Andover opened its regular season with a rematch of last season’s semi-final match against Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss, the 2009 New England Champions, commanded the court from the opening whistle, earning decisive wins in three consecutive sets from Andover and handing the home team a loss in its season opener Co-Captain Jamie Shenk ’12 shone as a bright spot for the Andover offense, leading the attack from the net. Shenk led the team with seven kills and 20 of 22 successful attacks. Co-Captain Kemi Amurawaiye ’11 helped Andover from the service line, leading the team with three aces. She also did her part on the front lines, stuffing three blocks at the net. Amurawaiye and Lucia McGloin ’13 earned the most service points for Andover, each racking up eight. On the defensive end, libero Kayla Maloney ’13 racked up 22 of 29 successful digs from the back row to set up the Andover attack. Despite these strong points for Andover, inconsistency came to categorize the three sets. Plagued by missed serves, unsuccessful offensive attacks, and net violations, Andover dropped the three sets by scores of 21-25, 12-25 and 14-25, respectively. Another inconsistent part of Andover’s game on Saturday was a shifting lineup. With players missing and out due to injury, a new group of players took the court together for the first time. Amurawaiye said, “I’m really proud of the way the team played. We still have some things to work on but as we continue to practice, play and grow as a team, I know that everything will fall into place.” On Tuesday, Andover hosted a scrimmage against local rival Central Catholic. Andover miffed a few balls early and found itself in a hole at the beginning of the first set. After a long Andover service run, the team jumped out to an early lead and was able to decisively command the opening set. In the second set, Central stormed back to beat Andover in a close 25-21 match, bringing the score to one all. In the next two sets, Andover repeated its play form the first set, taking the third and fourth for the 3-1 win. Once again, Shenk and Amurawaiye propelled the Andover attack, joined by outside hitter Zoe Roschach ’12. Setter Alice Tao ’11 provided impressive serving, recording several aces from behind the line in the fourth set. “The Central game was good for us because it gave us a chance to test out different lineups. We still have a lot to work on, but hopefully the return of some injured players will give us the boost we need to beat Loomis.” Saturday, Andover will travel to Loomis as it looks to record its first league win.
