Fan-tastic

Don Norris adds some candid shots of local volleyball fans. 

Three home games this week, Cambridge Tuesday, Lexington Wednesday, and Burlington on Friday.

Where's Waldo?

Liz Torres has the Globe's volleyball preview. Where's Waldo in the red and white?

Need motivation?

One Time

A life consumes somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 billion heartbeats. In large part, we decide what we make of each day, how much effort we put into our activities, preparation, rest, sleep, and so on. How many of us can say "I couldn't do a little more?"



We decide what kind of students we are, what kind of friends we are, and what kind of players and teams we become. A player might not be the most gifted athlete, the biggest, the fastest, or the strongest, but talent is overrated. Intangibles make the player.

The volleyball team has started fast, with two road wins including a quality win against a strong league opponent. Something to build on...is all.

How much do you C.A.R.E.? Concentration leads to anticipation, reaction, and execution. Take advantage of what you have and make your dreams come true.

The volleyball team holds a car wash at the high school today, 10-2 PM.

Chicken Dinner Time

Don Norris captures the post-game celebration. (click pic to see full-size)

Border Wars Win, Melrose 3 Reading 1

Melrose faced their first major hurdle of the season at Reading, and came away with a hard-fought 3-1 win to take the early lead in the Middlesex League race. Reading is perennially one of the top teams in the North.

Every team has the opportunity for "signature wins", and Melrose has had plenty through the years, but Version 2011.1 got theirs today, aided by an enthusiastic contingent of Melrose fans.

The first set went to the hosts, who took an early lead behind power hitter Melissa Dal Pozzo. But Melrose was able to get her to the back row and forge ties at 6, 7, 8, and 11.

Sarah McGowan was the driving offensive force in the first game with five kills and a pair from Rachel Johnson. Reading fought back from three point deficits at sixteen through nineteen, and the game was even at twenty through twenty-three. Reading bombed in a couple of serves at the end to take the early advantage.

Melrose had nine kills for the game and only one service error.

The best teams respond to adversity, and an early deficit on the road qualifies. Reading again came out tough with a series of ties at 1,2,3,4,5, and 6. Melrose opened up a three point advantage only to see the Rockets back even at at 10, 15, and 18. But at that point, Melrose went into overdrive, minimizing errors and improving their attack rate. A 7-2 run gave the Lady Raiders a tie. McGowan again led with four kills, but got help from a pair apiece from opposites Jen Cain and Kayla Wyland. Both Cain and Wyland clearly elevated their games today.

Melrose had ten kills and two service errors in the game.

Melrose stepped up big in the third game, with a 6-1 early lead, but Reading never quit and evened the game at 12. From there Melrose went on a 7-0 run, including a pair of spectacular kills from Rachel Johnson. From 19-13, Jill Slabacheski took over with some outside attacks. Melrose had ten kills en route to the 25-17 rout.

Johnson had four critical kills and Slabacheski three, followed by Kayla Wyland had a pair.

Momentum often rules the direction of a volleyball match, and Reading refused to quit. Set four was tied at 1,3,4,5,6,7,10, and 11, but a Reading service error gave the visitors the opening they needed. Melrose opened up a 15-11 lead, and Reading could never get closer than two, as another service error put Melrose up 16-13, and from 21-19 Melrose put the Rockets down, with a service ace from Brooke Bell and Jen Cain smashed home a winner to a 25-19 clincher.


Game Analysis: Melrose was a little tentative in the first game and hesitancy against strong teams can come back to bite you. But Melrose recouped their poise and excelled in attack consistency, serve receive, and the back row came through with many spectacular digs. A total team effort propelled the team with everyone playing consistent volleyball. Singling out anyone by name would be unfair to all those not mentioned. One player in particular reprised Tom Cruise's role in Top Gun, engaging in key moments to elevate her game.

Melrose-Bedford Photoessay

Don Norris shares his photographic essay of Opening Day.

