Melrose hosts Wilmington tonight and travels to Newton North Friday. North is in their first season without Richard Barton since forever.
Home fields have earned nicknames for themselves in the past. Duke has the Cameron Crazies, Cleveland had the Dog Pound, Yankee Stadium was the Bronx Zoo, and San Diego had the Slim Gym (Jenny Craig Pavilion).
Why not Melrose (Badlands) ?
Melrose in the top third of the Boston Globe All-sports winning percentages in Dalton Division 3. The latests contests are not included (soccer yesterday)
As a physician with forty years experience, I share that everyone in my immediate family is fully vaccinated and that my wife and I have had the booster (Pfizer, third shot) six months or more after our initial immunization.
3) COVID-19 vaccines have reduced cases, hospitalizations, critical illness, and death throughout the world with over 6 BILLION doses administered.
4) They have not had an adverse effect on either fertility or pregnancy.
5) Of the last 9,000 deaths in Texas, only 43 occurred in fully vaccinated patients.
6) The risk of hospitalization for breakthrough cases (vaccinated) is about 3% and the risk for requiring mechanically ventilation (life support) is 0.2% (1 in 500).
Another coach referred to Melrose as a legacy program. What key elements build execution?
Personnel
Strategy
Operations
Personnel
Coaching - "the only shortcut to excellence is mentoring"
Players - "you can't coach size and it's hard to create athletic explosion"
"Every day is player development day." Build skill.
Strategy
"Be good at what you do a lot."
"Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." (Edit!)
Emphasize clarity and mature simplicity
Operations
Top teams play better schedules. Beating weak teams is fool's gold.
Off-season development is critical to foster competitive players. Unrequired work separates the best
Constantly focus on adding value and promoting competition
Dartmouth (southeastern Massachusetts) is one of the Maxpreps.com MIAA 2 top 5 ranked teams. Their Maxpreps page shows highlights. They don't have elite size but have excellent team coordination.
Melrose notes: Melrose hosts Wilmington tomorrow (Wednesday). Wilmington took a set from Woburn recently.
Melrose traveled to Burlington and rode an early outburst to a 25-9, 25-20, 25-19 straight set win. The win gives Melrose (7-0) a two-game edge over second place Burlington (6-2 overall).
Melrose held 11-0 and 16-1 leads in the first set before Burlington regrouped to narrow the gap.
Burlington held edges (11,7 9-7) in the second and third sets before Melrose struck back to win.
Elena Soukos led the Melrose attack with 14 kills.
Lagniappe. Don't sleep on Woburn as the Tanners swept Winchester 3-0 to remain undefeated in the Liberty Division. The Woburn maxpreps.com site provides Woburn highlights against numerous opponents.
Melrose faces its biggest challenge of the young season Monday, traveling to Burlington High School for a 5:30 P.M. match.
Standings from The Boston Globe.
Never underestimate the importance of blocking as part of defensive coordination. It takes timing, collaboration, and technique with the outside blocker's hand slightly angled to deflect the ball inward.
Here sophomore Sadie Jaggers and junior Gia Vlajkovic combine for a solid double block against Wakefield.
Melrose has players among the State leaders in kills/set and assists/set.
Elena Soukos checks in with just under 4 kills/set.
Emma Desmond similarly is sixth in assists/set.
Diversified hitting is a key for Melrose. Chloe Gentile and Gia Vlajkovic both add more than two kills/set. Abby Hudson's had rationed appearances with illness and Sadie Jaggers, Ava Burns, and Anna Shoemaker all add at least one kill/set.
Why it matters. Competitive teams give away fewer points and generate scoring chances at higher rates. Winners win points with kills and aggression.
The Boston Globe profiles Melrose and Elena Soukos. If Kevin Youkilis was Billy Beane's "Greek god of hitting," then...you get the point.
Seriously, from an All-around top player in program history (attacking, defense, serving), Elena's in the conversation with Hannah Brickley and only a few others.
The official MIAA/Maxpreps.com Division 2 rankings determine playoff seeding. Strength of schedule is critical. Melrose gets a chance to climb playing Burlington (#14) Monday.
Melrose (5-0) hosted Middlesex League Freedom Division rival Wakefield (4-2) at the MVMMS gym looking to stay undefeated. A straight set 25-11, 25-10, 25-22 win kept them undefeated with six consecutive wins.
