League rivals Northfield Mount Hermon outmatched Andover Boys Volleyball, besting them 25-5, 25-12, 25-10 in Andover’s first league match of the season.
NMH stormed out of the gate, dominating Andover in the first set. Andover’s inexperienced defense struggled to control NMH’s strong servers. Andover only rotated four times, while NMH managed to bombard Andover with 10 points won with their serve.
Thurston Smalley ’11 said, “I think we were really taken off guard by the level of experience that NMH showed in the first set.”
Andover charged into the second set, gaining a quick 2-1 lead. Andover battled back and forth with the NMH team, but confusion over the team’s new rotation forced the team to fall behind, losing 25-12.
Andover stormed back in the third set, pushing to a 7-5 lead. Andover’s weak serve receive could not hold the lead, as NMH won 12 straight service points to break open the lead and take the set 25-10
Jimmy Philps ’12 said, “Although the team didn’t perform cohesively the entire game, there were moments where we shined both individually and as a team. We still need to work on passing and defending serves through our communication, but as we play more as a team together that will develop.”
Coming off the loss on the weekend, Andover Volleyball looked to bounce back against Wilbraham team, but Andover came up empty losing 3-0.
Andover got off to another slow start, with Wilbraham taking the lead early in the first set. Although the teams battled back and forth, Wilbraham never relinquished the lead, winning the first set, 25-18.
Andover stormed back in the second set, quickly gaining a close 10-9 advantage. But that would be Andover’s only lead of the day as Wilbraham parried Andover’s attack, winning the hard fought second set 25-22.
After the close second set, Andover played deflated, losing the third set 25-15.
Andover looks to improve against Choate on Saturday.
