Game 2: Second Effort Tops Winchester 3-0

Melrose (2-0) handed Winchester (0-1) a 25-11, 25-20, 25-12 defeat at Winchester High School.

Melrose came in shorthanded with Stephanie Crovo out with a leg injury, giving freshman Cat Torpey a bigger dose of playing time.

Melrose jumped out to an early lead 3-0 on a pair of Meri Lessing kills, and rode an 11-1 start with seven aces from senior DS Cassidy Barbaro doing the damage. Winchester adjusted to trail 21-11, but Melrose simply dominated set one, despite posting only four kills.

Set two was an entirely different deal, as the Sachems came out hot leading 7-2 and forcing an early timeout from Melrose Coach Scott Celli. The timeout slowed the momentum, with Melrose scoring two quick points to bring it to 7-4, which Winchester was able to push back to 13-7. But a Lessing kill gave Maave Moriarty the serve and Maave had a service run to narrow the edge to 13-11.

Melrose finally took the lead at 15-14 and led at 17-15 on kills from Annalisa DeBari and setter Allie Nolan. Winchester wouldn't go away, getting the lead at 20-19, only to see Melrose cap the set with six consecutive points to close out the set. Three Lessing kills highlighted the set, with a pair apiece from Annalisa and sophomore Marissa Cataldo.

Melrose opened the third set with a quick 6-1 run, but Winchester hung around with four points to bring the tally to within one at 6-5 and 7-6. But the combination of Lessing (five third set kills), DeBari (3), and Victoria Crovo (2) shut the door, as Melrose went up 12-6, 15-7, and 19-8 en route to the sweep with Victoria delivering the coup de gras.

Game Analysis: Melrose improved its overall coordination and distribution in their second game. As is often the case, Melrose traveled well, with a healthy contingent of Melrose fans. Meri Lessing had a breakout game with ten kills, with solid contributions especially noteworthy with Annalisa with a high attack rate and good work from Marissa Cataldo. The attackers adjusted to Winchester cheating up to take away tips by working attacks deeper. Melrose still had its share of service errors, but those were layered upon a dramatic increase in aces as Melrose's aggressive serves put Winchester on its collective heels.

The core of Melrose's success, however, runs in its back row dominance, with excellence defense from Cassidy, Jill MacInnes, Maave, Alyssa Abbott, and Annalisa.

Melrose still can improve defensively with more consistent blocking, which continues to improve set by set.

Melrose hosts Belmont Wednesday in its next Middlesex League tilt.