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The Winchester High volleyball team is well on its way to another wildly successful regular season after starting off this year with six straight wins.
The Red & Black have so far defeated Stoneham (3-0, Sept. 8), Woburn (3-0, Sept. 10), Melrose (3-0, Sept. 14), Newton South (3-1, Sept. 15), Wakefield (3-0, Sept. 18) and Lexington (3-0, Sept. 22).
Naturally, Coach John Fleming can’t ask for any better results on his team’s play to date.
“We are off to a strong start, and have had some really good wins,” he said.
It’s always good to win that home opener to set that successful tone.
“Winning a home opener is always a great way to start a season,” Fleming concurred, “and we were able to get all of our healthy players into the game, as well.”
The team had bunch of girls play in their first varsity match, which included eighth graders Noomi Melhorn and Maggie Angevine, along with sophomore Erica Jung and juniors Violet Bogovich and Molly Doyle.
Fleming singled out Jung, in particular, for stepping into a starting role for the first time, and “doing a nice job.”
Karen Huai was one of the leaders against the Spartans with seven aces. Bella Comes came in, and had a big-time run of serves. Hitters Ella Centurelli and Liv Thompson was also credited with multiple kills that helped put Stoneham away in three sets.
Against host Woburn, Fleming thought that the serves were the difference to secure the team’s second straight win.
“(The Tanners) have two really talented middle hitters, but our serving kept them from setting them up,” the coach said.
Specifically, Maggie Angevine was “terrific” starting at setter for captain Defne Mergen, according to the coach.
Sophomore Kaiyal Kumaran (7) and Viviana Cella (6), Mergen (3), Huai (2) and Hazel Lovins (2) all had multiple aces in this match.
“Hazel, in particular, was incredibly efficient and effective as a hitter with 16 kills, as well, while almost hitting at a .400 (average rate),” Fleming said.
The road trip then continued to Melrose, where once again the Winchester girls played great, but, according to Fleming, his team’s experience during crunch time in each set was a big factor to secure this win.
“We have really experienced players, who have played in a bunch of (matches) like this before, and were able to find a way to win,” he said.
Fleming mentioned that Cella was outstanding in the middle with 12 kills.
“She showed why she is one of the best middle hitters around,” he added.
It was then onto Newton South, where the Red & Black defeated the non-league Lions in four sets.
“South played in the state semifinals last year, and returns a good portion of (its) roster.,” said Fleming. “Playing back-to-back road matches on (consecutive days) was not an easy thing to do, but I think the players really responded to it very well.”
Fleming said that his team fought from behind throughout most of the third set, and eventually tied it up late at 18.
With her serves, captain Maddie Crooks led her team onto a few big runs that resulted in five aces, while also coming up with nine kills. Mergen also did a nice job distributing the ball, coming up with 35 assists.
Coming into the Wakefield match, the Winchester girls were facing a Warriors team that just had one of the state’s biggest wins of the year, when they defeated Newton North, and as a result Fleming made sure that his team didn’t take them lightly.
“We knew Wakefield would be fired up to play us after that big win,” the veteran Winchester coach said. “But it was great to see how our depth shine through as the substitutes came in throughout the match, and each time they helped bring new energy and enthusiasm to the court.”
And because of that team effort, the Red & Black won all three sets against their Middlesex League rivals.
The Winchester girls have since headed to Brookline for a non-league match against the Warriors on Sept. 23, before returning home to face Needham, another non-league matchup, on Friday night, Sept. 25, at 5:30 p.m. They will then be back on the road next week with trips to Watertown (Sept. 28, 5:30 p.m.), Franklin (Sept. 30, 5:15 p.m.) and Reading (Oct. 2, 5:45 p.m.).
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He has been covering Winchester sports for the News since November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
