Monday, September 30, 2013

Game 9: Melrose 3 Central Catholic 0

Melrose (8-1) continued its road trip with a 3-0 win at Central Catholic. The Lady Raiders won the first two sets 26-24 and 25-22, but I don't have the third set score.



But I do have a quote from Bill Walsh's The Score Takes Care of Itself.

"Make no mistake about it; my first commitment was to nurture an organizational conscience with this very high internal code of ethics, ideals, and attitudes. Concurrently, I was committed to identifying and hiring the best people I could find and teaching them what I deemed necessary to achieve the required levels of performance...of course, our coaching staff was meticulous and tenacious in analyzing and then teaching the requirements of each player's position...our coaches then created multiple drills for each one of those individual skills, which were then practiced relentlessly until their execution at the highest level was automatic..."

Walsh was never satisfied with an "acceptable" standard. He held his organization to the highest performance available, which culminated in three Super Bowl championships on his coaching watch. The key to success is an enduring commitment to performance at the highest possible level.

Latest Maxpreps.com ratings (as of this morning)

Central Catholic Today

Melrose continues its road swing with a trip to Central Catholic today. Central has been a perennial top program in the North, and the Central - Melrose series has evolved into a top 'friendly' competition. During the ten-year run of Melrose D2 North final appearances, Central defeated Melrose twice in the sectional finals, before moving up to Division I.

The Melrose Free Press has its take on Melrose volleyball.

The latest Boston Globe volleyball rankings.

Maxpreps.com rankings get updated later today.

Latest Middlesex League standings (may not include all games)


Saturday, September 28, 2013

Finishing Group

Photos courtesy of Don Norris. Click to enlarge frame.

Always smiling...

Does this count as a smile?


J-Mac looks like a wide receiver here.


Melrose-Burlington First Look

Photos courtesy of Don Norris. Click image to see the entire frame.

Brooke Bell backs ballers beating Burlington.

Freshman Victoria Crovo spikes.

Double block from Meri Lessing (10) and Allie Nolan.

Meri Lessing leads the Lady Raiders in kills this season.

Cassidy Barbaro had a big day serving.

Melrose approaches the halfway mark of the season at 7-1.

Annalisa DeBari with a tip. 

Jill MacInnes with some libero magic.

Concentration.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Post 1000: Game 8 Melrose Bedevils Undefeated Burlington 3-0



Melrose came in ranked 16th in the Maxpreps.com poll while Burlington achieved a zenith of 6th, only to see the visiting Lady Raiders walk on by with a 3-0 victory.

Burlington jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead only to see Melrose ride an 8-2 run to a 9-5 advantage, which they expanded to 13-7. But the Red Devils wouldn't go away, forging a tie at 14, where Melrose went on to lead 19-17, only to see ties at 19, 20, and 21, But Melrose closed with a 4-1 run to capture set one 25-22.

Unofficially, Meri Lessing led with three first set kills.

Set two showed better action for Melrose, after an early 5-1 deficit. Melrose then ran off six consecutive points, but Burlington rallied to tie at 12, 13, and 14 before Melrose went up for good at 18-14. Melrose scored twelve of the final sixteen points to take a two set lead with a 25-18 win.

Cassidy Barbaro had five aces and Victoria Crovo had three kills.

Melrose came out fast in set three, leading 4-1 and 8-2 before going into hibernation. Burlington rallied to tie at 9, only to see the Lady Raiders go on a 7-2 and 6-2 sprees to go up 22-13. But the hosts weren't done, rallying to 22-18, 23-20, and 24-23 before losing on a service error.

Meri Lessing and Marissa Cataldo led with a pair of kills.

Game notes: Melrose takes undisputed leadership of the Middlesex League, which is the first goal of the team.

Maxpreps.com game attack stats.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Early Season Showdown with Burlington Tomorrow

Melrose (6-1) travels to Burlington (6-0) tomorrow with an opportunity to establish a toehold on the climb to another Middlesex League title. 

The team has improved its consistency and seen progress from its hitters, with Meri Lessing currently delivering 3.5 kills/set. Allie Nolan has moved into the top 10 in serving with 7.5 assists/set. 

The Middlesex League has seen improvement in the Maxpreps.com rankings, with three teams in the top sixteen, including Burlington, Lexington, and Melrose. 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

*Game 7: Melrose 3 Wilmington 0

Melrose (6-1) traveled to Wilmington and defeated the Wildcats 25-13, 25-14, 25-22. This sets up a Friday showdown against undefeated Burlington for the early season leadership of the Middlesex League.

Set 1 was all Melrose as the visitors raced out to a 9-1 lead and coasted. Cassidy Barbaro had a big part in that with three early aces. Melrose had leads at 12-4, 16-5, and 20-8 along the way.

The Lady Raiders had only one service error for the set, and eight kills, led by Meri Lessing with three and a pair for Victoria Crovo.

