Middlesex Varsity Volleyball hosted an ISL quad match on Saturday, October 8, hosting Nobles, Milton, and Thayer. With simultaneous play on both courts and parents and fans from all four schools in the stands, the Cage was rocking. Middlesex was energized by their large home crowd, which included last season's co-captain Alyssa, putting forth an impressive serving display highlighted by 27 total aces on the day. In the Zebras' first match, they earned the win against Milton in straight sets, 25-12 and 25-10. Their second contest started promptly after the first, and they defeated Thayer decisively, 25-4 and 25-9.
The match against Milton opened slowly for the Zebras, as they gave up a couple of points to unforced errors and to some well-placed hits by the Mustangs. An aced topspin serve by outside hitter Avery Light '18 helped to put Middlesex on top, and strong serving by the entire team continued to extend the lead through the middle of the set. A strong run of serves by middle hitter Mimi Larrieux '18 and a big kill by middle hitter and co-captain Lydia Paddock '17 put Middlesex up 12-7. When outside hitter and co-captain Lily Renneker '17 rotated back to serve, the Zebras were ready to execute their plays on every rally. When Milton was able to receive the ball and send it back over, the Middlesex defense was ready: Lydia blocked a few overpasses, and libero Nina Huttemann '18 was ready to pass whatever was sent over to setter Defne Colak '18, who varied the offense and set up quality hits by the whole squad. The set ended 25-12 with an aced serve by opposite hitter Hadley Jevon '19.
Filled with confidence, the Zebras came out swinging in the second set, siding out Milton's first server with a kill down the line by Lily. Middlesex continued to vary the offense throughout the set, mixing up the hits across the front row and with some strong attacks from the back row, as well. The defense was also strong, as defensive specialist Stephanie Li '17 came up with a great dig to Defne to set up a shot down the line by Lily. Nina's tough jump float was the highlight of the second set, as she earned a run of eight consecutive points in the middle of the set. The second set ended 25-10 on a big hit by Avery assisted by Defne.
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With the Zebras' arms now warm, the second match against Thayer featured consistent and aggressive serves from the very beginning. Hadley Jevon '19 had a great run of serves toward the end of the set, earning six consecutive points for Middlesex. An offensive highlight was a slide by Mimi set up by Defne for the cross-court kill. The set ended with another kill by Mimi, 25-4.
The Middlesex squad was energized in the second set, and came out strong right away, earning an incredible 16 consecutive points from Defne's serve. When Thayer returned her serve, the squad was waiting: with a nearly perfect pass rating for the match, libero Nina Huttemann was ready and able to receive whatever the opponents sent over to set up plays to Defne. Opposite hitter Maggie Chamberlain '19 had the first kill of the set, which she followed up with a series of quality attacks that helped to put the Tigers out of system. The set eventually ended with a passing error by Thayer following Lily's strong topspin serve, 25-9.
With these wins Middlesex's season record is now 9-1 overall (7-0 ISL). Middlesex will hit the road next week first traveling to Wellesley, Mass. to take on undefeated Dana Hall on Tuesday, October 11 at 2:30PM, before heading to Weston, Mass. on Friday, October 14 for a 3:45PM contest against Rivers.
