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Melrose proved to be just too much for Pentucket in a closely contested match. Brandon Haley (103), Ben Lane (119), Austin Perreault (140), Mark Pigott (152), Andy Stasiuk (171), Jordan Pinzone (189), and Ben Stasiuk (215) were all winners for the Sachems.

Tom Franklin had a big day, winning the 200 individual medley with a state-qualifying time of 2:10.92 to lead the Haverhill boys swim team to a win over Melrose. Tony Lekani also swam well, winning the 50 freestyle with a personal-best time of 25.16.

The Methuen girls swimming team topped Melrose 94-76 thanks in large part to impressive performances by Meaghan Arsenault and Maggie Conlon. Arsenault took the top spot in the 50-meter freestyle (27.02) and the 500-meter freestyle (5:51.67), and she swam the first leg of the winning 200 medley (2:07.92) and 400 freestyle relays (4:16.23). Conlon finished first in the 200-meter IM (2:24.02) and 100-meter backstroke (1:10.61) in addition to being on both relay teams. The Rangers improved to 7-4 with the victory.

The North Andover girls volleyball team dropped to 14-6 after losing to Melrose 18-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-25. Lauren Small had 11 kills and seven blocks, and Suzanne Morin racked up 24 assists.

Learning from lossAfter winning the first two games, defending Division 3 state champion North Reading's girls volleyball team lost its first match of the season, 3-2 to Division 2 power Melrose but head coach Keri Forrest was far from depressed with the setback.  "It was a great match, and we can learn from this," said Forrest. "They exploited some weaknesses we weren't used to and we can work on them now."Kirsten Morrison had nine kills and had 16 service points for the Hornets (9-1).

The Stone sisters led the way in Andover's 91-74 victory over Melrose. Senior Emily Stone took the 200 freestyle in 2:23.10. And in her first varsity meet, freshman sister Courtney Stone won the diving with a state sectional-qualifying score of 179.10.

Just wait until next year.

Another season's experience and growth could make North Andover a player in the Division 2 North girls basketball tournament. But last night, there were too many periods of empty offense that erased an impressive defensive effort and allowed Melrose to pull away for a 47-28 first-round victory.

The Bishop Fenwick girls basketball team all had that solemn look as they exited the locker room. Even their best game of the young season and a 63-61 lead with 56 seconds remaining against their third top 15 ranked opponent couldn't put the Lady Crusaders out of their misery in the Tanner City Holiday Tournament last night.

Central Catholic upended Melrose 3-2 on penalty kicks in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament.

Central's Josh Voto and Tim Adamchuk each scored a goal to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead. But, Melrose responded with two goals late in the game to send it to overtime.