Melrose hosted Belmont looking to extend its Middlesex League streak to two and build some momentum to face Bishop Fenwick on Monday. The Lady Raiders did the former but in the brutal heat (over 90 degrees in the gym) they lacked their usual crispness at times in winning 25-10, 25-15, 25-21.
With a mostly rebuilt offense (Annalisa DeBari the only regular hitter returning), expecting a well-oiled machine in the second week of the season is unreasonable. But I suspect Coach Scott Celli was not pleased with the level of intensity as the match progressed.
There were a few silver linings in the match. Maave Moriarty was very solid in the back row, Annalisa and Marissa Cataldo had some solid attacks from the strong side, and Hannah Mulcahy provided some aggressive offense from the middle in the final frame.
The match had a pedestrian enough beginning with Melrose out to a quick 10-2 lead including a pair of aces from Jill MacInnes and two kills from Annalisa. Belmont struck back with three, but Melrose answered with seven to go up 17-5. The Lady Raiders then coasted to a 25-10 edge, led by a trio of kills for freshman Victoria Crovo and Annalisa, and a pair for Marissa. They played the set service error free.
Set two was more of the same with Melrose going up 9-0, highlighted by two Maave aces, and a pair of kills for Meri Lessing and Marissa. Belmont closed to 10-5 but Melrose responded with a 10-2 run to go up 20-7, only to see Belmont outscore them 8-5 down the stretch. Meri had three kills for the set to lead.
The final stanza was close for the majority of play, with ties at 1,2,3,4,8,11,12,13,14,15, and 16, before Belmont went up 19-16. Melrose couldn't put together any runs and Coach Celli had a decision as to whether to take a timeout or let the team play through adversity. He chose the latter, and the team ran off a 9-2 spurt to close out the win. Annalisa was big down the stretch with three kills for the set and sophomore Marissa Cataldo also added a triple. At 22-21, Hannah had a "Blash" from the middle that opened up a little breathing room.
Game summary: In this morning's "Psychology Lesson" I explored the impact of imbalance between skill and the expected challenge. Melrose played a bit flat, Belmont gave a great effort, and the team may have been caught looking forward to their big clash with Fenwick. Add in a dose of heat and humidity (same for both teams) and Melrose escaped with a cheap lesson in humility.
The team now has some time available for valuable practice to prepare for some big games in the near future.
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