Melrose went full "Beast Mode" in set one with a juggernaut of hitting efficiency combined with strong net defense leading to a commanding 25-11 win. Offense came from all angles led by Elena Soukos with at least a half dozen kills, ably balanced by kills from Chloe Gentile and Sadie Jaggers in the middle and Abby Hudson and Gia Vlajkovic outside.
Superior coordination of play and passing led to a relentless attack.
Set two brought more of the same with aggressive playing forcing Wakefield errors. Melrose had a long run of points from 15-8 to 23-8 to put the set away. Wakefield struggled to handle the crafty serving of Autumn Whelan and Chloe Gentile and Ava Burns contributed solid net play and southpaw service. Melrose finished off the visitors 25-10.
The third set saw improved defense from Wakefield and early inconsistency from Melrose as the visitors streaked to a 7-2 edge. After an early timeout from Coach Celli, Melrose rallied to a 13-11 advantage. Wakefield didn't fold as the score was tied late in the set before Melrose leaned on Elena Soukos for late offense to lead 24-20. Wakefield didn't go quietly but Melrose restored order to win 25-22.
Melrose Notes: Melrose should feel good about playing two sets of dominant volleyball and Wakefield can take solace in third set resilience. Chloe Gentile had a strong game in the middle as a key facilitator of victory along with Elena Soukos who attacked from everywhere.
Melrose needs to up its game Monday against ML perennial challenger Burlington.
Melrose hosts Wakefield Thursday at 530 at the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.
Little girls have long attended Melrose volleyball games with dreams to be part of something special someday.
Long time fans recognize Liz Sheerin and the two little girls, Stephanie and Victoria Crovo who had successful volleyball careers at Melrose. Victoria is a first year veterinary medicine student.
Focus on facts. In Stoicism, ask how the "indifferent spectator" would judge our actions.
How can we be more objective?
Use the stats. "If he's such a good hitter, why doesn't he hit better?" - Billy Beane in Moneyball. "Winners are trackers." - Darren Hardy
Measure. In The Politics of Coaching, Carl Pierson measured speed, strength, and jumping ability. If a parent asked why their child didn't make the team, he could say, she was in the bottom ten percent of all athletes tested.
Use the Stoic principle of the "Indifferent spectator." What would she say?
Watch the film...the Truth Machine.
"Invert." What if we did the opposite?
Verify the facts. "I heard" is not "I did the research." One study of patients in alcohol rehab showed that when staff was 100% confident patients were not using, half tested positive.
Get more eyes. Trusted observers help.
Consider a range of possibilities, probability and consequences. Think in bets.
Choose the red pill (reality).
How good is she?
Does she make teammates better?
Is she enjoyable to coach?
Relative to past 'stars' how is her attack, serve, set, serve receive, dig, block?
Melrose notes. Melrose travels to Watertown for a Freedom Division match today at 530. Today's games from Maxpreps.com
Stories Illuminate the Value of Being a Team Player
Not everyone can become a great player; everyone can become a great teammate.
Long ago our middle school girls lost a game against a team from Tewksbury. One girl stepped forward saying, "We lost because I played terrible." But her teammate Bella went to her and gave her a hug, saying, "we win together and we lose together." Great teammates support each other.
Teammates bail each other out on the court, too. Bill Russell said that John Havlicek bailed him out on April 15, 1965.
Great teammates have high character. Pumpsie Green broke the color barrier for the Boston Red Sox in 1959. That didn't mean that he was accepted. Many institutions were segregated. Green often couldn't eat in a restaurant with teammates, eating on the bus instead. But a young man himself, Bill Monbouquette, often grabbed a tray and ate with Green, because it was the right thing to do. My wife got that story from Monbo in a beauty salon where he accompanied his wife.
In Teammates Matter, Alan Williams discusses his walk-on experience at Wake Forest. He makes the team but doesn't get a black-and-gold Wake 'numbered' team bag that all players get. The equipment guy excludes him. But later he finds one in his locker, with the star player's number on it. And when he has to try out for the team again as a junior after a coaching change, his teammates come to support him.
Great teammates put the team first. Geno Auriemma shares a story about a player who came to UCONN with one thought, scoring. If she didn't have the ball, she wasn't engaged. So game time arrives and he sits her for the first half. At halftime he asks her, how many rebounds did you have? How many assists? How many steals? "Zero, same as you had yesterday at practice." In the second half, she comes out and gets a triple double. She becomes a Final Four MVP.
