Emma Randolph breaks school record in scoring
Published November 8, 2019
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High girl’s volleyball team inched closer to the Div. 2 North Finals with a 3-0 win over Lynn Classical (19-3) to improve to 19-3 as they advance to semifinals against undefeated Lynnfield this week. At press time, Melrose was slated to battle the Pioneers on Thursday (post deadline) at Danvers High for a trip to the Div. 2 North finals on Saturday at Tewksbury High.
The highlight of the night was a milestone achieved by Melrose senior captain Emma Randolph, who broke the all-time scoring record held by Hannah Brickley (895 kills) with 900 career kills. The outside hitter has tallied 313 this season alone.
Against Lynn Classical, the power hitter had 13 kills over the night.
EMMA RANDOLPH broke the MHS volleyball school record for kills during Melrose’s quarterfinal win over Lynn Classical. She now holds the record with 900 career kills. (Steve Karampalas photo)
“I knew coming into the season that it was possible and it was a personal goal. It’s awesome,” said Randolph after the win. “Nine hundred is a good number and I still am gonna keep shooting.”
Randolph helped Melrose take a 25-11 win in set one, which also saw two early kills from Chloe Gentile and an equalizer by Elena Soukos to tie the game at 6. From there, Melrose didn’t look back and benefitted from aces by Eva Haralabatos, Grace Davis and Erin Torpey. Gentile had two block kills and Randolph closed the door with a set-clinching kill, 25-11.
In set 2, Melrose Emily Hudson and Emma Randolph pounded the ball to lift Melrose to an 8-7 lead and a slew of hard-hitting kills from Elena Soukos helped Melrose take a 14-8 lead. Emily Hudson, Emma Randolph and Chloe Gentile earned kills to make it 22-12 and Soukos hit the final kill to make it 25-18.
Hudson and Randolph dominated Melrose’s third set for a 25-14 win. Melrose enjoyed solid serving from Nicole Abbott and Mary Kate Mahoney. Hudson and Abbott had kills to make it a 23-12 game. Before the set ended, Melrose coach Scott Celli called a time out to inform his team that Randolph had just surpassed the school record. Randolph had 6 kills in the set. The milestone was a big one for the four-year player, and no doubt her offensive prowess has helped Melrose enjoy a 58-14 win record in three straight seasons.
“We started off slow but we just had to play our game,” said Randolph of the team’s effort on Tuesday. “Even if they [Classical] threw some kind of weird stuff at us, we had to stay in our zone.”
The win advances Melrose to a major showdown against 22-0 Lynnfield, who hadn’t lost a set this season until they escaped from Tewksbury on Tuesday night, 3-2, to be held on Thursday (post deadline) at Danvers High.
Fans take note: the winner of the Melrose-Lynnfield game will earn a trip to Div. 2 North Finals, which takes place this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Tewksbury High. Folks are encouraged to visit www.miaa.net for up to date game information or visit our social media pages.
