Princesses in the Stands, Queens on the Court Melrose 3 Arlington 0

Melrose traveled to Arlington and extended their winning streak to 13-0 with a victory over the Spy Ponders, 25-10, 25-7, 25-17.

In the stands on college break today were two former Lady Raider standouts, Division 2 Player of the Year Hannah Brickley (Trinity) and Annmarie Wiesen (Holy Cross).

Melrose got off to a sluggish start in set one, trailing 4-2 and 6-4 before going on a 19-2 run to put the game out of reach. Brooke Bell was at the helm serving and Melrose piled up 16 kills in the game, with excellent distribution including four for Sarah McGowan and Sydney Doherty and three apiece for Jen Cain and Kayla Wyland.

Set two was more of the same, with Melrose racing out to 12-3 and 18-4 leads before closing it out with fourteen kills. Sarah add another five kills, Jen three, and Jill Slabacheski a pair. Alyssa DiRaffaele had an unorthodox kill on a long free ball after a diving "chicken wing" dig by setter Brooke Bell.

Coach Scott Celli substituted liberally in the third set, and the changes in combinations resulted in some erratic play. The teams had ties at 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Melrose went on a 12-3 spree to eliminate any doubts. Sarah had five more kills, Jen two, and Jill MacInnes had a diving dig that turned into a cross-court winner.

Game Analysis: The scouts were in the house anticipating the playoffs, but saw Melrose distributing the ball attacking from everywhere. Melrose had a high attack efficiency, especially Sarah and Sydney. The back row defense led by Alyssa, Amanda Commito, Jill MacInnes, and Jen Cain continued their consistency.

 Here's the schedule down the stretch.

Boston.com featured Melrose today and named Brooke Bell as one of their players of the week.