On Saturday, the Andover Girls Volleyball team hosted an invitational preseason tournament in order to give coaches an opportunity to make final arrangements to their teams and to make final cuts. Andover played a total of four scrimmages. Even without Captain Jackie Price ’06, the team won two games, tied one, and lost one. After the tournament, Coach Clyfe Beckwith noted that conditioning and concentration are the main aspects of the game that need work. The championship match November 19th would require the team to go best out of five, and will depend greatly upon fitness. Next on his list are proper positioning and anticipation. Beckwith was very please with the skills and teamwork. So far, the phrase “good team chemistry” has been thrown around a lot, and for good reason; every starter except Post Graduate Caroline Levin ’06 received ample playing time for last year’s team, meaning that the Andover girls have a good deal of experience working with each other. Competition was fierce this year for the final 12 spots on Varsity. Currently, starting in position number one and playing as an outside hitter and the “go-to defensive specialist” if necessary will be Levin. In starting position number two will be setter Carpenter. Sarah Thomas ’06 will start in three as a middle hitter and all-around player. Price will be in position four as outside hitter. In position five will be opposite hitter and backup defensive specialist Atima Lui ’08. Finally, in six will be Claire Fox ’06 as middle hitter and all-around. These positions however are not etched in stone quite yet. A possible switch would be Levin to opposite blocker and Lui to outside hitter. Players who will also see some playing time from what Price deemed “a very strong bench” include Beattie at net, Amberly Tenney ’08 as setter, Pia Heilmann ’07 and Erica Bakies ’08 at outside hitters, Lindsay Maroney ’07 and Maddy Jansen ’08 as middle hitters. The final four of this list will also likely receive some play in the back row. Next week the Andover women will face off against Loomis. Coach Beckwith said, “Loomis has traditionally fielded strong teams with a little bit of a lull in recent years because of graduating Seniors. This year I reckon they will field a team with more experience and chemistry and it should be a challenging match for both sides. It will require us to play with few mistakes and smart rather than with brute strength.”
