State Semifinals: King Philip 3 Melrose 0 Unstoppable

All opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author. They do not represent any official commentary from the City of Melrose, Melrose High School, or the Melrose Athletic Department. 

 

Sometimes the story doesn't end how you want. Melrose made its tenth appearance in the Division 2 State Semifinals since 2003 and came up short, losing 18-25, 20-25, 22-25. 

The volleyball season is painfully short, starting in late August; the end always arrives suddenly. 

When you face a team as tall, athletic, and skilled as King Philip, you need your "A" game and Melrose played hard but not its best. Certainly some of that followed the relentless pressure of the King Philip attack. 

KP dominated the first set with the principal positive Gia Vlajkovic moving into second place on the Melrose All-Time single season kill list. 

Melrose sped to a quick lead in the second set at 6-1 only to see the Warriors gradually whittle it away until taking control late. 

Melrose mostly played "uphill" in the third set, having chances but unable to capitalize. When crunch time came, KP continually made the big play and Melrose couldn't. 

Commentary: Melrose didn't have a good season. It had a great season.

• It played tough against a merciless non-league schedule.
• The team went undefeated in the ever-improving Middlesex League. 
• It got excellent contributions from all six seniors. 
• Melrose beat an excellent Billerica club to get to the sectional finals and an undefeated Duxbury club on the road to win sectionals. 
• In the twenty plus years I've watched, broadcast, and written about Melrose volleyball, this team likely overachieved the most. 
• Coach Scott Celli did a magnificent coaching job this season and the players took the TEAM message to heart. 
• Gia Vlajkovic was the Freedom Division MVP and among the top few players in the league, including an Arlington player with a D1 scholarship.
• Gia's otherworldly play tonight was the finest I have seen in a losing performance in a playoff game. I'll have more to say about that later. 

Congratulations on a great season.