7-0 after taking down rival Arlington Catholic
Published September 27, 2019
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High girls’ volleyball team remains unbeaten at 7-0 as they continue with league play this week. Consecutive wins over Watertown, Stoneham and rival Arlington Catholic wrapped up a winning week for Melrose. On Monday, they hosted the Arlington Catholic Cougars and soundly beat them in a 3-0 sweep in sets of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-16.
The occasion also marked a family reunion between Melrose head coach Scott Celli and son Ryan Celli, a first year assistant coach at Arlington Catholic. Certainly, there was some meaning to the match, as the younger Celli is no stranger to his father’s accomplished teams. “Once the match started I forgot he was even there,” said the senior Celli. “There was a lot of build-up to this within the family, of course. At the end of the day, I’m rooting for Melrose.”
ELENA SOUKOS (right) delivers a blow against an Arlington Catholic blocker as freshman Chloe Gentile looks on during Melrose’s 3-0 win on Monday night. (Steve Karampalas photo)
Being unbeaten at 7-0 is just where this Melrose team wants to be. “We always want to win,” notes Celli. “And our hitting just doesn’t stop. They never let up. We put tons of pressure on them tonight and served well. We’re not perfect, we don’t make every play, but we’re relentless.”
That describes the hitting of senior captain Emma Randolph, who spiked 14 kills over the night and was a constant menace for Arlington Catholic. Says Celli, “Emma was phenomenal tonight. When she is in a groove, she is tough to handle.”
Erin Torpey and Emily Hudson both had 8 kills apiece while sophomore Elena Soukous had a statement game with five, hard-hitting kills from opposite. Chloe Gentile rounded out the scoring with three kills, including an overpass spike past the ears of Cougar blockers.
Showing strength in serving was Mary Kate Mahoney and Eva Harlabatos. Server Harlabatos was a workhorse with 27 assists while also showing slick defensive moves. Melrose took a lead of 11-4 and 19-12 in the first set behind hitting from Randolph and Soukos before taking a set win of 25-12. Set two saw some strong front row work by Emily Hudson, Elena Soukos and Chloe Gentile, helping Melrose stay just ahead of them in scores of 10-6 and 15-2. A kill from Gentile and another from Randolph wrapped it up, 25-13.
It was all Melrose in set three and the Lady Raiders ran away with the set with scores of 11-6, 18-13 and a final tally of 25-16. Of highlight were four solid kills recorded by Emily Hudson.
The win comes on the heels of Melrose’s strong thumping of both Stoneham (3-0) and Watertown (3-0) last Wednesday and Friday, respectively. The Watertown game saw solid hitting from Emma Randolph and Sophia Centrella while Claire Albuja, Grace Davis, Grace Sanderson, Chloe Gentile, Elena Soukos, and Leah Heafey added kills for Melrose. Caroline Kiernan had 13 assists.
Coming up, Melrose has a strong test in Burlington, a team who went to the Div. 2 North Finals last year after a Cinderella season. They enter the game with a 6-1 record and are sure to be a tough out. Notes Celli, “They are a good team and we will have our hands full on Friday.”
Action takes place on Friday at Burlington High at 5:15 p.m.
