Despite the windy conditions at its away game on Friday, Andover Girls Tennis eased over Worcester in a 7-0 sweep to stretch their winning streak to two matches. Andover’s record now stands at an undefeated 2-0-0.
According to Ananya Madduri ’23, away games are often more difficult due to the lack of Andover fans. In addition, the severe wind at Worcester served as a further challenge to the team.
“It was super windy on Friday, so that affected play because it felt like we were battling the opponents and the wind, but I think, overall, away games are an opportunity to bring even more spirit but I definitely prefer playing at home and having my friends there supporting me,” said Madduri.
According to Co-Captain Nicole Lee ’22, playing in this unique weather condition forced her to alter how she approached the match. “I think [the weather] definitely played a role in the way that we thought about strategy. Feeling out the direction, which way [the wind] was pushing the ball, and making those adjustments with our footwork, and also the type of ball we wanted to hit with more spin because that allows the ball to stay in the court, and using wider margins as well [were aspects of the game we had to focus on]. So aiming for larger targets was a major focus for us to eliminate any chance of unforced errors,” said Lee.
According to Elizabeth Zhang ’22, away matches are a great opportunity to create team chemistry.
“I think the whole aspect of going away is definitely contributing to the whole team bonding because you go on the road trip and it was about an hour ride so you spend an hour with them just chatting it up about things that are not necessarily tennis pertaining, but also just talking about our lives. It’s a Friday, so getting back on the bus, eating dinner, it all contributes to the team’s chemistry. Getting to know people even better, I think [away matches] definitely gives opportunities for that,” said Madduri.
According to Madduri, the lack of Andover fans at away matches means that the team had to rely on each other for support. “Being away at someone else’s campus provides for more of a closeness within a team because you want to rile each other up, you want to get yourselves [energized] with a lot of spirit so I think that away games are super fun,” said Madduri.
According to Lee, the team will continue to practice finishing points off in the next week of practice.
“A big focus for us has been both in singles and doubles, being more aggressive and taking the opportunities [to win the point] when they’re given to us, because that’s really where the difference [is] between winning 6-0 versus a tight 6-4 match, so we’ve been doing a lot of drills and activities as a team on that,” said Lee.
Andover will look to remain undefeated against Pingree this Friday.
