5 straight wins has Melrose (14-1) eyeing playoffs
Updates post publication:
Melrose defeats Watertown 3-0 on Senior Night (Oct. 12)
Melrose defeats Wakefield 3-2 (Oct. 17)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—It’s been one of those seasons for the always-talented Melrose High girls’ volleyball team, who have clinched a playoff bid following three straight victories last week over opponents Lexington, Arlington and Central Catholic to improve to a near flawless 12-1.
Winners of ten straight, Melrose currently is power ranked #6 in the Div. 2 State brackets and are expected to rise higher. Thus, they are positioned in a great place as they head into the tail end of their regular season with playoffs in mind.
Stiff competition awaits—their toughest this season. Melrose will travel to state champion Westboro and Div. 1 power Newton North (11-1) on the next two Friday evenings, where they will get a taste of the toughest playoff opponents out there. Matches like this are purposely planned to increase competitive play at the right time. They will certainly make for good viewing.
Last week, Melrose officially punched their ticket to a post season with a 3-1 victory over Lexington at home on Friday, Oct. 6 in sets of 25-15, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-22, which gave them their 10th win of the season. They followed that up with a home match on Monday against Central Catholic, a 3-0 sweep, and a road 3-0 win over Arlington on Tuesday.
It was a fairly gripping game against a talented (and tall) Lexington Minutemen squad who traveled to Melrose on Friday evening and kept things close over the four sets. Senior captain Sadie Jaggers had 16 kills and Sofia Papatsoris (12 kills) also led offensively. Senior captain libero Grace Gentile had 16 digs and 25 serve receipts while junior captain setter Leah Fowke had 28 assists.
Melrose powered to an early lead of 6-2 in the first behind serving from Fowke who broke open a 14-14 tie on a service run aided from the hitting from Sadie Jaggers, Sabine Wentzel and Sofia Papatsoris, who had the set winning point to close it up 25-15. In set two Melrose would enjoy spread out hitting from Sabine Wentzel and Abby Dennison. Lexington would fight to tying points of 10 and 18 behind their own quality serving, but it wouldn’t outdo the hitting of Jaggers, who had three late-set kills. Quality serving from Fowke and Jaggers helped Melrose stay locked in ties of 20-20 and a kill from Manon Marchais and Sabine Wentzel lifted Melrose 23-20. One highlight was the appearance of frosh Anna Burns at the line, who tallied a service point for Melrose to take a key 21-20 lead. Junior Gigi Albuja came in at game point and delivered an ace to give Melrose the decisive second set win, 25-23. Lexington would take a set win in the third, thanks to work from their hitters, but Melrose took set 4 after recapturing a lead at point 10 behind kills and net work from Sofia Papatsoris, Abby Dennison and back row digs from Grace Gentile. Sabine Wentzel and Manon Marchais would close it out for a 25-22 win.
Melrose hosted Central Catholic on Monday and swept in a fairly easy 3-0 match highlighted by the hitting of Jaggers and Papatsoris who had 14 and 12 kills respectively. Jaggers was flawless at the serving line and setter Leah Fowke had 26 assists.
And Melrose made it a three-peat with a 3-0 road win over Arlington on Tuesday in sets of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-23. Melrose’s Sofia Papatsoris led in hitting with 13 kills, Leah Fowke had 26 assists and libero Grace Gentile had 15 digs.
The team’s three captains, Sadie Jaggers, Grace Gentile and Leah Fowke remain among the top in the league and division in kills, assists and digs, and the rising play of Sabine Wentzel and Sofia Papatsoris in the middle hitting spots have given Melrose an edge as they officially hit the gas pedal towards post season.
They will need all the fuel possible when they continue their second-round bouts against league rivals Burlington and Wakefield who they play next week. Wakefield in particular, a Tuesday road match at 6:30 p.m., will be considered must win as the Warriors are in a position of potentially grabbing a share of a ML Freedom title. Melrose fans know they can’t let that happen.
And on Friday, Melrose travels to Westborough to take on the familiar state champion Rangers, who denied them an appearance at D2 state finals in 2021. It will be sure to be a must see event. Stay tuned.