The day after a heartbreaking five-set loss to Concord Academy, the Middlesex Varsity Volleyball squad traveled to Worcester Academy for a late start, and fell just short in four close sets, losing 1-3.
Middlesex fell behind early in the first set to Worcester's tough serve, struggling to convert their serve receive into effective offense. Still, the scoreline remained close throughout the set-- highlights included a great pass by defensive specialist Angela Bi '21 to setter Sophia Poplyk '21 to set up a kill by captain and outside Mayu Lee '20 for a first-ball sideout. Mayu was the next to the line, and she immediate served up an ace. On the next play, Worcester tipped over captain and middle hitter Kiley Briand '20's block, but defensive specialist Sofia Dickinson '22 was right there to pick it up, allowing Poplyk to assist a kill by Kiley. A highlight later in the set was a great receive by libero Sevilla Jin '21, which Poplyk then converted into a kill by middle Morgan Clapp '22. With the scoreline at 17-21, Kiley stepped back to serve, and her tricky serve caught the Hilltoppers on their heels, narrowing the gap to 18-21. On the next play, Worcester managed to convert the serve receive to a tough swing by their outside hitter, but Mayu was there for the dig, and Poplyk set up a kill by outside hitter Katy Qin '21 to bring the score to 19-21. The two teams then traded sideouts for the next few points, and the first set ended 22-25, Worcester.
The Zebras pulled into a lead in the middle of the second set, with the solid play on defense and offense, as the Middlesex blockers and passers adjusted to the Hilltoppers' swings and the offense found their groove and began finding holes in the Worcester defense. But despite having a lead of 20-14 late in the set, a series of unforced errors allowed the Hilltoppers back in the set, and the Zebras eventually gave up the second set 21-25.
Middlesex was determined in the third set, however, and maintained their lead throughout. Katy and Sofia both had impressive service runs, and Kiley was particularly dominant at the net on offense, and her block made the Hilltoppers think twice about their attacks. The third set ended on a great dig by Mayu that allowed Poplyk to set up a big kill down the line by Katy, ending it 25-20, Middlesex.
But the fourth set looked a lot like the second-- Middlesex jumped out to a big double digit lead early on, but allowed the Hilltoppers back into the set on a series of unforced errors. By this point, playing in their ninth intense set in under twenty-four hours was also catching up with the Zebras. Defensive specialist Emily Pyne '21 deserves special commendation for stepping in to serve under a lot of pressure with the score at 22-23, and she calmly dished up tough, consistent serves to keep Middlesex in the game, but the set unfortunately ended 23-25, Worcester.
Middlesex now looks ahead to their final week of the regular season, when they will travel to face ISL opponent BB&N on Wednesday, November 6 at 3pm, before closing out the regular season by hosting the class-A opponent St. Paul's School for a 2:30pm start on Saturday, November 9.
