Game 5: Melrose 3 Arlington 0

Melrose hosted Arlington at the Middle School and got back on track with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-15 win.

It would have been easy to expect a letdown after Monday's game, but Melrose started slowly and picked up steam en route to a three set win.

Arlington improved with more aggressive play, a big middle hitter, and a willingness to hit back row. The Spy Ponders had early leads at 3-1, 5-3, 7-5, 9-6, and 11-8 before Melrose got even at 12 and began putting some real estate in at 15-12. Leading 20-18, Melrose benefited from a service error and then Maave Moriarty finished with a service run to ice the set.

Melrose had eight kills, including a trio from Meri Lessing and a pair from Victoria Crovo and Allie Nolan.

Set two saw Melrose lead box to wire. The Lady Raiders led early at 4-2 with a pair of kills from Marissa Cataldo, and got up 9-5 before Arlington came within one at 9-8 and 11-10, only to see another service error be a springboard to a five point Melrose edge at 15-10. But the visitors hung around trailing 15-13, and 16-14 before yet another service error left them too damaged to recover, as Melrose finished with a 9-1 burst.

Melrose rode ten kills to the set win with three by Meri, two by Annalisa DeBari and Allie, and the early pair from Marissa. They were service error free in set two.

Set three saw Melrose dominate with a 10-1 opening salvo, and a lead of 14-5 making an Arlington comeback improbable. Arlington got within five at 17-12, but Melrose ran out the string with an 8-3 close, with better offense. Meri added another three kills, Victoria added a pair, and Allie, Marissa, Ashley Harding, and Hannah Mulcahy each added one.

Game notes: Rebuilding the offense is a work in progress. Overall communication takes time and practice, and creeping incrementalism is Melrose's friend. Injuries, illness, and at times inconsistency afford reserves the chance to step in and step up. After three first set service errors, the team had only two for the final sets, and Cassidy Barbaro started to get the service magic working again.