It has been a fairytale season for the Andover Girls volleyball team. They are prefect at 15-0 and bursting with talent and drive. The team has given its all to every match, bouncing back from injuries and deficits. An undefeated season is in their grasp, and the only obstacle in their way is their enemy from the north, Phillips Exeter Academy. In the past three seasons, Exeter has gone 6-0 against Andover. This year, however, Andover broke the streak with a 3-0 win on October 15. Now, the girls are ready to continue their newfound winning ways in their second game of the season against Exeter. A win would be the icing on the cake of this amazing regular season. PA boasts perhaps the greatest team in the history of its Girls Volleyball program. Four members of the team, Lauren Cantwell ’05, Jessie Daigneault ’04, and Co-captains Devon Dickerson ’04 and Mimi Hanley ’04, were selected to the Boston Globe All-Star Team. Hanley was voted MVP of the league. The team also has incredible depth, as the bench has carried the team on numerous occasions. The Exeter squad is also having a solid season. Their record as of the end of October was 10-3, losing to Hotchkiss, Choate, and the Girls in Blue. Led by Coaches Scott Saltman and Joe Wolfson and Co-captains Maddy Hartzell ’04 and Roxane Duka ’04, they have gone 4-0 since losing to the Lady Blue in mid-October. Andover’s 3-0 win against their Exeter rivals did not come easily. Control shifted between the two Phillips teams throughout the whole game. For parts of the game, Andover trailed Exeter, only to come back and win. At one point, the Lady Blue overcame an eight-point deficit. The scores of the games were 30-23, 30-26, and 30-21. Although Exeter was able to find holes in the Andover defense throughout the match, the Andover squad pulled themselves together as Exeter’s score approached 20 in each game. It is their ability to be confident under pressure that has kept the Lady Blue on top, and they will need to continue this in order to obtain their 16th win. For the past four games, the Exeter team of six seniors, three uppers, and three lowers has been strong. Some of the wins were tough for the Lady Red, which was mostly their own fault, as the team sometimes has shaky passing. However, if the Red play with confidence and determination, they can be a force to be reckoned with. “We’re definitely looking at it as a big game,” said Dorothy Voorhees ’04. “Exeter is always a lot tougher at Andover/Exeter. We’d like to come out strong.”
