Thanks to another win this Saturday against Northfield Mount Herman (NMH), Andover Boys Volleyball is now ranked number one in the Founding-Four League and on a promising trajectory to take the title of North Eastern Champion. Ji Tae Park ’14, a libero, said, “The team played very well against NMH, and I think the fact that we beat them 3-0 and did not let them take any sets off us just shows how much we have improved as a team in only a couple of weeks.” “We lost to NMH the first time we played them because it was our first game and we had not yet gelled as a team, whereas now, we know how each person plays and our communication is much better,” continued Park. The first set between Andover and NMH was close in the beginning, but Andover later took a five point lead that bought the team a cushion to fall back on if any mistakes occurred. Andover won the first set 25-21. Andover played consistently throughout all three sets. However, the team especially dominated the second set and won by more than ten, 25-14. This set highlighted the team’s consistency with an almost equal distribution of service points between all the players. Each server added two to three consecutive points each rotation, and when NMH won a point, Andover had no trouble getting the ball back. Theo Agbi ’13 controlled the center of the net with a total of five kills and five stuff blocks, and Alex Tamkin ’14 conquered the outside with an impressive 12 kills, hitting 20 out of 23. Both Agbi and Tamkin helped acquire service points for Andover, with Agbi serving nine out of ten and Tamkin serving nine out of 11. Although Andover started the third set down 0-2, setter and Co-Captain Haonan Li ’13 had four consecutive service points that brought Andover ahead 7-3. The set went back and forth, and Co-Captain David Crane ’13 ultimately carried Andover to a 25-23 set victory. Crane said, “I think if we keep on playing the way we are playing and we keep on bonding as a team, we definitely can take become the tournament Champions. We have the talent so it just all depends on our mental state.” “Li’s setting has been spectacular, and Tamkin has had some really nice energetic hits,” he continued. “When we are positive, we are very positive. But we have to work on getting out of our slumps better.” Andover will have a scrimmage against Lawrence High School this Friday, followed by another scrimmage against Central Catholic next Tuesday. Andover will play its final regular season game against Choate on May 11th before the Founding Four’s North East Champion Tournament on the May 18th.
