The Varsity Volleyball team hosted ISL competitors Thayer Academy to conclude their busy Parents' Weekend Festivities on Saturday, October 26, and won in straight sets, with contributions from the whole team, in front of a home crowd full of friends and family, many of whom had traveled far to attend. Fittingly, on their last Middlesex Parents' Weekend, it was the two senior co-captains who led the Zebras on the day; middle hitter Kiley Briand '20 tallied three aces, seven kills, and two blocks, while also serving a perfect one hundred percent from the line, and outside hitter Mayu Lee '20 notched three aces, a team-high ten kills, and five digs.

In the first set, the Tigers got on the board first, as the Zebras' excitement translated into a couple of unforced errors to open the set. But then a well-placed block of the Tigers' outside hitter, set by opposite Natalie McCall '21 and assisted by middle Morgan Clapp '22, earned the Zebras the sideout and put them on the board. Outside hitter Katy Qin '21 then had the serve, and her eight-point run, which included four aces and two kills by Natalie, assisted by setter Sophia Poplyk '21, gave Middlesex a lead which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set. The next Zebra server was libero Sevilla Jin '21, who extended the Middlesex lead with her tricky float serve which the Tigers had a hard time converting into a successful attack. During her serve, Kiley was there, assisted by Natalie, for another stuff block, and forced the Tigers to rethink their offensive approach. Two plays later, at serve receive, defensive specialist Emily Pyne '21 had a perfect pass that allowed Poplyk to set up a kill by Mayu for the immediate sideout. Later, during Mayu's serve, the Zebras pulled into a 10-point lead-- Mayu aced her first serve, and on the second, Kiley was there to pick up an overpassed serve receive which Poplyk then put away as a kill. Mayu's serve was difficult for the Tigers to convert into hard attacks, and so the Middlesex defense, always alert, found it easy to convert the freeballs into kills: Kiley notched three kills, Katy one, and defensive specialist Sofia Dickinson '22 another during Mayu's service run. With the score at 22-11, the Tigers finally earned the sideout on a Middlesex hitting error, but Kiley was right there on the next play to kill an overpass to sideout the Tigers. Kiley then aced her first serve to put the score at set point, but the set was ultimately decided on serve receive, and ended 25-14, Middlesex.

The second set opened with a perfect serve receive by Mayu that allowed Poplyk to set up a kill by outside hitter Sydney Feeney '22 for the immediate sideout. Poplyk then served up an ace, and, a few plays later, a great dig by Sevilla allowed Poplyk to set up another kill by Natalie. Sydney was the next Zebra to serve, and her consistent serve, which included two aces, forced the Tigers to take a timeout to regroup.  Later, a critical sideout was earned on a great dig by defensive specialist Angela Bi '21 that allowed Poplyk to set up another kill by Mayu. Sofia likewise showed off her consistent, tough serve (three aces on the day). The set ended during Kiley's service run: she served up consecutive aces to put the score at 23-15, and then the set closed off of back-to-back kills by middle hitter Parker Boyden '23 to end it 25-15, Middlesex.

The third and final set featured more strong play by the entire squad: right side hitter Claire Ngugi '21 showed her skill at the net early in the set, as her tough angle shot proved too much for the Tigers to handle-- they returned it as an overpass, which Morgan was there to kill. The Zebras pulled away at the end of the set-- first, during Katy's service run, which included another ace, Sevilla's dig to Poplyk set up another kill by Claire. The next server was Morgan, who showed calm consistency at the serve and also showed off her back row defense, sending a solid pass to Poplyk, who assisted a kill by Kiley to put the score at 20-15. The final Middlesex server was defensive specialist Antonia Baylor '22, who, in her Middlesex Varsity debut, served out the final set: her first serve was returned as an overpass, which Kiley was there to kill; she aced her next two serves; and her final, tough serve was mishandled by the Tigers to end the third set 25-17, Middlesex.

This win puts the Zebras' record at 10-2 overall and 7-2 in the ISL. Middlesex now looks ahead enjoying a long weekend of rest and recovery before returning to a tough week of non-league competition against two fellow NEPSAC Class B playoff contenders, as they will host cross-town rivals Concord Academy on Thursday, 10/31 for a 4:00pm match, and then travel to Worcester Academy the next day for a 5pm match on Friday, 11/1.

Highlights video link: http://www.hudl.com/v/2CD4sY