Andover rebounded from its first loss of the season over the weekend against a top-ranked Hotchkiss team to defeat Deerfield decisively on Wednesday.
Against Deerfield, Captain Katherine Lee led by example again, unfailingly consistent and confident in her singles match up.
Lee continued her momentum into her number one doubles match with Camille Price ’15 and came out with another win for Andover.
“All the doubles teams have developed a good game with each other at this point in the season. It’s especially clear that Katherine [Lee] and Camille [Price] are playing well together. They know each other’s tendencies and are consistently able to outdo their opponents,” said Campbell Howe ’14.
On Friday, Andover crushed Nobles 12-3. Katherine Lee ’13 set the standard for matches by making a huge comeback to win the second set in a tiebreaker after going down 4-1.
Andover had few problems against Nobles and again showed strength in doubles matches.
Katherine Tobeason ’14, Borkney Sambou ’12 and Howe all had to play up a position on the ladder due to the absence of MJ Engel ’13, but all players made the jump successfully.
“We were all tired by the end of the week, and we knew that we had two big matches coming up the next day. It was great that we all pulled it together and came out with such a great win,” said Charlotte Aaron ’14.
Saturday was a huge day for Andover, as it held the team’s first home matches of the year, including a double match against Choate and Hotchkiss. Against Choate, Lee and Sambou had tight matches again, but Andover still came out with the win, 9-1.
Andover knew that it was up against a tough opponent since Hotchkiss has held a strong record in recent years. It was the first time the team was taking Hotchkiss on in the regular season in four years, and Andover was unsure of what to expect.
Hotchkiss proved itself as tennis powerhouse and won in a 9-0 landslide. Although it was a tough way for Andover to finish a long day of tennis, the team looks at the matches against Hotchkiss as a learning experience.
“I would say our team benefitted from playing [Hotchkiss]. All of us were playing our best, which feels great whether it is a win or a loss. It reminded me how it felt to play such competitive and intense tennis,” said Aaron.
Andover looks for another win today at 4:45 p.m. against BB&N, a team that they beat 9-6 earlier in the season.
