Brooklyn Wirt ’21 switched to Outside Hitter her Lower year after playing middle as a Junior.
The win against NMH was a confidence booster for Andover, according to Captain Chioma Ugwonali ’20.
Ugwonali said, “I think our two previous losses really woke us up. I think we were more motivated than we were after our eighth win because it is nice to be undefeated, but also it is good to have a test towards our abilities so we don’t become too cocky. In retrospect, actually I am glad that we lost at least one game now in the regular season instead of in the finals [of the tournament] because now we know that we can’t take any team like it is just another match… we have to bring our A-game to every single game.”
According to Ridley Warner ’22, many new players had the opportunity to play because it was Family Weekend.
“I think we played well considering that we had a lot more new players out on the court during each set since it was Family Weekend; so we didn’t just stick to our starters. We came out pretty strong in the beginning which was good for our confidence as a whole,” said Warner.
Going forward, Andover will look to keep working on its serving and receiving in order to become a more well-rounded team, according to Warner and Ugwonali.
“I think we want to continue working on serving and receiving because even though we did much better in this game, it is so crucial for us as a team to get them in so we can perform to the best of our abilities. Also, [we want to focus] on our ball placement [and] especially being aware of open spaces so we can play smarter,” said Warner
Ugwonali added, “We still need to work on serving consistently and communication at times. I think we need to aim to keep our energy up at all times because often we get on a roll and score multiple points in a row, but then we will just recede for some reason. I hope each player continues to improve day by day and treats practices just as important as our matches are.”
Andover will next face Deerfield away this Sunday.
Editor’s Note: Brooklyn Wirt is an Associate Digital Editor for The Phillipian.