 Rachel during a timeout.
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This looks like Brittany hitting at the net.
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Maave, Sydney, and Kayla look on.
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Sarah attacks over a tall drink of water.
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Sarah and Brooke with some cosmic forces on the net.
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Brooke always bends over backwards to help the team win.
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Alyssa on the dig.
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Jill with the outside attack.
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Amanda goes low to keep the ball in play.
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Rachel and Kayla eat this one up at the net.
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Amanda at the ready.

Don supplies the photos and I select the best, among action and stills, joy and sadness. Sometimes everyone isn't shown or in as flattering a pose as they might like. It's a long season!

Game 1: Melrose Sinks Buccaneers, 3-0

Melrose opened the season with a workmanlike 3-0 victory at Bedford.

Bedford led 1-0 and 2-1 before the Melrose offense got in gear. Jill Slabacheski had a trio of early kills en route to a 10-2 lead on the nine point Melrose run. The Lady Raiders extended the lead to 17-3 and coasted to a 25-10 set win. Two service errors marred the performance.

Unofficially Melrose had 7 kills, including a pair apiece for Sarah McGowan and Jen Cain.

Set two saw an early tussle, with Melrose tied at 3 and leading 6-5 before another nine point run cleared the decksat 15-5. Setter Brooke Bell had a trio of kills along with McGowan, and Cain added a pair.

Melrose substituted liberally overall and took the set 25-16. The red and white had ten kills for the set and again a pair of service errors.

For the most part Melrose went with reserves in the third set, sprinting to a 7-1 advantage and leading box to wire with a 25-21 edge. There were only seven kills in the game, four for McGowan, two for Rachel Johnson, and one for Kayla Wyland.

Lady Raider Notes: Melrose travels to Reading Friday in a possible battle for the Middlesex League title in the league opener. Reading always has a strong team and returns a tall and talented team led by Melissa Dal Pozzo and Olivia Healey, with plenty of help from a solid supporting cast. Reading was 13-1 in the ML last year, tying Melrose for league honors. Like Melrose, the Rockets had a young team last season and will be a formidable opponent.

Sophomore Jill MacInnes saw a lot of time in the back row during the season opener.

Sarah McGowan has the stuff to be a key attacker for Melrose this season.

Moms (and Dads) are always some of Melrose's biggest supporters.

Statistics courtesy of Dick Collis. File photographs courtesy of Don Norris.

Opening Day

Cross post from MelroseGirlsBasketball.com.

Underrated.

Opening Day

Melrose kicks off the volleyball season tomorrow traveling to Bedford. Melrose has faced Bedford in the past, beating the Buccaneers 3-0 last season, but struggled in a 3-1 post-season win several years ago.

Melrose needs to sharpen up quickly, preparing for Friday's key Middlesex League matchup at Reading.

Melrose has a veteran team and I'll take a guess at tomorrow's starting lineup:

OH Jill Slabacheski
MH Rachel Johnson
Opp Jen Cain
DS/libero Alyssa DiRaffaele
MH Sarah McGowan
Setter  Brooke Bell

Expect to see Amanda Commito rotating in early into the back row, Kayla Wyland into the front defensively, and Coach Celli trying to find the best performance-based combinations. The talent differential between the middle-third and bottom third of the roster is not so great, so the lineup could be in flux as the season evolves and players compete for time.

Volleyball Candids

Melrose volleyball traditionally sets its sights on winning the league title, getting to the post-season, winning the Division II North title, and playing in the state championship game. Obviously, that's a tall order.

