Rawit Assamongkol ’18 spikes the ball.
After being down in the first set of its official season opener against Choate, Andover Boys Volleyball took the lead and won the match in just three sets with a score of 3-0.
Prior to the season opener, the team came up short in a scrimmage against Central Catholic due to multiple starters’ being injured, according to Clay Briggs ’19.
“Unfortunately we were not able to win our scrimmage [Wednesday] against Central Catholic. Right now in the season, the team is hurting pretty bad. For example, our beloved captain, Evan ‘Skinny Ankles’ Park [’18], was not able to play today due to an ankle sprain, caused by the aforementioned skinny ankles,” said Briggs.
The team is looking to work on its defense in order to limit its opponent’s scoring opportunities, according to Briggs.
Briggs said, “We did have some fat hits today, and the game was pretty close. Our fat hits, however, did not prove to be fat enough, and we lost the game. Looking forward, we look to get healthier as a team and work on our defense, which prevented us from scoring more points than they did.”
Sami El Solh ’18 added, “The hitters’ really long arms from Central Catholic prepared us so well for our game against Choate. We got smashed by his long arms but then realized when and when not to hit when we played against Choate.”
In Saturday’s game against Choate, the team relied upon its experience and remained focused, according to Rawit Assamongkol ’18.
Assamongkol said, “Our victory was due to experience. Since Central Catholic had a middle hitter with arms longer than his legs, we were able to anticipate hits from Choate well. We also had emotional support from our friends at Choate. Though we were competing against them, we all realized we were there to have a fun time.”
The team used its physical strength to win, despite having many players out with knee injuries, according to El Solh and Assamongkol.
“Our physical strength and 33-inch verticals that we have been practicing with [Head] Coach [Clyfe] Beckwith lead us to win the match. Those have been very good. It was a good team victory,” said El Solh.
“Many on our team were suffering from knee injuries, so some players weren’t able to jump to our usual verticals,” said Assamongkol.
Ben Meyer ’18 has shown significant improvement returning from the offseason, according to El Solh.
“Ben’s physical strength has been very good, and we’ve noticed it in his jumps and hitting. He’s improved drastically from last year. Last season, he could only jump about 12 inches, but now he can jump over 18 inches, so we’re happy about that,” said El Solh.
