Co-Captain Serena Liu ’19 focuses for a serve.
Brooke Fleming ’20 tipped the ball over the net to win 3-1 against Deerfield on Sunday. With this win, Andover maintains its seven-game winning streak. Andover’s record now stands at 10-3.
According to Brooklyn Wirt ’21, the team was able to pull out a win with its consistency and smart hits.
“In the beginning we started off really slow, but we managed to pick up the pace. When we are behind, we are making sure that we catch up before we try to rip it and get aces. It’s more important to get the ball in play than it is to get points right off the bat,” said Wirt.
“In one point in the game, someone had a really great save, but it was going towards the wall, and if it hits the wall it’s out. Serena Liu [’19] ran and jumped and passed [the] ball over the net, and it landed on the other side, and it was incredible,” continued Wirt.
According to Co-Captain Janneke Evans ’18, the team did a good job maintaining good focus throughout the game.
Evans said, “We really kept our intensity high. It was a slower pace team, which was good practice for us because usually our intensity dips in games that are not usually high-string.”
Head Coach Clyfe Beckwith added, “We did a particular drill called the shank drill, which means the coach puts the ball in, and it’s a ball that can hardly be gotten, and the team has two plays to get it over the net. When we were at Deerfield, Brooke Fleming twice saved the ball, where in previous games, [it] would have been lost.”
According to Coach Beckwith, the team hopes to defend its winning streak against Milton this Saturday.
“We know that we are not going to have one of the starter players, so my strategy will be to motivate the non-starters by giving them some playing minutes at Milton because after that, we have to prepare for [Andover-Exeter] and the [championship] tournament,” said Coach Beckwith.
