Game 10: Halfway Home, Newton North 3 Melrose 1

Melrose hosted the Division 1, third-ranked Newton North Tigers and dropped a tough four-set affair 21-25, 18-25, 25-17, and 23-25. The loss drops Melrose to 7-3 at the halfway mark.

Newton's top tigresses Abigail Wright and Chloe Lee had enough firepower to compensate for an erratic service game.

Melrose held leads in the first two sets, 18-14 and 12-8, but couldn't close out the undefeated (9-0) visitors.

What went well? 

• Melrose showed resilience against the "Daughters of SMASH" who train young on short nets, taught to fire away. 
• Melrose's defense hung in against bombs to the back with tough digs by Emma Desmond and Grace Gentile in particular. 
• Gigi Albuja served well in the 'designated server' role. 
• Melrose rescued several points with spectacular digs and free balls. 

What went less well? 

• Melrose struggled to block the Newton North outside hitters, a testament to their ability. 
• The timing on the short ball/quick sets was slow developing leading to a high block rate in the middle.  
• A few "get me over" balls were hit into the net. 

What could they do differently? 

• Play harder? The effort and enthusiasm level was solid throughout. 
• Do it better? Considering the quality of the opposition, the level of play was mostly consistent. 
• Strategically, there's not a lot different to try but continuing to work on execution.  

 What are the enduring lessons? 

• There's still great value in playing  high quality opposition. That's not saying there's any moral victory. 
• Excellent teams don't beat themselves. Newton North's service errors kept Melrose in the game.
• In close games, every point matters. It's worth studying decision-making at critical points, not to be critical but help grow decision-making in the future. 

Melrose notes: Melrose didn't have Anna Shoemaker available which reduced Melrose's size at the net. 

Several coaches were in the stands including Winchester's John Fleming and Swampscott's Ryan Celli. 

Grabbing a set helps maintain Melrose's ranking, losing 2 points in set point differential but gaining about 4.4 from North's ranking points. Margin of victory and opponent ranking are the two factors defining the MIAA Power Rankings that determine playoff seeding. 

Melrose's next match is at Stoneham Friday. For example, a 3-0 win against Stoneham (ranking points, minus 0.61) would net Melrose the same ranking points as the loss to Newton North.