Good process dictates a chance at good outcome. Melrose has relied on excellent coaching, community enthusiasm and support, improving infrastructure and offseason play,

The team has a veteran core, with talented players at each year level (sophomore to senior)

 Brooke Bell keys the offense as setter.
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Brittany Adelman is healthy and hitting.
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Jen Cain is a top defender at the opposite spot.
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Sophomore Maeve Moriarty competes for time at setter.
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The coaching staff is amped up already.
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Rachel Johnson has improved her hitting to go along with solid blocking.
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Cassidy Barbaro looks to get more time in the back row.
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Sydney Doherty competes for time at outside hitter.
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Southpaw Kayla Wyland plays tall with a long reach at the net.
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Sarah McGowan has a strong all-around game and could be the next big hitter in Melrose history.
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Amanda Commito returns from season-ending knee surgery and is a force in the back row.
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Alyssa DiRaffaele is a libero with a potent serve.
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Sophomore Jill MacInnes looks to translate energy into playing time.
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Jill Slabacheski is one of Melrose top all-around players.

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Rachael Wolley backs up Brooke Bell at setter. 

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Maggie Moriarty is another back row player with a potent serve.

At least in the Boston Globe online "Teams to Watch" Melrose wore the Harry Potter invisibility cloak. To be fair, the Lady Raiders got a feature in Globe North.

Maxpreps.com  presents another resource to follow the team.

Photographs courtesy of Don Norris. (more to follow, time permitting)

Big Day for Melrose Volleyball

Every team has history, and Melrose volleyball had a piece of history in the 2003 season, with a D2 North championship 3-0 victory over an AC team that had not lot a single set during that season. Amanda Labella was the setter on the 2003 team.

There's life after volleyball, with Amanda celebrating her wedding yesterday to Sean Finn. Apologies for the grainy iPhone photo.

And Amanda isn't the only bride from the 2003 team, as Marianne Foley and Denise Applegate are two other players whom we know have taken the plunge.

Meanwhile, concerning the current team's play date at Medway, here

Melrose 32  Westboro 24
Melrose 36  Feehan 25
Fairhaven 35 Melrose 29
Melrose  42 Holliston 17
Melrose  32 Lincoln-Sudbury 29
Medway  36  Melrose 27

The point isn't necessarily to use the results as an absolute yardstick (considering each team's needs, development, and lineup) but to be competitive against solid competition.

More Shots from Don Norris

The volleyball team is hard at work in Medway today, but Don Norris sends us some shots. Always click on the photos to enlarge them, as they often contain more than in the screen shot.

"The joust"
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Amanda back at full strength
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Big sister Maggie in action
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Unsung contributor Jen Cain
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Brooke says "missed it by that much".

Pop Goes the Volleyball Season

Although I'm something of the Melrose volleyball historian going back to 2002, I don't know where the Tootsie Pop tradition began.

Suffice it to say, dentists everywhere smile broadly at tradition.

Speaking of tradition, the first full week of practice fills up with scrimmages, today's against solid Chelmsford and Lynnfield squads at the Middle School gymnasium.

Scrimmages help bring players up to competitive game speed, allow coaches to assess players and combinations under pressure, and consolidate strengths and discover weaknesses to be improved.

My initial observations follow, tempered by recognizing that the team still has had relatively little practice:

• Personnel. Of the ten Melrose teams I have seen, this has the highest OVERALL level of volleyball talent, through the fifteenth player on the roster. It would be very premature to say that the top six or eight players were the best, but reasonable to say that the overall quality of whichever players are reserves has never been higher. The coaches have plenty of talent to choose from. To quote the great John Wooden, "it's not who starts that counts, it's who finishes."
• One area that I felt needed to improve was service. The players definitely served with greater overall proficiency. 
• Serve-receive is always an important part of defensive development. Lynnfield gave Melrose a good test, and the players performed at a very consistent level early in the preseason. 
• The level of communication between the bench and the defense impressed. The defense read deep balls better with good help from the sideline. 
• There will be a spirited competition at many positions. Many players have a chance to separate themselves from the pack at a variety of positions. Players who can develop as secondary and tertiary attack options will be critical to the overall offense. 

Tomorrow the team travels to Medway for the Medway Play Date. Generally, some top teams like Lincoln-Sudbury, Fairhaven, Chelmsford, Medway, and others compete.

First Steps

Melrose traveled to Newton North to scrimmage the Tigers today. One should not expect mid-season form after less than a week of practice together after tryouts.