The second stanza was closer, with ties at 1 through 4, before Melrose went up 8-5, only to see the Cats rally to tie at 8. But a 12-1 Melrose run iced the set with a 20-9 lead. Melrose had a flurry of kills including six for Meri, three for Ashley Harding, and two for Annalisa DeBari. Melrose had three early service errors.

Wilmington showed resilience in the third set, again tied from 1 to 3, and at 5. Melrose opened up a 10-5 lead, only to have the hosts hang around. With Melrose leading 18-13, Wilmington went on a six point run to lead 19-18, leading to ties at 19, 20, 21, and 22. But Melrose, sparked by a pair of late Lessing winners captured the set with the final three points.

Meri came up big again in the set, with five kills, aided by a pair from setter Allie Nolan and Annalisa.

Lady Raider Notes: Former Lady Raider Jen Cain (now playing for Merrimack) was on hand today.

*Game statistics courtesy of Dick Collis.


Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Do Tell

Middlesex League standings

Maxpreps.com rankings...

Venue Change

From Coach Celli, tomorrow's game:

Hi Everyone,
 
Our match tomorrow will be played at the Wilmington Middle School, 25 Carter Lane.  Please pass along to anyone that will be attending the match.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Primacy of Process

Barry Ritholtz at "The Big Picture" has a revealing article about process.

Anyone can identify problems, but far fewer can find solutions. Moreover, many people focus almost entirely, in fact make careers on describing problems, rather than developing solution-based processes. It's no different in sports.

For example, the Red Sox had a rolling disaster from September 2011 through the 2012 season. A negative culture, a bloated budget, disrespected leadership, and unproductive players created the perfect storm of misery. The organization brought in a new manager and coaching staff, made a transformative trade to the Dodgers, and rebuilt the culture with free agents.

Whether a young reader (or old blogger), we succeed at the intersection of our ability to develop solutions after quantitative and qualitative examination of our individual situations. To improve as a student, an athlete, a teacher, business, or professional we must regularly self-examine and do more of what is working and less of what is not. Focusing on process and developing solutions gives us a chance to have our best outcome.

Simplify and Execute

As a part-time basketball coach, I want players to know WHAT TO DO, HOW TO DO IT, and WHY. To quote legendary hoop coach Pete Newell, "they aren't cattle." Players are smart, but even so, need constant teaching, encouragement, and then it's up to them to make plays.

Here's a paragraph from another book (The Playbook), where I have changed the subject but it makes great points for (fill in the blank) players:

Let's remember how you become a (fill in the blank). Not only do you have to acquire all of the domain knowledge that (TOPIC) requires to be great. This is a matter of PASSION not high IQ or athletic prowess. But then you have to be able to EXECUTE. You may be a great candidate on paper, but you still may not be able to play our game. 

What this is saying illustrates why I pay absolutely zero attention to pre-game warmups. I've seen many players who look tremendous in warmups (hitting/digging/serving) but then they can't reproduce that when the lights come on. When the double (or triple) block is up, can you deliver the power/side tip/dink/rainbow kill that fits the situation? "Domain knowledge" is insufficient. Are you willing to "hit out" when the score is tied in extra points or just when you have a comfortable, pressure-free lead?

That doesn't mean ignoring "risk management". When the situation calls for more conservative play, then you have to accept that but you can't throw batting practice fastballs and get people out.

At 8:25 of the D2 North final, Melrose has match point...a Fenwick player (inaudible) says "just get it over", leading to a Rachel Johnson overhead dig, and a Brooke Bell assist to Athena Ziavras. To succeed in big moments, execution is paramount. Rachel starts the attack, Brooke continues it, and Athena "hits out".

Successful (fill in the blank) find ways to execute in the moment, and then move on to the next play.

Upcoming Schedule and More


Melrose has a break in the schedule with no games until Wednesday as the Lady Raiders begin a three game road trip. Highlighting the trip are games against Burlington (undefeated in the Middlesex League) and always tough Central Catholic from the Merrimack Valley Conference.

Apropos of nothing:

Once again "the usual suspects" come to mind. Melrose pre-season scrimmage opposition Newton North, Canton, and North Andover appear prominently among "The Globe Top 20". Don't sleep on Central Catholic which has lost to Barnstable and North Andover. 

Bishop Fenwick (as previously discussed) got overlooked in the previous polls, but has three strong attackers and consistent defense, the recipe for success, and its only defeat came in a close match with Medfield. 


Middlesex League standings from Maxpreps.com. Belmont defeated Reading in a mild surprise, and Winchester's only loss came to Melrose. Woburn, host to EVO (Athletic Evolution) volleyball has made strides despite their short history of Middlesex League play.

Homenewshere.com has a preview of Middlesex League teams in their coverage area.

Burlington, like Melrose is undefeated in the Middlesex League. They will provide a stiff challenge when the host Melrose Friday.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Statistics

"Confidence comes from proven success."

