Game 1: Melrose 3 Arlington 1 Momentum Matters

Melrose opened the season on the road with a roller coaster ride, winning 25-14, 25-10, 21-25, and 25-21 defeating the Arlington Spy Ponders .

The Lady Raiders took the court with optimism borne of preseason success and sprinted to a two set lead. 

In set one they were never really challenged, leading 19-9 until Arlington narrowed the gap to 21-14 before Melrose closed out the set with a four point run. Emma Randolph dominated for Melrose and setter Eva Haralabatos showed she was up to the task in her first varsity appearance. 

The second set began and finished well, with Melrose leading 5-0 and 14-7 en route to a 25-10 rout. Junior Sofia Centrella got time at designated server. Erin Torpey had a pair of aces early and Arlington seemed ready to be swept. 

Set three quickly became a set to. Arlington took an early edge and led 5-8 and 11-13 when Coach Scott Celli took a timeout. Erin had a key kill to cut the lead to 14-15 and freshman Chloe Gentile another to narrow the gap to 16-17. A pair of Eva aces got Melrose the lead and Melrose led 21-19 on a Randolph winner. Then, inexplicable unforced errors triggered a six point Arlington run and a set win for the Ponders. 

The fourth set wasn't going any better early, as the lost momentum haunted Melrose, with Arlington up 5-7 and 13-16. Arlington brought a stronger blocking game and Melrose struggled to generate offense. Erin had a key winner to cut the lead to one at 18-19 and Arlington took a timeout. 

Sometimes, the burden of expectations proves heavy. The heavy underdog Ponders simply imploded down the stretch, as Melrose closed them out with seven of the final nine points, mostly on Arlington mistakes. 

Game Notes: It's too easy to make preliminary judgments and predictions based on small sample size and recency bias. The first two sets Melrose did some good things and Arlington struggled despite having talented athletes. Arlington gained some confidence with positive plays and Melrose had uncharacteristic issues with 1) communication and 2) consistency. Melrose will clean those up. 

The first varsity appearance for Eva was largely successful, with particular strength on service. Chloe Gentile and Elena Soukos had positive moments as they earned experience without paying the tuition of loss. 

Coaches want players to "find the answers" and play their best volleyball in the big moments. Melrose got the W without playing their best and will look for continual growth as they face tough Frontier Saturday.