Middlesex Varsity volleyball opened its regular season on September 16 with a decisive 3-1 road victory over Pingree. The Zebras started strong in the first set, with contributions from the whole squad, including aces by Avery Light ('18), Mimi Larrieux ('18), Lily Renneker ('17), Nina Hutteman ('18), and Leyla Hotamisligil ('18). Middlesex also showed their talent on the attack, with kills by outsides Avery and Lily and opposite Alyssa McNally ('16, Captain) off of Leyla's assists, and kills by Avery and Mimi assisted by setter Maile Cowell ('17). The first set ended 25-10.

In the second set, Middlesex came out strong with a big block by Avery and Lydia Paddock ('17) in the middle followed by two crushing cross-court kills by Avery off Leyla's set with perfect digs by Lily. Another kill by Lydia off of Nina's dig to Leyla put Middlesex on top 6-1. In the middle of the set, Stephanie Li ('17) came in to set, assisting several kills by Mimi and Avery, bringing the score to 17-6. Middlesex then let Pingree get back into the game as the Highlanders gained some momentum after a series of errors by the Zebras. Despite additional quality attacks, including a kill by Natalie Burden ('18) off the assist by Avery and an ace by Lydia, Pingree caught up to tie the score at 23-23 before winning the second set 23-25.

The Zebras responded to this setback with greater focus and motivation to open the third set, and the momentum stayed with the Zebras throughout the third and fourth sets. The third featured aces by Sarah Ong ('16), Nina, and Avery, and kills by every front row hitter, including a great defensive play in the middle of the third by Hadley Jevon ('19) to Leyla who set it right back to Hadley to put away a great angle shot. The third set ended 25-9. The fourth set began with a great run off of Leyla's hard serve to bring the score to 9-0. During that run, libero Nina had a spectacular pancake dig that Mimi put away on an off-speed shot around Pingree's middle blocker. After eventually losing the serve to a corner shot by Pingree's middle, MX got the side out right away away of a kill by Mimi off of Nina's dig to Leyla. The Zebras shared the big plays, with a solid kill by middle hitter Lydia off of Alyssa's set, followed by another kill by Hadley assisted by Lily. Sarah Ong served out the set with a series of aces to bring the score to 23-8, followed by a kill by Avery. The set concluded with an unreturnable attack by Alyssa to bring the final score to 25-8.

Middlesex looks forward to traveling to Concord Academy for our next match at 4:30pm on Thursday September 24.