Excellent teams share vision, share purpose, and share sacrifice. They attend to details that make each other better. They look out for each other. Remember the African proverb, "I can go faster alone, but we can go farther together." Find joy in being the best teammate possible.
Lagniappe (something extra). What is our commitment to greatness? "Leave the jersey in a better place" is a central theme for the All-Blacks.
Lagniappe 2. "Kids inherently want to be good teammates."
Junior Chloe Gentile was dominant in the middle with six hitters racking up kills.
In addition to steady play from Emma Desmond at setter, Ruth Breen got valuable experience at setter with eight assists.
I haven't seen all the games Sadie Jaggers has played in the middle, but this was the most complete game I've seen her play.
Autumn Whelan was her usual formidable self at libero.
Chloe moves into second in team kills behind Elena and you'd consider Gia Vlajkovic on your "volleyball fantasy team" as she picks up points as an outside hitter and an opposite this season.
The hitting depth allows seamless substitution when players are out with injury or illness.
Melrose played its first Freedom Division game and emerged a straight sets winner - 25-8, 25-11, 25-7. The victory puts Melrose at 4-0 early in the season.
We hold these truths to be self-evident... talent matters.
A coach told UCONN's Geno Auriemma, winner of eleven National Championships, "you've never won a National Championship without great players." Auriemma answered, "Tell me the coaches' names who won Championships with bad players."
Senior Abby Hudson sat with a lower body injury, but Melrose is blessed with a stable of accomplished hitters, Elena Soukos, Gia Vlajkovic, and Ava Burns outside and Chloe Gentile and Sadie Jaggers in the middle. And junior Anna Shoemaker shows another attacker with potential. They attack relentlessly.
Here's a highlight with a signature smash by Elena from the outside.
The Maxpreps.com rankings rely on record, strength of schedule, and margin of victory (winning sets).
They don't rely on reputation or polls. Here are the latest Maxpreps.com rankings that also determine MIAA playoff seeding. It's early and the sample size is small.
"Comparison is the thief of joy." - Teddy Roosevelt
The Dartmouth women's volleyball captain had a younger sister unable to make her California high school team. She earned a scholarship to a Division I east coast volleyball program based on her club team performance. All volleyball is not created equal.
When we talk about comparison, ask "compared to what?" And be aware of our cognitive biases (e.g. anchoring, confirmation bias, sample size, recency bias, commitment and consistency, self-serving, endowment).
Excellent teams earn signature wins, defeating excellent teams and often defining their identity. Last spring's truncated season didn't foster those moments, as most games occurred in the pandemic-shortened Freedom Division schedule.
We have high hopes for the 2021 Melrose volleyball club and it's premature to compare them to anyone. Their goal has to be day-to-day improvement, controlling what they can control, and working to become 'the best version of themselves."
Your time will come if you "do more to become more and become more to do more." Key elements to varsity contribution are size, athleticism, skill, and coachability.
When coaches recognize talented underclassmen, players are usually not ready for "prime time" until they learn the system.
"High impact" freshmen are rare. Most notable was Hannah Brickley, three time All-State player and All-Scholastic in two sports (volleyball and basketball). And Victoria Crovo was the best player on the court in the postseason during her freshman season.
With that introduction, here are the subvarsity rosters for 2021 (from the program):
JV A
Alexandria Homan
Sophia Hitchman
Lucy Clark
Taylor Smith
Maggie Turner
Leah Fowke
Alison Doherty
Abigail Dennison
Manon Marchais
Genevieve Albuja
Ava Perrotti
Brooke Beauchesne
JVB
Skylar Blanch
Ella Motroni
Milana Noessel
Sara Ortiz
Riley Jones
Anaca Hodges
Grace Durant
Diana Mena
Kaylee Sanford
Emma Koen
Taylor MacDonald
Kimberly Bidgood
Katherine Urchuk
Dezorae Mendez
Remember that on the State Championship team, Melrose had a key contributor (Kayla Wyland) who played her first year on the JVB team! Kayla played in college and is the Wakefield head volleyball coach.
Notes: Melrose travels to (2-0) Belmont (Wednesday, September 15th) facing the Marauders.
