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Sports

Clock Strikes Midnight On Melrose Girls' Volleyball Team

The Lady Red Raiders fall 3-1 to Marlborough in the Division 2 State Championship game on Saturday.

With all due respect to the country music band Rascal Flatts, what hurts the most for the Melrose girls’ volleyball team was being so close.  

The Red Raiders season came to a heartbreaking conclusion on Saturday afternoon following a 3-1 loss to Marlborough High School in the Division 2 State Finals at Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough.  

After winning the opening set 25-22 Melrose lost three straight sets by scores of 25-23, 25-13 and 25-20. The Panthers, the champs of Central Massachusetts, can now add state champions to their resume.

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“We didn’t lose the match this afternoon; we fought hard right up until the very end. They (Marlborough) earned the championship. We didn’t give it to them,” said Melrose head coach Scott Celli, whose charges finish the season with a 23-2 record and its third straight North sectional title. “They were just a little better than we were today.”  

Despite an all-out effort the Red Raiders fell to a strong Panthers team that Celli said gave his squad fits all afternoon.

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“Marlborough had just too many hitters up front for us to contest but we battled and I’m proud of my girls,” said Celli. “We should walk out of here with our heads held up high because we’ve had an amazing season.”  

The loss is especially tough on this year’s senior class. The Red Raiders will lose five players to graduation, including captains Jill Slabacheski and Alyssa DiRaffaele.

“We worked so hard to get here, we should be proud of our accomplishments,” said an emotional Slabacheski trying to fight back tears after the match. “We’re such a family together and it brought us so far this year. We had a great run.”

The other seniors on this year’s roster include: Maggie Moriarty, Brittany Adelman and Rachel Wolley.

The loss can be crushing to the spirits of the 16 young women on the Melrose roster that gave everything they had to try and reach the ultimate goal of a Massachusetts title. However, they can take solace in knowing that they didn’t go down without a fight and battled right up until the very end.

Players like Slabacheski, Sarah McGowan, Jennifer Cain and Rachel Johnson were terrors up front for the Red Raiders, dominating the net during the first set. A set that Melrose jumped out to a 16-11 lead and never looked back.

The second and third sets were tough to swallow for Red Raider fans. Melrose once again claimed an early lead only to watch the Panthers creep back into it and ultimately sneak away with a 25-23 win.

Brooke Bell contributed in the second set with some key points around the net, including a pair of kills to help the Red Raiders’ cause. Amanda Commito also did her part with some solid serving for the Red Raiders.  

The third set proved to be all Marlborough as the Panthers took a stranglehold on the contest with a 25-13 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

With the loss Melrose found itself in a position similar to the one it was in during the State Semifinals. This time around though, the Red Raiders weren’t going to dig themselves out of a 2-1 hole.

The fourth set proved to be the final one of the season for the Red Raiders. Melrose hung tough, holding a 15-14 lead more than midway through but seven of the next 10 points for the Panthers gave them a 21-18 lead and put them in the driver’s seat for the state title.

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