Camille Price ’15 won her number two singles match in two huge sets to set the tone for Andover and lead Andover Girls Tennis to a crucial 7-1 victory over Loomis. Price has been a force for Andover throughout the entire season. She has stepped right into Andover’s tennis program and made an immediate impact from the start. Against Loomis, Price outsmarted her opponent; Price recognized the Loomis player’s weaknesses and found ways to use them to her advantage. “[My opponent] had a one-handed backhand, which made it really difficult for her to effectively return balls with heavy topspin on the backhand side. I tried to continue to hit deep balls to her backhand till she gave me a short ball,” Price said. Once Price received the ball that she was waiting for, she’d approach the net and drill a shot down the line. Because of the extremely windy conditions, Price’s strategy was not always effective, but it was enough to win her the match. Price teamed up with Co-Captain Katherine Lee ’13 for doubles. Lee has been another consistent player for Andover. Lee and Price as a duo are virtually unstoppable. They were victorious again in their number one doubles match against Loomis this past Saturday, winning an eight-game set 8-6. Lee lost her singles match to an extremely strong and experienced player but still put up a good fight and got redemption in her doubles match with Price. MJ Engel ’13 tallied another win for Andover in her number four singles match, winning in two sets, 6-0, 6-1. Engel realized she had much more skill than her opponent early on in the match, so she focused on not playing down to her opponents level. “My strategy against my opponent was to play my own game. We’ve been working on powerful consistency in practice lately, so I tried to incorporate that into my match as much as possible,” said Engel. Engel teamed up with Charlotte Aaron ’14 for number two doubles, and the duo was also triumphant. Aaron and Engel have almost always played doubles together over the course of the season, and their experience showed in their play as they won 8-6 in an 8 game pro-set. With the win, Andover now stands at 9-1 on the season. The team will take on Milton and Exeter before the regular season ends and then prepare for the New England tournament.
