Melrose (3-0) met adversity on the rollercoaster en route to a 17-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13 five set win at Woburn.
Author David Mamet discusses the Hero's Journey, describing the outcome as unexpected and inevitable. The hero ultimately achieves recognition of the solution to the predicament and finds reversal. Epic fiction proves more predictable than sports.
The Tanners jumped out to a 4-0 first set lead, prompting Coach Scott Celli to take a timeout. Melrose struggled to find any rhythm or consistency as Woburn used their size to frustrate Melrose hitters. Melrose added some charity with service errors and the fans at the Wu were feeling an upset special. Sofia Centrella had a strong first frame, unofficially with four kills.
The second stanza went little better, although Melrose struggled with serve received, passing, and blocking. The defense started to stiffen a bit but costly unforced errors gave Woburn another set victory.
The third set saw Melrose begin to turn the momentum around. Leah Heafey rotated in to serve and Sofia and Mary Kate Mahoney were playing offense/defense with substitution to optimize both defense and attack. Emma Randolph came alive at the net and Emily Hudson began to control the front. Adding Sam Dewey into the mix abetted Melrose's blocking. The Lady Raiders' consistency was rewarded with a set win.
Melrose began to control the action in the fourth set, getting a 24-19 lead before the Tanners rallied back to get to 24-23. Another Celli timeout broke the spell and a Woburn error went into the net, bringing a decisive set five. Hudson owned the net and Mary Kate was an unlikely attacker from the outside while also providing sold defense.
Woburn sprinted out to a quick 4-1 lead in the decisive fifth set. Teams traded points to 8-5 at the change of sides. Woburn got out to 10-5 (timeout) and 12-6 leads but Melrose broke back with kills from Sofia and Grace Davis. Melrose went on an 8-0 run to lead 14-12, highlighted by net play from Emily. Woburn struck back to narrow the gap to one point. Melrose had a clean return and Woburn's serve receive trapped the setter at the net and Melrose walked away with a hard-won victory.
Match Analysis: Woburn did enough to win today. They outpassed and outblocked Melrose but like pitchers without their best stuff, Melrose found a way to win. Lost in the scrum were exceptional defense from Nicole Abbott and over forty assists from sophomore setter Kiki Kiernan, scrambling all over the court chasing passes. Mary Kate Mahoney and Mary Maher added solid back row play, and sophomores Emily Hudson and Sofia Centrella had career games. Erin Torpey rallied from a slow start to fire in some cut shots and Leah Heafey served flawlessly.
Melrose has a strong team culture, the supportive environment where each player adds value and feels valued. Numerous players raised their performance during crunch time, allowing the Lady Raiders to squeeze out the win.
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