The Middlesex Varsity Volleyball squad traveled to Dedham, Mass. on Saturday, October 21 to face Noble and Greenough, the team with whom the Zebras shared last year's ISL title, and came away with the win in straight sets.
The first set opened with the two teams trading sideouts as they sized each other up. Middlesex first pulled ahead during a service run by co-captain and libero Nina Huttemann '18, whose jump float kept Nobles out of system. Setter Defne Colak '18 was the first Zebra to score a kill (totalling 7 kills, 3 aces, and 28 assists on the match), followed immediately by a pair of kills by co-captain and outside hitter Avery Light '18 (totalling 7 kills, 6 digs, and 6 aces on the match), who crushed the ball cross court off of Defne's assists. Another service run, this time by middle Natalie Burden '18, extended the Middlesex lead. The second half of the set featured more great offense led by Defne, who assisted kills by co-captain and middle hitter Mimi Larrieux '18 (8 kills, 4 blocks total in the match), outside Hadley Jevon '19 (7 total kills), and opposite Natalie McCall '21 (4 total kills). The set ended on back-to-back kills by Natalie Burden assisted by Defne, 25-16.
The Bulldogs came out determined to clean up their game in the second set, and the scoreline stayed much more even, with the Zebras falling behind by a couple of points through the middle of the set. More strong serving, including aces by Sophia Poplyk '21, Avery, Mimi, and Nina, helped Middlesex level the score and finally gain a small lead, and the set ended during Nina's serve, as she sent a great dig to Defne who set up a kill by Mimi to put the score at set point, and then Nina's challenging serve forced a receiving error, and the set ended 25-21.
The final set again featured the dominant serving of the Zebras, with an incredible 11-point service run by Defne at the start of the set to give Middlesex a lead that they would never relinquish. Defne's run began by forcing three straight overpassed serves, and Mimi was there each time with a stuff block. Toward the end of the set, Middlesex earned an immediate sideout with a great pass by defensive specialist Angela Bi '21 to Defne for a huge kill by Mimi to put the score at 22-14. Nobles kept fighting and earned a couple of kills before a big kill by Mimi, followed by a final kill by Natalie McCall -- both assisted by Defne-- ended the third set 25-18.
This win brings Middlesex's overall record to 10-1 (5-0 ISL). The Zebras look forward to another week of ISL competition this week as they travel to Weston, Mass. to face Rivers on Wednesday, October 25 for a 4:30pm start before hosting Thayer Academy on Saturday, October 28 during their Parents' Weekend festivities for a 4:00pm match.
