Playing a nail-bitingly close match, Hannah Burns ’15 secured the final victory against Exeter on Saturday, fighting through her fifth game to win in overtime. With exceptional performances from all seven players on the squad, the entire ladder defeated its opponents in a clean 7-0 sweep.
Ecstatic about the final match, Coach Elliott said, “At number five, in the last match of the afternoon, Hannah Burns had us all on our feet cheering with nervous enthusiasm as she beat her opponent 20-18. It was fabulous!”
While many of these matches were neck-in-neck, Elliott said, “Ultimately, the Andover players were stronger, smarter and fitter!”
Adele Bernhard ’14 at first seed dropped the first game to a quick opponent but rallied back to win in four. Jessica Lee ’13 and Tafarii McKenzie ’12, at second and seventh seeds, respectively, both won in a decisive three.
Like Bernhard, Madeleine Mayhew ’15, Camille Price ’15 and Catherine Choi ’13 all pulled through with four-game wins after fighting tough battles against formidable opponents. The victory streak left the squad at 6-0 going into the final match with Burns, who completed the sweep in overtime of her fifth and final game.
Lee said, “It felt really good to win against Exeter because all of the matches were so tight. The best feeling, though, was watching Hannah play the last match and win it because it meant that our entire ladder had defeated our rival Exeter!”
Although the squad experienced a disappointing 1-6 loss to Deerfield on Friday night at home, most of the players lost in extremely close matches, playing against one of the top high school teams in the country.
At sixth seed, Choi managed to pull out a win in five games securing the only victory of the day for the team. A couple of players, including Price, who is seeded at number four, were able to take a game from their opponents but could not secure the win in the end.
Andover suffered another disappointing loss on Wednesday to Groton 7-0. Plagued by fatigue, the team lacked its usual energy and could not pull through with a victory.
Despite the loss, Lee said, “I think one of the best parts of the match was that we executed more of the skills we were working on in practice this week. After our Exeter match we were boasting [three-wall shot] too much, and we had a no-boasting practice. That practice came through in our games. We hit more straight drives rather than boasts.”
Hoping to balance out their losses, Andover looks forward to its match against Middlesex on Saturday.