Girls Tennis Sports Spring Sports

Girls Tennis Sweeps St. Paul’s

Playing fifth seed for Andover Girls Tennis, newcomer Katherine Hu ’19 secured a perfect 6-0, 6-0 victory in Wednesday’s match against St. Paul’s. After falling in her first match of the season the week before, Hu maintained her composure on Wednesday to cruise to an easy victory. As a team, Andover outplayed St. Paul’s to earn a 14-0 win.

Third seed Sewon Park ’17 said, “Katherine played well and stepped up today because she was able to stay persistent and remain calm even under pressure. She played really well and was able to execute shots and move her feet.”

Hu said, “In my singles match today, I played pretty consistently, I didn’t make too many unforced errors and hit the ball deep to give my opponent some trouble returning it. Because of not having played many matches [previously], I was really nervous going into the match.”

In singles play, first seed and Co-Captain Reagan Posorske ’17 remained undefeated with a quick 6-2, 6-0 victory. Dariya Zhumashova ’17, Andover’s second seed, continued the team’s dominance with another 6-2, 6-0.

Playing at third seed, Park won a comfortable match with a final score of 6-1, 6-3. With decisive play, fourth seed and Co-Captain Isabella Haegg ’16 earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Sixth seed Lauren Fanning ’19 beat her opponent 6-1, 6-1.

Zhumashova and Posorske carried their momentum from the singles matches into doubles play. Demonstrating clinical play with well-placed shots, they dominated with an 8-1 win.

At the second seed, Haegg and Park clinched a tight victory. Matched against difficult opponents, the pair used strong communication and dogged determination to secure an 8-5 success.

“Isabella and I had one of the more difficult matches today. The other team didn’t give us much pace to work off of, so we had to generate speed ourselves and stay aggressive in our playing,” said Park.

Hu and Charlotte Welch ’18 secured Andover’s victory in an 8-3 triumph for the third doubles match. In their first match as doubles partners, Hu and Welch connected on the court to lead them to success.

Haegg said, “Katherine Hu and Charlotte Welch had a nice debut at number three doubles. They communicated well, executed their volleys nicely, and Charlotte had some great winners down the line. She runs down balls that look impossible to get to and really hustles on the court.”

Hu said, “Charlotte and I played well in doubles together! We had some trouble in the first few games and made some unforced errors but once we started moving our feet, getting the ball cross court, communicating and finishing the point when we had the chance, we got on a roll.”

Andover plays Choate and Hotchkiss at home this weekend.

Editor’s Note: Sewon Park is a Commentary Editor for The Phillipian.