Libero Serena Liu ’19 delivered 20 winning service points in Andover Girls Volleyball’s game against Dana Hall on Saturday. Despite Liu’s exceptional serving, Andover ultimately fell to Dana Hall 3-2. The team also suffered a loss to Phillips Exeter Academy 3-0 on Wednesday, dropping Andover’s record to 5-4.
The game against Dana Hall was a marked improvement from Andover’s 3-0 loss to Choate last Saturday. The team was focused, came out strong, and battled hard throughout the match.
Liu said, “We had overall improvements from our game with Choate, more so in the first and fourth sets because we were focused [on] working to keep the ball in play by making great ups and by playing the ball into the holes on the other side of the court, which helped us gain points.”
Andover came out strong and clinched the first set. Though the team dropped the second and third sets, it fought back hard and claimed the fourth set. The team, however, failed to capitalize on its momentum, allowing Dana Hall to secure the fifth set and the overall victory.
Liu said, “We played really well the first and fourth set by focusing on keeping the ball in play and having good energy levels, but we fell back during the second, third, and fifth sets which ultimately handed Dana Hall the win.”
Post-Graduate Margot Forti ’17 added, “We came out really strong the first game, which is something we normally don’t do. I think we got ahead of ourselves the next two matches and just couldn’t get our intensity where it needed to be.”
Later in the week, Andover traveled to Exeter and was swept 3-0 due to a lack of team cohesion.
Brooke Fleming ’20 said, “Exeter was a strong opponent… everyone played pretty well individually; we just didn’t make it come together as a whole team.”
Sidney Holder ’17 added, “We did well playing scrappy and coming back when we got down a couple of points.”
Andover will use this loss as motivation to finish the season strong.
Fleming said, “In the Exeter game, I really tried to take Clyfe’s advice and ‘Just play’ and ‘Go with your gut!’ I think that’s the mentality we need to have for the rest of the season.”
In preparation for the upcoming games, Andover looks to improve its skills and team unity.
Liu said, “We are focusing on our serves that we can use as one of our main offensive tools and serve-receive so that we can start each play cleanly with a pass, set, and hit.”
Forti said, “If we want to win the championship, we’re going to have to play more aggressive and as a team. We are taking it up a notch at practice and focusing on communicating with one another on the court.”
Andover will travel to Northfield Mount Hermon this Saturday in hopes of returning to its winning ways.