Sarah McGowan goes up for a kill.
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Melrose puts some new kids on the double block.

Tomorrow Melrose has scrimmages with Chelmsford and Lexington at the Middle School gym.

Face Time in Boston Globe North

The Boston Globe North section features the Lady Raiders volleyball team in this week's issue. Currently, there is no online link, but you can check it out at your news stand.

Link now up here.

The team travels to Newton for a scrimmage against perennial D1 North power Newton North today.

Photo from Don Norris

I post photographs (and contributions) as I receive them. I screen them to avoid what might be controversial pictures (unless they're really funny!).

Junior Kayla Wyland earned a "field promotion" as a soph last season and contributed to the team's post-season success with a big game against North Reading.

First Look

Don Norris sends over your first look at the 2011 edition of Melrose volleyball. Always click the pics to enlarge them, especially today because the photos are oversized.

Teammates Matter

Usually, I republish an article about a great volleyball teammate of the past. This year, I'll look at a different angle. 

In medicine, we have a saying that “the enemy of good is better.” What that means is that if a person is doing well with a certain program, tweaking it may actually make them worse.  Life may replicate that in many situations.

One area where players and teams can improve is the concept of “the best”.  You see destructive situations where ego prevents players and teams from maximizing their ability.  Some coaches, like Dick Bennett, actively work to teach their players values along with sport. Bennett talks about humility, passion, servanthood, unity, and thankfulness.

•  “It’s hard to be humble when you’re great.” If you are the best at something, the world and your peers will recognize it.
• “E pluribus unum.” One from many, a motto of the United States. A team can be greater than the sum of its component parts. Or one player can destroy it.
• Great students have a passion for learning. Great players have a passion for sport, for improving their weakness and maintaining their strengths. “Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm.”
• As a player or a coach, you SERVE the well-being of the team and your teammates. Teammates matter. No great player can be a bad teammate, as they are mutually  exclusive. The great player makes those around her better. In Charles Barkley’s book, “I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It”, he writes of encountering a homeless man in Houston. He recognized him as a former NBA All-Star who had struggled with the scourge of drugs.  The player’s self-indulgent and wasteful lifestyle had brought him to ruin.
• Thankfulness.  We appreciate our opportunity, and when we grow that into success, be thankful for those who helped us along the way.

Becoming a successful volleyball player and team presents a formidable challenge. But to get there, you have to have a set of core values and philosophies, the foundation upon which you will build your ‘house’. Working hard to be great teammates, whatever your role, can strengthen the team and help you build lifelong friendships. 

Coaching: Cross-Post

The coaching profession has great responsibilities and rewards. Here's a cross-post from the Melrosegirlsbasketball.com blog concerning coaching.

The volleyball team has enjoyed tremendous success with good measure because of outstanding coaching. Enjoy the ride.

Roster Announced Via Maxpreps

Coach Scott Celli has posted the 2011 Girls' Volleyball roster on Maxpreps.com.

Looking at the list, we see it comprised of five seniors, seven juniors, and three sophomores.

New to the varsity roster are Jill MacInnes and Maeve Moriarty. Maeve joins her sister Maggie, a senior on the team.

The team continues its preparation for scrimmages Thursday (@ Newton North), Friday (home versus Chelmsford and Lynnfield), and Saturday (Medway play date), before opening on the road at Bedford on September 7th.

Day 2: Tryout Camp

Sixty-two enthusiastic candidates continued tryouts today for the Melrose volleyball team. Thirty-six upperclassmen and twenty-six freshmen worked out in the sweltering heat of the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School Gymnasium.

The coaches complete Varsity team selection by close of business today and the JV and Frosh team selection by tomorrow.

After tryouts are completed, the players receive handouts with the scrimmage, regular season, and complete practice schedule, and the rules and requirements for participation. Players and families will also receive information on the annual "meet and greet" with the coaches. Coach Scott Celli and his staff have always set out a clear set of policies and expectations for the players and participation implies full compliance.

