Melrose Travels Well - Medway PlayDate Report: Old Hands and Young Guns on Fire

Melrose squared off against top area teams at the annual Medway Play Date...a.k.a. Turnpike Tournament. Medway has a great athletic complex from air conditioned gymnasium with an elevated running track to a plethora of turf fields, including at least three soccer fields at their main complex. 

In addition to facing Medway and Acton-Boxboro, Melrose played pre-season 'ranked' teams Concord-Carlisle, Newton North, and Bishop Feehan. 

Teams play timed "games" without official scoring and players serve as lead, floor, and endline officials. Chloe Gentile looks ready to officiate already...

Concord-Carlisle was a load with a pair of oversized middle hitters but Melrose played them pretty evenly. 

Defending State Champion Newton North (above) lost several stars to college, but they'll still be tough.

Coach Scott Celli mixed and matched lineups while dropping some hints about his starting lineup. Experienced hitters Emma Randolph, Erin Torpey, and Emily Hudson led the offense. Freshman Chloe Gentile and Sophomore Elena Soukos look ready for prime time. 

Eva Haralabatos continued to press her edge at setter, but Kiki Kiernan performed well in relief. 

The back row led by Nicole Abbott and Mary Kate Mahoney did a credit-worthy job handling a lot of tough serves. If there was a trend, more teams aggressively started play with hard and knuckling serves. 

Grace Davis deserves mention for aggressive play and consistent, loud communication. 




Three up: (borrowing from Boston Sports Journal)

1. Elena Soukos...excellent footwork and high attack efficiency with very few attack errors. 

2. Chloe Gentile...crafty around the net, a "quick leaper" with ability and experience beyond her years both offensively and blocking. 

3. Leah Heafey...saw action both as designated server and on the outside. 

Road warriors. Next week's schedule. 

Playdate notes: In a refreshing departure from the norm, admission was free and Medway concession pricing didn't keep pace with inflation as most items were a dollar, including Dunkin' Donuts coffee, donuts, popcorn, and water. 

Comparisons: The Looking Price

The Red Sox returned a "wagon" from their 2018 championship team. With a month left in the season, they're on the outside looking in, a long shot for a playoff berth. 

Teams can't win titles on paper. Annie Dukes, a former World Series of Poker winner, clarifies this in Thinking in Bets. It's not a poker book, but a decisions book. Dukes opines that poker is about 76 percent skill and 24 percent luck. 



The work undertaken to earn a spot is akin to "the looking price" in the classic Cincinnati Kid. The looking price enters you into the marathon of the season. 

The daily process of building athleticism, skill, experience, decision-making and a robust emotional approach to competing in the big moments defines you...even more than final results. Why? Because of the luck factor - injuries, balls that hit tape and bounce one way or another, an official's call for or against you on a tip, a line, or a net violation. 

When comparing an individual player to another, we're subject to biases - endowment/ownership bias, recency bias, confirmation bias (read what we believe), anchoring, and more. It's impossible for me or any other parent to suspend bias about our child. The actions we saw yesterday are 'fresher' than historical ones, and we fixate on a player as similar (or different) from a former one. 

Opinions and comparisons are not facts. Enjoy the ride. 

Scrimmage Observations: Seeing Red and the Halls of Triple E

Melrose hosted Central Catholic in a preseason scrimmage that left fans optimistic about good things ahead. 

Success is the rule not the exception for the Lady Raider v-ballers. 

Central Coach Gannon Paris annually leads an athletic, skilled, tall club so Melrose expected a challenge. The teams played four twenty-minute periods without scorekeeping in the sweltering Veterans Memorial Middle School gym. 

Senior Emma Randolph (left) showed her considerable skills and Freshman Chloe Gentile (center) previewed a bright future in the middle. 

First, always apply the "mental model" of sample size. Grand judgments demand caution based upon eighty minutes of volleyball. Questions to be answered in the preseason include: 

1. Can the setters bridge the experienced defense and offense? 

2. How is the early season defensive positioning and communication?

3. What is the overall skill level after another year of experience? 

4. What offensive or defensive adjustments occur?

5. What's the force of the offensive attack? 

The setting trio of Eva Haralabatos, Kiki Kiernan, and Autumn Whelan had few hiccups during a solid performance both offensively and defensively. Saturday's Medway play date against top competition, including Newton North, Medway, Bishop Feehan, and Concord-Carlisle affords Coach Celli and staff more data. 

Few balls hit the floor because of miscommunication or traffic. Early, loud, and often communication informed defensive synergy. 

