The Middlesex Varsity Volleyball squad hosted Tabor Academy for their first ISL contest of the season, and notched another win, bringing their overall record to 5-0 (1-0 ISL).
After cheering the JV squad to victory on the second court, the varsity team came out swinging, with middle Natalie Burden '18 leading the offense with the first kill of the game, assisted by setter Defne Colak '18. The set continued with quality service runs by Defne and by senior co-captain Mimi Larrieux '18, who totaled five aces in the set. Toward the end of the set, as Natalie Burden rotated back to serve, the Tabor passers returned her tough float as a freeball, and libero and co-captain Nina Huttemann was right there to send a perfect pass to Defne, who set up a kill by opposite hitter Natalie McCall '21. The set ended on Natalie Burden's service run with a passing error by Tabor, 25-13.
The second set opened with an immediate sideout of Tabor's first server, followed by a great dig by Mimi to Defne, who set up a kill by outside hitter Hadley Jevon '19. The second set continued to feature great work at the net, with a couple of crushing kills by Mimi and a stuff block by Natalie Burden to end the second set 25-17.
The third and final set began like the first, with a great kill in the middle by Natalie Burden during a quality service run by Defne. Natalie led the team with 10 kills for the day. More excellent serving by the whole team, including aces by Sophia Poplyk '21 and outside hitter Mayu Lee '20, helped to extend the lead. Middle hitter Kiley Briand '20 also notched a few kills, as Defne mixed up the offense, taking advantage of her team's versatility. Toward the end of the set, an intimidating double block by Natalie Burden assisted by opposite Maggie Chamberlain '19 allowed the Zebras to pull still further ahead, and the final set ended 25-11, Middlesex.
Middlesex, hoping to build on the momentum from Wednesday's match, now looks forward to hosting Milton Academy on Friday, September 29 at 3:00PMÂ in their second ISL match of the season.
