The Middlesex Girls' Varsity Volleyball team traveled to Concord, N.H. to play a doubleheader on Saturday, September 24. The team brought home a decisive victory against Lawrence Academy in straight sets, but came up just short against the St. Paul's School with some of the most competitive volleyball played so far this season.
Despite missing some key players to injury and travel, the Zebras came out strong against Lawrence from the beginning, and overwhelmed their opponents with aggressive serving. The first set included aces by libero Nina Huttemann '18, defensive specialist Stephanie Li '17, middle blocker Mimi Larrieux '18, and setter Leyla Hotamisligil '18. When the serve didn't earn the point, the Middlesex offense dominated, set up by excellent passes by Nina, Stephanie, and outside hitter Hadley Jevon '19 for kills by Mimi and outside hitter Avery Light '18 assisted by Leyla and Defne Colak '18. The first set ended 25-7.
The second set again featured strong and consistent serving by Middlesex, highlighted by Avery's aggressive topspin tallying nine aces. Co-captain and middle Lydia Paddock '17 came out strong with several kills set up by Leyla from Nina's dig. Outside hitter Erin Brady '17 stepped in, and put in a quality hit that forced Lawrence out of system leading to a stuff block by Mimi. The second set ended 25-11.
After a short break, Middlesex stepped out against Class A opponent and perennial playoff contender St. Paul's. Despite a couple of big kills by Lydia and Hadley, the Zebras fell behind early 4-10, but a perfect serve receive by Avery to Leyla set up a right side kill by Defne to side out St. Paul's best server. Defne then rotated to the back and closed the gap with a couple of straight aces, and another series of long rallies with quality attacks from the whole squad ended with the score tied at 13-13 with a block by Lydia. A dig by Lydia to Leyla, who set it right back to Lydia put Middlesex on top for the first time, 14-13. The Zebras continued to find gaps in St. Paul's defense to get kills and slowly pull ahead. A great kill down the line by Hadley off of Defne's set from Leyla's dig shifted the momentum firmly in the Zebras' favor, and the first set ended 25-20.
The two teams were neck-and-neck for the entire second set, trading side outs and looking for weaknesses in their opponent's defense. The set featured spectacular plays by Nina, who managed to dig up the majority of the hard-hit balls that got around the big Middlesex front row. Lydia came up strong again on offense, scoring big from the middle, while the setters varied the offense, and a serving error by St. Paul's eventually put Middlesex at match point, 24-22. Unfortunately, a pair of unforced errors by Middlesex allowed St. Paul's to tie it 24-24, and the Pelicans then pulled ahead to eke out the win and take the second set 27-25.
Middlesex was tiring in the third set, and with the momentum now in favor of the home team, the Zebras fell behind early in the first half of the set. St. Paul's offense was firing on all cylinders, while their defense continued to make spectacular plays to counter the Middlesex hitters. Opposite Maggie Chamberlain '19 helped to close the gap with her quick reaction, pushing an off-target dig to the corner for a kill. With St. Paul's at match point 12-24, Defne rotated back to serve, and a series of long rallies allowed Middlesex to earn more points-- a pair of spectacular stuff blocks in the middle by Mimi narrowed the scoreline to 15-24, before the final set ended 15-25.
Despite this heartbreaking loss, the girls can be proud of the high level of competition and quality rallies against last year's ISL champions. This was also the first set won against St. Paul's in program history. The 4-1 (2-0 ISL) Middlesex Varsity Volleyball squad will now regroup as the team prepares for a big week of ISL competition. The Zebras travel to undefeated Nobles on Wednesday, September 28 for a match starting at 4:15PM, and then will host BB&N in the Cage on Saturday, October 1 at 3:30PM.