A consistent defense had very few serve receive errors or shanked balls. All-State libero Nicole Abbott was exceptional and key defenders Mary Kate Mahoney, Erin Torpey, and Emma Randolph all were solid. Sofia Centrella was strong in a reserve defender role. Offensively, the game looked more like midseason play than a scrimmage a week into practice. 

Melrose's offense, historically described as vanilla by some pundits, showed versatility with new wrinkles and repositioning of several standouts. 

Melrose added a number of formidable attackers who broaden their capabilities. "Triple E" (Emma Randolph, Erin Torpey, and Emily Hudson) all performed well. Chloe Gentile leads the "player to watch" list in the middle. Elena Soukos is an outside hitter with a future. Grace Sanderson is long with a big swing. Top to bottom, those six players may constitute the strongest quantity of hitters since the breakthrough 2003 season. 

Overall, the Lady Raiders left an impression, something to build upon with a host of early season challenges on the schedule both within and outside the Middlesex League. 

More Melrose Snaps

Courtesy Coach K (Steve Karampalas)

Melrose - Central Scrimmage Pics

Photographs courtesy of Bill Heafey. Click the frame to enlarge. 

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Home Scrimmage Today Versus Central

Melrose hosts Central Catholic in a "friendly" today (Thursday 29 August) at the Veterans Memorial Middle School Gym at 430. Melrose-Central action has been among the most competitive with any rival through the years. This scrimmage serves as a final tuneup before the Medway play date on Saturday. 



Distant replay...at Westborough (2012) great team play and ethereal libero play by J-Mac (Jill MacInnes). 

At 13:07, ridiculous 'get' by J-Mac. 

Film Study

It seems like cameras are everywhere for volleyball matches...on the endlines, in the bleachers, sometimes on elevated tripods. The Boston Globe discussed coaches' use of film to study volleyball matches. Coaches study offensive and defensive tactics and individual technique. 

Melrose has used video for years for both study and entertainment. The 2010 D2 North Final was a harbinger of things to come for the Lady Raiders. 



Melrose defeated Bishop Fenwick in a tough match. It's instructive to see the evolution of many of those who would compete for a state championship the next two seasons. 



Jeff Mate' of MMTV experimented with a "Net Cam" a few years back giving fans perspective of the balancing act of net play. 




Some coaches favor an "end zone" view giving a different look at what players see and how coaches position their defense. 

Roster Preview*

"No progress occurs without change, but not all change is progress." - John Wooden

The 2019 Melrose roster returns seven seniors, adds six juniors, two sophomores, and one freshman. An influx of talent creates competition within one of the area's legacy programs. 

Offense. Teams with deep playoff aspirations don't just score points, they win points. Volleyball rewards intelligent aggression. Melrose state finalists always feature at least three dynamite hitters. For example, the 2012 State Champions had Sarah McGowan (341 kills), Rachel Johnson (152 kills), and Jen Cain (140 kills), along with Kayla Wyland (97 kills). 

Kills don't grow on trees. They synthesize serve receive, blocking, passing, setting, and the attack itself. 

Melrose returns its three top hitters (Emma Randolph, Emily Hudson, and Erin Torpey) with 650 kills, an excellent starting point for a strong offense. A healthier Randolph is a force. "Youth will be served." I expect fierce challenges for court time from risers Elena Soukos and Chloe Gentile, with size and national club tournament experience. 

Seniors Claire Albuja and Grace Davis return plenty of varsity action into the mix. Juniors Leah Heafey and Sofia Centrella saw key moments last season. Grace Sanderson breaks through as a middle hitter after recovering from injuries last season. 

Defense. Melrose returns its defensive core. 

All-state libero Nicole Abbott anchors the back row. Melrose's top four volume defenders Abbott plus Erin Torpey, Mary Kate Mahoney, and Emma Randolph have state finals experience. But don't sleep on competition from veteran defender Marie Maher or young defenders. 

We'll look for plays like this Jill MacInnes pancake dig in the third set sweep of Canton in the 2012 State Semifinals. 

Setting. The setting competition highlights a fascinating three-way challenge. Both Kiki Kiernan and Autumn Whelan had over 275 assists and over 5 assists/set. Junior Eva Haralabatos forced her way onto the roster with a strong tryout and soft hands. Expect the preseason and early season to have some 'setter by committee' features until a leader emerges. 

Innovation Hub. Coach Celli has used the "opposite" position as a springboard for developing future stars. He occasionally relocates "middles" to the outside to generate more offense and blocking. A "designated" server has proven a thorn to opponents. 

Intangibles. Championship ambition demands championship resilience. Last year Melrose brought youthful enthusiasm to the court; the 2019 team builds on that with experience to close out matches. Melrose's seven seniors' on-court leadership might decide the team's destiny. 

*Opinions are solely those of the author.