Viola Rothschild ’10 served 12 straight points for Andover, including four aces, as Andover cruised to beat St. Paul’s in straight sets Wednesday. In the first set, Andover and St. Paul’s battled back and forth, until Rothschild came to the line and served Andover all the way to match point. Kills were evenly distributed among Zoe Roscach ’12, Co-Captain Meghan McCafferty ’10, and Jamie Shenk ’12, all assisted by setter and Co-Captain Melissa Yan ’10. Propelled by strong performance at the service line, Andover easily captured the win in the first set, 25-9. In the second set, Andover came out just as strong. In this set, serving remained strong, while the offense continued to accumulate kills. Andover seized another decisive victory in set two. The third set was more of the same, as Andover broke away to win by a wide margin. Andover dominated from the service line, while Shelby Carpenter ’12 put away several balls on the ten-foot line, dumping the ball just behind the block. On Saturday, Andover took on Deerfield, and the team quickly found itself in a 12-5 hole. However, behind the powerful serving of Chelsea Ward ’12 in her first game back, Andover climbed back in the set, tying the game at 12. Soon after, Andover found its rhythm and dominated the rest of the game, going on to win 25-18, in a near flawless end of the first set. The second set was much like the first, except that Deerfield held control much later in the match. Trailing 20-17, Rothschild fired off consecutive perfect serves, givng Andover a 24-20 lead. They successfully finished out the set 25-22. In the vital third set, Andover claimed a commanding lead, 22-18. Despite the Andover lead, Deerfield stormed back and won the game 25-22, forcing a fourth set. Andover bounced back stronger than ever after dropping set three and never fell behind in the deciding fourth game, edging out Deerfield 25-19. With the win, the team improved its season record to 7-1. Said Rothschild of the two wins against St. Paul’s and Deerfield, “This week’s decisive victories were really important in maintaining our number one ranking heading into the post season.” “She continued, “It’s certainly been tough pulling together new rotations with one or more of our starters perpetually missing, but to this point, we’ve been able to overcome it and continue to become a stronger team.” Andover does not play this weekend, but the team will send Rothschild, along with McCafferty and Yan, to represent the team at the League All-Star Game at Worcester Academy. Coach Clyfe Beckwith selected these three veteran leaders to play for Andover in this event, in which over 30 players from the league will participate. Looking forward, Andover will face 11-1 Worcester Academy next Wednesday, before concluding the regular season against Exeter.
