Signature Win, Roaring into the Playoffs, Melrose Blasts L-S 3-0

Melrose traveled to Lincoln-Sudbury to face the 6th ranked Warriors, and left with the spoils of a 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 sweep in the regular season finale.

Lincoln-Sudbury has a terrific facility, with outstanding lighting and sight lines, and Melrose enjoyed playing in a great venue.

The foreshadowing of the day came on the opening point, an Alyssa DiRaffaele ace, and the senior tri-captain never let up on the day, delivering great serves and putting in the best defensive performance of her career. L-S responded to go up 3-1, and the teams traded points throughout the first set, with ties at 4, 6, 9 and 12 before Melrose went up for good at 15-12. The hosts never got closer than one at 15-14, and the Lady Raiders closed out the set with a 13-6 run from twelve. It was an inauspicious start for Senior Night.

Melrose had four aces and twelve kills including five for Sarah McGowan, three for Jen Cain, and a pair apiece for Jill Slabacheski.

The second set began better for L-S with a 7-1 lead, triggering a Scott Celli timeout. Melrose chipped away to 8-6 and 11-10, before finally getting the equalizer at 14, with ties at 15, 17, and 18. An L-S service error gave Melrose the lead at 19-18, and Melrose got key attacks from Jill and Jen to go up 22-19, only to see L-S get even at 22. A Warrior error gave Melrose the lead 23-22, and in the key juncture of the match, Alyssa delivered consecutive aces to win 25-22.

Melrose had another four kills from Sarah, three from Jen, and a pair for Jill, and had no service errors for the set.

In the third set, Melrose played Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont Stakes. They raced out to a 3-0 lead, held the edge at 3-2, and then went on 10-5 and 17-8 runs to double up L-S at 20-10. Rachel Johnson did the lion's share of the damage, opening up a 21-13 lead from 13-8 with four kills. Melrose coasted in from there as the Warriors seemed overwhelmed.

Rachel had her four kills, Sarah three, Jen and Jill a pair apiece, and setter Brooke Bell, with yet another masterful performance delivered a deceptive dink in the midst of a five point run.

Game Analysis: Melrose volleyball version 2011 earned another 'signature win' over a high quality Division I opponent. After last week's loss to Westborough, Coach Celli amped up the service intensity seeking a higher risk-reward equation, and intensified the team's running to prepare for potentially longer postseason matches.

What noticeably improved and outstanding, however, was on-court communication and the play of the back row, led by Alyssa, by abetted by heavy doses of Jill MacInnes, Amanda Commito, Brooke, and Jen. The back row made so many outstanding digs as to recall the great play of Kerry Dillon in the past. I look forward to watching the MMTV broadcast in the near future.