Game 20: Melrose 3 Central Catholic 2

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Not since the state championship final against Westborough have Melrose fans witnessed as dramatic a turnaround win. Fortunately, this time around Melrose (18-2) rallied to defeat Central Catholic (4-14) 22-25, 18-25, 25-9, 25-9, 15-6. 

Melrose and Central have a long history of battles both regular and postseason. The 2005 State Finalist had to go to five sets in the postseason to subdue Central. As a Division 2 power Central topped Melrose twice in Sectional Finals in Andover. 

For the first two sets, Melrose struggled with the triad of vision, decisions, and execution. But they embraced the Bill Parcells mantra, "confidence comes from proven success" assuming control while determined to win points not just score points. 

The stars regained their mojo as their All-Star quartet of Elena Soukos, Chloe Gentile, Gia Vlajkovic, and Autumn Whelan, along with fellow senior Captain Abby Hudson began racking up kills. 

The harsh reality of postseason volleyball is that winners force the action with high volume kills. The postseason punishes lack of aggression and tentative decisions. 

Sophomore Grace Gentile added stability in a reserve role and opposite Ava Burns's serves proved hard for Central to handle. 

MHS-TV YouTube video replay with the fifth set starting at about 1:39:17.