Game 19: Melrose 3 AC 2

Travel to the bandbox at Arlington Catholic is never easy. Tonight was no exception as Melrose survived the Cougars attack with a hard-fought 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 23-25. 16-14 victory.

The win lifts Melrose's record to 18-1 and sets Melrose in the driver's seat for a one seed in the Division 2 North tournament.

The first set saw ties at 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12 until Melrose took the lead for good at 14-12. From 14-13, Melrose had a five point run feature Allie Nolan serving and a trio of kills by Victoria Crovo to lead 19-13, and AC never got closer than three as Melrose finished them out with a pair of Meri Lessing kills.

Melrose had an unofficial eleven first set kills including three apiece for Victoria and Meri, and a pair from Cat Torpey and Allie.

The Lady Raiders opened set two with a quick 6-2 advantage, only to see AC fight back to even the score at nine and forecasting ties at 10, 11, 15, and 16. From there, AC launched a 9-3 offensive to finish the frame.

Numerous AC blocks frustrated Melrose, but Meri fired home another three kills and Victoria a pair.

Set three began with back-and-forth action leading to a deadlock at seven, only to see a service run from libero Amanda Cain open a 15-7 lead. Melrose ran its edge to 24-14, but AC wouldn't go easily, scoring five consecutive points to regain momentum before succumbing 25-19.

Marissa Cataldo led the offense in the stanza with three kills and Meri banged home a pair.

The fourth set saw neither team lead by more than three points at any time. An unlucky thirteen times the teams tied, the first at three and the last at twenty-three. Noteworthy were Fibonacci series ties at 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21. Three service errors proved costly for Melrose as AC scored the final two points to break the final tie and send the match into a decisive fifth set. Meri had another four kills and Hannah Mulcahey added three.

The fifth set saw a gut check from Melrose, including the wire-to-wire play from Allie and Victoria, and more offensive heroics from Meri (four kills).

AC took the early edge at 2-0, but Melrose responded with four to go up 4-2. To and fro, neither team could seize a decisive edge, with ties at six and seven before the Cougars led 10-8, only to see Melrose answer with another run of four to go up 12-10, but AC rallied to knot the set at thirteen and fourteen. With Melrose leading 15-14, Meri deliver the decisive winner to give Melrose the win.

Maxpreps.com Division 2 rankings.