The coaches review the Melrose High School standards for "chemical health", hazing prohibition, and other important information for players. The coaches have high expectations for this year's teams, and with an experienced and deep squad those expectations set the bar high.

With the large numbers of girls trying out and the quality of the players participating, inevitably some will be disappointed. There is an old saying that applies, "never let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." Melrose High School provides a rich diversity of both athletic and other activities, and students have lots of opportunities to be involved.

The Dance of Form and Function

Melrose has had some big hitters through the years and this year shouldn't be an exception. Sometimes the only differences between excellent and good come in small doses. The ultimate success of the 2011 team will correlate best with their  attack success. Last year Athena Ziavras finished 12th in the state in kills. Melrose has hitters that can challenge that total.



In this video, the tight form promises to deliver better function. We live in a world of process and outcome linkage. If you commit to good process, then outcome takes care of itself, in the classroom, on the court, in your personal life.

Christmas Eve in August?

The Melrose volleyball 2011 version 1.0 opens up tomorrow with tryouts.  For many coaches, a new season presents the excitement and challenge of having new toys.

And for Coach Scott Celli and his staff, we're not talking about a Pet Rock, a Rubik Cube, or even an iPad. The 2011 campaign resembles a shiny new sports car more than consumer electronics or a pony.

The coaches have the enviable job of selecting a roster from among about seventy candidates looking to earn spots on the varsity, JV, and freshman squads.

I won't project a starting lineup from among Melrose's plethora of talented players, but Brooke Bell, who had the fourth highest assist total in Massachusetts as a sophomore is as close to a lock at setter as imaginable. The southpaw setter had a remarkable season serving as well, with only two service errors, and she has worked hard on improving her serve this year.

Competition abounds at every position and competition has promoted excellence in the past.

Scrimmage Update

For fans interested in attending:

Melrose has two scrimmages on Friday, Sept. 2 against very competitive teams:

vs Chelmsford @10:00

vs Lynnfield @ 3:15

Both scrimmages will be held in the Middle School Gym.

Countdown to Tryouts

Melrose volleyball has become one of the most popular sports at the high school and the most successful sport over the recent past.

The coaching staff of Scott Celli (Massachusetts Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame), Steve Wall, and Andrea Basteri have developed teams that have talented players top to bottom each season. Melrose has appeared in eight consecutive Division II North finals, winning five, and goes after its second "three-peat" with teams from 2003-2005 accomplishing the triple.

The graduation of All-State outside hitter Athena Ziavras leaves a hole in the Melrose offense, with plenty of candidates looking to fill the spot. But don't expect Middlesex League opponents to feel any sympathy for the Lady Raiders.

This season introduces the ML Large and Small divisions, and therefore Melrose faces perennial rival Reading early in the season.

Melrose returns a youthful but experienced group of players competing for both roster spots and court time.

Former Captain Athena Ziavras (left) poses with tri-captains Alyssa DiRaffaele, Brooke Bell, and Jill Slabacheski (click photo to enlarge).

Local volleyball fans look forward to another exciting season, with a group of talented, enthusiastic scholar-athletes representing Melrose. In addition to Reading, expect Stoneham to improve, and the team has an attractive nonleague schedule including AC, Central Catholic, Bishop Fenwick, Westborough, and Lincoln-Sudbury.

The Maxpreps.com rankings give us a general idea of how things stood. Obviously, strong teams like Reading and Fairhaven were underrated by their computer analysis. But you can see that Melrose will face particularly strong non-league competition this season.

Debut on LTS

Jill Slabacheski joins Let's Talk Sports as a regular contributor.

Teeing it Up

Melrose volleyball tees up tryouts at the end of the week. Here are some thoughts from a great basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski on leadership and teams.

New Face on Let's Talk Sports

Let's Talk Sports gives the local broadcast on local professional and amateur sports. Tonight MHS senior and volleyballer Jill Slabacheski joined the staff as a contributor on the high school sports side. Jill has interests in sports broadcast journalism.