The varsity volleyball team traveled to Milton, Mass. on Saturday, September 29 to face off with the Milton Academy Mustangs. Both teams fought hard, and the match featured many long rallies, but the Mustangs eventually carried the day.

In the first set, the scoreline stayed even, with the Zebras actually pulling ahead for much of the middle of the set-- great service runs by setter Sophia Poplyk '21 and outside hitter Mayu Lee '20 kept Middlesex up by a few points for much of the set, but the scoreline evened out toward the final third of the set at 16-16 off of a good service run for Milton. A great receive by libero Sevilla Jin '21 to setter Sofia Dickinson '22 for a kill by captain and outside hitter Hadley Jevon earned the sideout for the Zebras.The next play, Hadley sent a great dig to Poplyk who assisted the kill by middle Natalie McCall '21 and brought the score to 18-16. Unfortunately a series of unforced errors by Middlesex allowed the Mustangs to take the lead, and Milton took the first set 23-25.

Milton had the first serve in the second set, but Middlesex was able to sideout immediately with a great receive by defensive specialist Angela Bi '21 to Hadley, who set up a kill by right side Maggie Chamberlain '19. This set again featured great serving by Middlesex, and again, Middlesex maintained a slight lead for the whole set. This time, the Zebras were able to stay composed and maintain their lead through to the end, when Poplyk finished out the set with a five-point service run to end the set 25-20, Middlesex.

Middlesex again controlled the early part of the set; powerful hits by Hadley and by Mayu put the Zebras on the board early, and a great receive by Angela to Sofia set up a kill by middle Kiley Briand '20 for a big first-serve sideout that put the score at 15-9, Middlesex. Unfortunately, the Zebras weren't able to control the second half of the set, and a few miscommunications led to a series of unforced errors, which, combined with some good, strong attacks by the Milton offense, allowed the Mustangs to come back and win the third set 21-25.

In the fourth set, the Zebras did not give up, despite allowing Milton to take an early lead. A great service run by Mayu allowed Middlesex to tie up the score at 12-12 to keep the Zebras in the game. The second half of the set included some long and intense rallies and close points, but, unfortunately for Middlesex, Milton managed to edge ahead, taking the fourth set 19-25 and winning the match 1-3.

This loss brings Middlesex's overall record to 1-3 and their ISL record to 1-1. Next week, the Zebras look forward to hosting Lawrence Academy on Wednesday, October 3 at 4:15pm and Cushing Academy on Saturday, October 6 at 3:45pm.