Six straight serves from Co-Captain Annette Bell ’16 set the tone early for Andover Girls Volleyball on Saturday, bumping the team to an immediate 6-0 lead over Dana Hall. Andover went on to win in three straight sets.
Supported by kills from Franziska Trautmann ’16 and serves from Bell, Andover closed out the first set 25-8. Starting slow in the second set, six serves from Trautmann propelled Andover from a 5-7 deficit to up 13-7, ultimately closing the set 25-17.
“In the second set we had a lot of good momentum going; we also had a lot of people playing different positions. We were trying different things because we were confident that we could come back from just about any deficit,” said Alex Becker ’15.
Evelyn Mesler ’17 moved from the middle to the outside, and Co-Captain Erica Shin ’16 shifted from libero to right hitter as Andover entered the third set.
Andover continued to play its adjusted line in the third set, but dropped to a six-point deficit early in the set. Dana Hall kept its lead until the score reached 15-21. Andover then went on a run, winning ten out of 12 consecutive points. Dana Hall was unable to recover, as Andover continued to win point after point, ultimately ending the set with a score of 25-23. This resulted in a 3-0 win for the game.
“Our serves allowed us to come back, and [Bell] gave us the lead with her aces,” said Darcy Burnham ’18.
“We came back because of [Bell’s] serves. That girl is on fire whenever she serves,” said Becker.
Wednesday, the team went on the road against a talented Exeter team, whose record stood at 9-1.
Andover, carrying its momentum from its win against Dana Hall, took the lead early in the first set, 5-1. Exeter rallied with a 2-20 run, putting Andover in a hole that would prove too large to climb out of. Down 7-21, Andover managed to salvage seven of the last 11 points scored to bring the score to 14-25.
Exeter carried that momentum into the second set, jumping to a 1-8 lead before Andover managed to pull ahead 11-9. The lead proved short lived, however, as Andover ultimately lost the set 17-25.
Andover came out strong in the third set, maintaining a lead for a final score of 25-19.
In the fourth set, both teams showed grit and determination. Exeter hammered home 12 straight serves to pull ahead after the set started with a score of 5-3. Down 5-16 after Exeter’s run, Andover traded points with Exeter to bring the set to 14-23. Trautmann’s serves provided a final burst of power, bringing Andover within three points of Exeter, 20-23. Unfortunately, Andover’s late push fell short, and it dropped the fourth and final set 22-25 and the match 3-1.
With a current record of 6-3, Andover looks for its seventh win at Northfield Mount Hermon on Saturday.
