The Middlesex Varsity Volleyball girls traveled to Thayer on October 28th and came home with a win, taking Thayer 3-1.
Middlesex was first on the board in the first set, as sophomore setter Leyla Hotamisligil's tough float serve proved too much for Thayer to handle. Opposite hitter Natalie Burden '18 blocked Thayer's outside, and then another ace by Leyla put Middlesex on top 3-0. Later, when setter Maile Cowell '17 rotated in to serve, she set up a kill by outside hitter Avery Light '18. Her next serve got overpassed, and Avery and middle blocker Mimi Larrieux '18 were right there to stuff it. Maile's next serve was another ace, bringing the score to 10-4. The Zebras' next point came off of a perfect serve receive by libero Nina Hutteman '18 to Maile for the kill by Mimi. Middlesex maintained and extended their lead for the remainder of the set, which featured more aced serves by Avery, by outside hitter Lily Renneker '17, and by Mimi. The set ended, appropriately enough, with an ace by Avery, bringing the final score for the first set to 25-17, Middlesex.
In a raucous gym, the Zebras struggled to focus when serving in the second set, and paid for it. Despite some great offense, including big kills by middle blocker Lydia Paddock '17 off of Leyla's assist, a great kill by opposite hitter Hadley Jevon '19 assisted by Leyla, and a perfectly placed kill by Natalie from the middle position, Middlesex came up short in the second, losing 26-28 in the final points to unforced errors.
In the third set, Middlesex gradually began to regain the momentum as they cleaned up their play. Nina served up a series of aces to give Middlesex the lead in the early part of the set, then Thayer took the lead back due to another few errors on the Zebra side. Mimi's serve again propelled Middlesex into the lead with a series of three back-to-back aces, putting the Zebras on top 11-10. Defensive specialist Sarah Ong '16 came in to pass in the back row, and dug up a perfect pass to Leyla who set up another kill by Natalie. Lily, too, focused on her serve, and dished up some more aces. One of her serves got overpassed, and Lydia and Natalie were ready to block it right back down. The set ended 25-20, Middlesex, with another aced serve by Maile.
The deciding fourth set began with an immediate side out of Thayer's server, followed by a crushing kill by Lydia assisted by Leyla. Lily then put away a big cross-court shot off of the assist by Leyla from a perfect pass by Nina. Another dig by Nina to Leyla set up a kill by Natalie. Mimi rotated into the front row as Nina came back to serve. Her deceptive jump float got overpassed, and Mimi was right there to stuff it back. Middlesex maintained the lead for the rest of the set: Sarah dug up a tough shot to Maile who set up a kill down the line by Lily. The end of the set featured a series of crushing kills by Avery off of Leyla's assist. The final point of the match was a kill by Mimi set up by Maile, ending the fourth 25-17, Middlesex.
Halloween and Parents' Weekend coincide on Saturday October 31st when Middlesex hosts Milton Academy at 4pm in the Cage. The Zebras looks forward to building upon this result as they continue to make a postseason push.
