The Zebras traveled to Groton, Mass. on Wednesday, taking on Lawrence Academy in their second meeting of the season, winning again in a decisive four set match thanks to consistently strong serves in the final three sets.
 
In the first set, which Middlesex lost 23-25, the girls' serves were off, and in general they lost points to small errors. In the second set, the girls pulled themselves together, coming out with a few strong kills early in the set—first, from setter Leyla Hotamisligil '18 to middle hitter Lydia Paddock '17, then from Leyla to opposite Ariana Odom '17. The Zebras fells behind in the middle of the set due to some poor communication, but then regained their momentum with a kill from setter Maile Cowell '17 to outside hitter Avery Light '18 and then a big block on Lawrence's outside hitter by Ari. Another big block by Lily Renneker '17 tied up the set at 19-19. Sarah Ong '16 stepped in to serve a series of aces that put Middlesex in the lead. The final points of the game were scored by a dump shot by Lily to the corner, followed immediately by an aced serve by Leyla to finish the second set 25-21.
 
The third set started slowly again, as Middlesex lost a series of points to passing errors, but they pulled themselves back into the game starting with a big cross-court kill by Lily with the assist by setter Abby Meyers '16. A few kills by Avery, a huge double block by Lydia and Avery, an aced serve by Abby, and a kill by team captain Rose-Marie Fuchs '15 with Abby's assist put the Zebras in a decisive lead early on. A particularly dramatic rally was ended by a big dig by libero Nina Huttemann '18 to Abby for the kill by Lily. Once again, Sarah came in to serve and dished up an impressive series of aces to end the set 25-15.
 
The fourth and final set put the Zebras on the board with a big double block by Ariana and Lydia. Another run of aces and unreturnable serves by Sarah put Middlesex in front, followed by a block by Lily, more aced serves by Leyla and Lily, and kills by Lydia and Ari. The final point of the match was scored with a kill by Avery off of Maile's assist, which ended the fourth set 25-14.
 
Middlesex plays on the road again this Friday 10/3 against Winchendon at 3:00 PM.