led 18-16 only to see Central tie the game at 18, but with her best volleyball of her career, Rachel Johnson had three kills during the next four Melrose points to put Melrose up 22-20. Central answered with a point, but Jill drove home a winner to put the Lady Raiders up 23-21. With Melrose leading 24-21 and Central facing three match points, Central answered to bring it within one at 25-24, before a final Slabacheski slam brought home the chicken dinner.
Sarah had another five kills (unofficially 20 for the match) and Rachel added four along with a key pair from Jill as Melrose earned a signature victory for the 2011 team.
Game Analysis: Central is exceptionally well-coached by Gannon Paris and has solid defense and a premier hitter in Hunter Tuck. As reported to me by several independent observers, Melrose got exceptional performances in the back row from Amanda Commito, strong service by Alyssa DiRaffaele, big games up from Sarah McGowan and Rachel Johnson and key attacks by Jill Slabacheski. Although not figuring heavily in the scoring, last year's Unsung Hero Jen Cain played her usual steady, exceptional all-around game.
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