Andover Girls Volleyball secured a 3-0 win against BB&N in their first match of the season on Wednesday, in sets of 25-7, 25-6, and 25-10. The team’s record now stands at 1-0.
The team sustained high energy throughout the game, according to Captain Serena Liu ’19 Brooklyn Wirt ’21.
Liu said, “We kept and maintained our energy throughout the entire three sets, and that was really awesome… Something that usually happens to our team is that we do really well in the first set and then our energy level [drops] and we dip in energy. It was great to see good energy maintained throughout the entire game, and we had solid plays every single point.”
Wirt added, “We kept high energy throughout the game, despite the other team not having much energy, and we adjusted well, especially for the first game of the season.”
Effective plays at the net were a key to the team’s success, according to Liu..
Liu said, “I think [the highlight of the match] was the hitters off of the net, specifically Chioma [Ugwonali ’20] and Adaeze [Izuegbunam ’20]. Chioma and Adaeze’s improvement from last season to this season and the way they’ve been hitting, the way they’ve been blocking — they’ve been really dominating the net this season.”
The team also maintained its support of one another throughout the game.
Liu said, “We had some great plays, and everybody was really supportive even on the court and off the bench. Everybody was cheering loudly.”
According to Wirt, the team could work on better communication on the court over the course of the season.
Wirt said, “The team still can work on communication a bit and knowing reflexively who has what ball on the court. We also just need to get to know each other as players more, which happens naturally as the season continues.”
The team prepared for the game by learning to work cohesively, according to Wirt.
“Before the game we were working on learning how [everyone] plays. We have five new players this year and have only been a team since Friday. We also just wanted to be ready to move and play to our level of volleyball,” said Wirt.
That preparation paid off in the overall result of the game, according to Liu and Wirt.
Liu said, “We did a lot of substitution, so we got everybody some playing time. That was really good, because we kept that good level of energy throughout the entire game. People substituting in and playing with different [teammates] by their side every single time really shows how the team plays together. We have really great chemistry this year. It’s awesome.”
Wirt added, “For the rest of the season, I really look forward to playing more with these awesome girls. I think throughout the season, we just [need to] continue to bond. When you see girls for two hours a day for practice and then eat dinner together every night, you become so close with all of them.”
Liu continued, “We really are a little family on campus. Our motto is ‘Dig Deep,’ and we have that on the back of our hats. [The motto] really encompasses how much we can support each other and push each other to be our best while at the same time making sure that we really try our best whether it’s in practice or a game. And I think that our game on Wednesday really showed that.”
Wednesday’s game against BB&N set a precedent for the rest of the season, according to Liu.
Liu said, “Seeing the positive energy and keeping the energy level throughout the entire game was awesome. I think that really sets the tone for how we’ll see each other play on the court.”
Andover Girls Volleyball will face Taft at home on Saturday.