Confidence falls under the general category of attitude. No player plays flawlessly, any more than coaches coach perfectly, or writers compose without content or grammatical error. But our goal should be continuous improvement and higher consistency. Darren Hardy wrote one of my favorite books, "The Compound Effect" in which he describes the virtue and means to regular improvement.

Here are a few quotes:

The truth is, complacency has impacted all great empires including, but not limited to, the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Spanish, Portuguese, France, and English. Why? Because nothing fails like success. Once-dominant empires have failed for this very reason. People get to a certain level of success and get too comfortable. — P.18

Do you know how the casinos make so much money in Vegas? Because they track every table, every winner, every hour. Why do Olympic trainers get paid top dollar? Because they track every workout, every calorie, and every micronutrient for their athletes. All winners are trackers. — P.37

Leadership expert John C. Maxwell said, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” — P.84

It’s amazing how life will organize around the standards you set for yourself. — P.139

Motivation without action leads to self-delusion. — P.159

Statistics don't show process, they show results. When we want better results, then we need better process...which could be anything - better nutrition, better sleep, better mental or physical preparation, et cetera.





Melrose-Stoneham Shots Continued

Courtesy of Don Norris. Click image to see entire frame.

The outside blocker ideally angles the outside hand inward slightly to direct the block back toward the court.


 Joust!
 Ups!




Early Shots

Courtesy of Don Norris, more to come later*
Always click images to see the entire frame

Photos presented unedited.








Game 6: Tale of Two Cities Melrose 3 Stoneham 1

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Melrose traveled to Stoneham and stayed undefeated in Middlesex League play, winning 25-13, 28-30,27-25, and 25-16.

The afternoon had an inauspicious start with Stoneham's big front line getting them off to a 3-0 lead before Melrose battled back to get even at nine, thanks to an Alyssa Abbott service run. After trailing 9-7, Melrose went off to a 13-1 run, and it looked like Easy Street. But much of the damage was self-inflicted for Stoneham, as Melrose had only six kills (two apiece for Annalisa DeBari and Marissa Cataldo). A seemingly prosaic 25-13 set win ensued.

But set two was an affair to remember for the Spartans. Again they came out quickly with their big front row rotation, leading 4-2. Melrose rallied to lead 6-4 behind a Maave Moriarty service run, but the teams battled to ties at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 before Melrose went up 15-13. Then Stoneham went on an impressive 11-3 run to take an "insurmountable" 24-18 edge. Then the roof fell in for the hosts, with Melrose tallying seven consecutive points highlighted by a pair of Meri Lessing kills to go up 25-24, with their first of three set points. But Melrose couldn't apply the finishing stroke and Stoneham hammered home the final three points to take the set 30-28.

Meri had five kills for the set, Cat Torpey two, and Marissa added another pair. Three service error proved costly for Melrose.

Set three saw another donnybrook. After a 3-3 tie Melrose took leads of 7-3 and 16-10, with a variety of players doing damage, two kills apiece for Victoria Crovo and Annalisa. But instead of extending the lead, Melrose may have lost the aggressiveness edge, and Stoneham fought their way back, trailing 19-14 only to run off five to tie at 19. But freshman Crovo was huge down the stretch with a pair of kills, abetted by help from Marissa and Meri as ties at 20 through 24 then led to Melrose fighting off a set point at 25, before winning three at the end including a Cassidy Barbaro ace.

For the set, Melrose had a nearly catastrophic five service errors, and Victoria had five kills, Meri three, with a pair for Marissa and Annalisa among twelve.

But set four returned to more pedestrian action. There were ties at 1 through 4, but Melrose went on an 8-1 run to lead 12-5 and boosted it to 15-6. Meri's three early kills were critical.

The lead ballooned to 21-9 before another Stoneham comeback brought it to 23-16 as the Spartans went on a 7-2 rally. But Melrose closed it out with a pair of points including Victoria's finale at 25. Meri led with five kills, Victoria had three, and Annalisa a pair among a dozen for Melrose.

Game notes: Stoneham deserved credit for playing effectively for much of the afternoon. Melrose had "sun" problems in set three, as the strong side of their court was affected from about the midway portion of the third set near the net. You don't see players at the scorer's table wearing 'shades' too often in an indoor volleyball game.

Melrose Coach Scott Celli continues to experiment with different combinations. Hannah Mulcahy was out with illness and Stephanie Crovo remains sidelined with a leg injury. Amanda Cain was in for awhile at setter, and we hear that Allie Nolan has been working at opposite as well as setter with Maave Moriarty at setter in practice. Ashley Harding has shared the opposite spot with freshman Cat Torpey. At this point, the overall coordination and communication is improving but not at optimal levels. As a long-time observer, I expect that roles are anything but carved in stone based on the quality and consistency of play over a half dozen outings.

Legendary hoop coach Don Meyer has a saying, "it's not who you play, it's how you play that matters." Melrose has done enough to stand at 5-1, but has a lot of volleyball ahead of them.


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Melrose - Arlington Shots (First Group)

Courtesy of Don Norris...always click to see the entire frame.