No. 1 seed Westborough advances to State Finals
By JENNIFER GENTILE
WATERTOWN—What a run. The Cinderella season of the Melrose High volleyball team came to an end on Nov. 16 in the State Semifinals against undefeated No. 1 seed Westborough, 3-0, at Watertown High. The unbeaten Rangers (21-0) came as advertised and will advance to this weekend’s Div. 2 State Finals after taking the game over Melrose in sets of 25-19, 25-14, 28-26. Melrose ends their season as Final 4 trophy holders and Middlesex League champions with a final record of 21-3.
It was certainly a season to remember for Melrose, who was the last team standing in playoffs at both MHS and within all Middlesex League volleyball teams. Melrose generated a massive amount of fan support, and sure enough the Red Raider faithful packed the house at Watertown High on Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Rangers at bay. Melrose threatened to take set 3 and was on the cusp of it with a 24-20 lead but saw Westborough snag it away 28-26 for the final blow.
Westborough and Melrose last played each other in 2017 in the State Finals (Rangers won, 3-2). Thus, this is a solid and familiar rivalry. The Rangers are a fairly young team, led by sophomore Quinn Anderson with 15 kills, and they show no signs of weakening in the coming years.
Melrose coach Scott Celli credited Westborough for a hard fight. “They were a good team, a little too much for us today, particularly their offensive firepower. We missed a bunch of serves at key times. The momentum was never really on our side. I give Westborough credit. They came back down three points in the last set to beat us. They played better than we did and earned it.”
Coach Roger Anderson of Westborough spoke of the two teams’ long, friendly rivalry. “I have tremendous respect for the Melrose program. We didn’t get to play them in regular season but what a great team and strong tradition we have. We love playing against this team.”
ELENA SOUKOS wraps up her high school career with 480 career kills, 334 of them this season. The league MVP and All State player was a key part of Melrose’s success the last three years. (Raj Das www.edphotos.com)
Overall, Melrose suffered from missed opportunities, unable to take advantage of an early leads of 6-3 and 13-9 in set one and a 24-20 lead in the third. Overall, the Red Raiders were shaky in serve receipt and at the service line, thus not getting the ball to their notable hitters (Elena Soukos had 11 kills and Chloe Gentile had 8.) Melrose blockers, however, limited Anderson to just 14 kills when the young titan might otherwise have notched 25. It was likely Melrose’s best singular effort in the night. Said Celli, “I thought we did a great job blocking at the net and Chloe [Gentile] had a monster game up front for us. It was one of our better blocking matches of the year.”
But none of that was enough to stop the powerful offense of the Rangers, who also dominated on the service line, making it hard for Melrose to set up their hitters. Says coach Anderson, “Our serving has been a weapon all season and it prevented them from doing what they wanted to do. Their middle attack is fast and up high and we tried to minimize that.”
Notes Celli, “I have nothing but good things to say about my team. We fought to the end.”
Westborough advances to face Hopkinton this weekend in the State Final. Melrose, meanwhile, says goodbye to four senior starters who will leave big shoes to fill: league MVP Elena Soukos, All Star libero Autumn Whelan and powerful hitters Abby Hudson and Ava Burns. In the last three seasons these seniors have helped Melrose compile a stunning win/loss record of 52-8.
“We’re going to miss their leadership, energy and the personalities they bring,” says Celli. “It’s going to be hard to replace that.”
