The win afforded Melrose an opportunity to allow some nicks and illness to heal, as the Lady Raiders were without Hannah Mulcahey and Marissa Cataldo. But depth prevailed, as the game afforded Coach Scott Celli to spread the PT around and get capable reserves valued opportunity.
Melrose remains at the top of the ML, with the most recent win not yet reflected in the Maxpreps.com standings.
The first set saw Melrose open up 5-1, 11-1, and 19-3 leads on the way to the 25-11 win.
Melrose had ten kills and three aces in dispatching their hosts. Stephanie (4) and Victoria (3) Crovo led the way statistically.
Coach Celli played reserves liberally the remainder of the match. The depth of the team allows for solid play, such that in many years, the Melrose reserve team would probably rank in the top three to four teams in the league. I have not seen many of the top teams this year, so making that claim would reflect bluster not fact-based opinion.
Watertown led 5-2 in set two before Melrose regained control to lead 9-7. After that was all Melrose with a 16-4 closeout.
Stephanie had four more kills, sophomores Bella Federico and Caroline Nolan each had a pair, and Meagan Leyne chipped in another.
The third set was more evenly matched early with ties at 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 before Melrose led down the stretch. From the deadlock at eight, Melrose ran away with a 12-3 spurt, and erased the Raiders.
Meagan Leyne had a career high five kills in the set as she competes for a bigger role up front. Stephanie had two, and Bella and Caroline one each.
Coming Matches.
Next week's schedule features contests against two of the traditional ML powers, Lexington and Reading.
This reflects recent Lexington outings, but doesn't include a match against Lincoln-Sudbury.
Melrose has historically played its best in big games and we'll find out whether that applies next week. Basketball Hall of Fame Coach John Wooden passed his father's message down to his team, "don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses."
Expect some quality volleyball next week at the Veterans Memorial Middle School gym.
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