Updates post publication:
Melrose defeats Burlington 3-0 (Oct. 19)
Improves to 15-2, earns Middlesex League Championship
Melrose defeats Wilmington 3-0 (Oct. 23)
Melrose defeats Stoneham 3-0 (Oct. 25)
Improves to 17-2 (15-1 league)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
WAKEFIELD—It had the makings of classic local rivalry when the Wakefield Warrior girls’ volleyball team (9-5) hosted Melrose in a season rematch on Oct. 17 at the Charbonneau Wakefield High gym.
After taking a set against Melrose (14-1) in round one on Sept. 22 in a 3-1 game, Wakefield could have possibly put a stake in the ML League if they beat Melrose and when they reached a 2-0 lead an hour into the game, Melrose fans were thinking the worst.
But a fantastic three set sweep to finish the job gave Melrose a 3-1 win that had fans and players celebrating the remarkable comeback. The win comes on the heels of Melrose’s Senior Night celebration last Thursday which honored seniors Grace Gentile, Sadie Jaggers and Manon Marchais prior to Melrose’s 3-0 Watertown win.
These victories have improved Melrose to 14-1 on the season and (knock on wood) they have not lost a game since Sept. 11 when they fell to Belmont in the first week of play. Winners of 12 straight, Melrose is acutely aware that can change with stiff competition on the horizon, including State Champ Westborough whom Melrose travels to this Friday evening for a 6:30 p.m. game.
In terms of Power Rankings, Melrose remains 6th in Div. 2 and may travel up with tough competition on the horizon including a season finale against Newton North. Statistically, Melrose captains Leah Fowke, Grace Gentile and Sadie Jaggers are all within the top 5 of the division in their stats (assists, digs, kills) after dynamic play all season.
The Warriors would prove to be stiff competition. After falling in sets of 25-18 and 25-20, Melrose was on the ropes and didn’t want to stomach losing to Wakefield in the first time in program history. Fueled by 26 massive kills by Sadie Jaggers (career high) a big 17 kills from Sabine Wentzel, Melrose clawed their way back in and took three sets in a row by scores of 25-22, 25-17, 15-13 to finish. Setter Leah Fowke had a whopping 45 assists and libero Grace Gentile tallied 20 digs and 26 serve receipts over the night.
After the game, Melrose coach Scott Celli credited his hard working squad. “I think we played classic Melrose volleyball the last 3 sets, especially 4 and 5. The perseverance showed that we can be down players, down injuries, shakeup the lineup and still win against a very good team,” said the coach.
He also noted the exceptional performance of Wakefield, headed by former protégé Kayla Wayland, a member of the 2012 MHS state champion volleyball team. “This is the best Wakefield program we’ve competed against, hands down. They threw everything at us,” he said.
Melrose had gone into the game down a starter, (breakout middle hitter Sofia Papatsoris) and experienced growing pains, making some uncharacteristic errors in serving, receipt and communication. But by set three, the tide turned.
In that set, Melrose enjoyed seven kills from Sadie Jaggers which kept Melrose ahead, and in set four Sabine Wentzel had 5 kills while aided by great serving from Alex Homan and Maggie Turner. Grace Gentile offered up pancakes and a behind-the-back kill to get the crowd cheering, Ava Perrotti added a kill and two Manon Marchais hammers finished the job, 25-17. By set five, the momentum was clearly on Melrose’s side but Wakefield came out tough, taking early leads of 5-4 and 9-6, which had Wakefield fans on their feet. But Sabine Wentzel turned the tide with three straight kills and Sadie Jaggers tied it up 11-11. From there, the next four points were critical and Gentile had another kill after saving a ball out of bounds while Wentzel gave Melrose the 14-13 edge. Only needing one point to win, Melrose would see setter Leah Fowke offer the perfect set to Jaggers, who hammered home the final point (her 26th kill) to ruin the night for Wakefield.
After the game Celli pointed out the critical work of players who stepped up with the team shorthand. “We had some key plays, Gigi [Albuja] planted a ball in the perfect spot on a save in the last set, and Manon [Marchais] stepped in for middle spot and did a great job. I think the perseverance we showed in this game has prepared us for the tougher upcoming games. I also think it let other teams know even if we are out a positional player, we can still fight and win.”
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