League champs finish season at 18-4
THE MELROSE High girls varsity volleyball team fell to Longmeadow 3-1 in Sweet 16 play last weekend on the road. They finish their season 18-4. (photo by Raj Das, edphotos.com)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High girls varsity volleyball team saw their post season end on the road in Longmeadow on Wednesday, Nov. 6 when they fell to host Longmeadow, 3-1, in sets of 25-19, 26-28, 17-25, 25-2 in the Round of 16 play of the Div. 2 playoffs.
The unbeaten No. 7 seed Lancers entered the game 18-0 and were a formidable challenge but Melrose, winners of the Middlesex League 18th straight years, entered with just three losses, two to reigning state champs, making the match up quite even. But it was Longmeadow who came out swinging taking an early lead and victory in set one, which set the tone of the night. While Melrose would take a vital set 3, Longmeadow secured a close but deciding fourth set for the victory.
“Longmeadow was very strong. Dynamic setter, two solid outside hitters, and force in the middle,” said Melrose head coach Scott Celli after the game. “They didn’t let many balls hit the floor.”
In the game, Melrose senior hitter Sofia Papatsoris had a breakthrough performance with 23 career high kills, leading Melrose on offense, with junior Sabine Wenzel having a big game too with 17 kills.
“It was Sofia’s best performance of her career. She was lights out,” said Celli. “We knew that we had a favorable matchup when she was in the front row, and Leah [Fowke] got her the ball as many times as possible.”
In set one, Melrose would narrow the gap a few times but fell 25-19. They took an early lead in set two and swapped points all the way to point 20, with kills and blocks from Papatsoris and Sabine Wenzel who kept things narrow, with Melrose down just a point at 23-22 and 24-23. Some great blocking by Wenzel tied it up at 25, forcing the set to extra innings. A kill by the Lancers and a Melrose error closed the set for a defeat for Melrose, now down 0-2.
“Well, we played extremely well in sets 1 and 2, we just made too many errors,” says Celli. “I told them to continue playing hard, make sure that we served well and passed well. In set 3 and 4, we did just that. We won set 3, and had a lead late in set 4, but Longmeadow made more plays down the stretch.”
They rebounded in a big way in set three. Led by hitting from Wenzel and Papatsoris, solid serving from Gg Albuja and Maggie Turner, Melrose responded back from an early set deficit to take leads of 15-12 and 18-14 to an eventual 25-17 set win and was now down just a set at 2-1. Set four was equally as gripping. Despite tremendous hitting from Papatsoris and great serving from Leah Fowke, Melrose took early leads in the set with additional kills from Fowke and Elise Marchais. The two teams would tie it up at points 12 and 19. Melrose errors flipped the lead to Longmeadow 22-20 and Melrose couldn’t recover from that edge and fell 25-21, giving the Lancers the victory. (At press time Longmeadow fell to Oliver Ames for a chance at state semifinals)
The loss ends an otherwise very strong 18-4 season for Melrose, ranked No. 10 and given just one home game in their playoff run, slightly unusual for the juggernaut program. Nonetheless, that speaks volumes about the strength of Div. 2 this season, when an 18-0 team like Longmeadow only pulled in a No. 7 seed.
“Division 2 is loaded this year,” says coach Celli. “Volleyball in the state is currently at its all-time high in terms of level of play. I like how the power rankings work, so it might be a little odd that we were not higher, but they got it right.”
This year they lose a massive nine seniors with players Leah Fowke, Gg Albuja, Abby Dennison, Caroline Higonenq, Maggie Turner, Milania Noessel, Alex Homan, Sofia Papatsoris and Ava Perrotti departing. That includes All Stars Maggie Turner, Leah Fowke, and Caroline Higonenq. Fowke was recently named to the Div. 2 All State Team.
Says Celli, “Largest senior class ever. There were no jealousies. Each one of them knew her job. Hard workers in practice. I couldn’t be prouder of this group.”
There are some takeaways from this game for the coach, who has a big advantage with leading hitter Sabine Wenzel returning next fall, plus seasoned players Anna Burns and Emme Boyer. They, and the team’s newest players, will come back next fall playoff experienced. Notes Celli, “We played two freshmen and a sophomore in the match. All of them [young players] really ‘grew up’ during the second half of the year.”
There are a lot of spots to fill next season, which means a great opportunity for existing and hopeful players to make their mark. But there’s no reason to expect a drop in their league-winning streak. “We will be younger. I look forward to the development of the younger girls,” says coach Celli. “Our goal always remains the same: to win the last match of the year.”
