Milton Volleyball Drops Season Opener to Brookline

The Brookline girls volleyball team served Milton a 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-14) defeat in a battle between Bay State Conference foes, Monday at .

The Warriors got a balanced attack and showed off their depth as Maya Midzik — who played in the first and last games — had 10 kills and three aces. Jamie Francona dished out 19 assists and 10 digs, while Ali Brailey recorded a team-high 11 kills.

Milton got six kills from Samatha Curley, who missed the last half of her junior season with a shoulder injury, and 10 assists from senior captain Ellie Taber. Katie Krauss made her return to the Wildcats lineup (0-1) after a knee injury kept her out last season.

Brookline (2-0) showed off early that it could be the class of the Bay State Conference this season. Francona, Midzik and Brailey had their stamp all over a 25-10 victory to grab a one-game lead. The Warriors snagged the lead at 2-1 on an ace by Midzik and rolled home to the first game.

Midzik put away a powerful kill for the game-clinching point when Francona went to the floor for a tough dig, Brailey tapped it up and Midzik powered through the ball to the floor of the Wildcats.

“(Brailey) had huge game today and she got a lot of experience last year (due to injuries),” said Warriors head coach Mike Frank. “This year Jamie and Maya and all the other complimenting players is a wonderful thing.”

Milton did not go quietly in the second game after it looked like Brookline would roll to another victory. After a timeout when trailing 16-8, the Wildcats tightened up defensively and worked their way back to as close as 24-20 with Kitty Sargent delivering a couple of winners in the run.

“We just basically talked about playing our game,” said Wildcats head coach Robin Lee.

Lee’s bunch had a couple hiccups with some poor serves down the stretch, but with a group that is getting healthier and getting players back into the fold.

Midzik returned for the final game and she helped return the power to the Warriors offense with a 25-14 victory to seal the match.