10/5 – Andover: 0, Choate: 3
10/9 – Andover: 3, Austin Prep: 1
On Saturday, Girls Volleyball (5-4) faced Choate, ultimately resulting in a loss. However, on Wednesday, the team beat Austin Preparatory School (Austin Prep) in a nail-biting five set victory, coming back to win by six points in the final set after being down by five points.
After the game against Choate, Head Coach Clyfe Beckwith praised Co-Captains Saraya Angbazo ’25 and Sophie Holten ’25 for leading through their play, generating offense with their hard hits, and making it difficult for the opposing team to defend.
“Despite the loss, I think there were definitely some moments to be proud of. We had a lot of really hard hits from both our captains, Saraya and Sophie. That really helped us develop an offense during the game,” said Beckwith.
Hailey Piasecki ’26 emphasized the team’s ability to create an energetic atmosphere that fostered communication and collaboration. She also noted the team’s defensive hesitation, which caused some athletes to struggle mentally, contributing to a rough third set and the loss overall.
“We had great energy, communication, and a lot of teamwork. On the other hand, our weakness was not staying on our toes and hesitating to go for certain balls. The ending was pretty rough because our serve receive wasn’t great, and we got in our heads. Overall, this game taught us the importance of mental strength, especially in tough moments like the last set,” said Piasecki.
In the practices following the match against Choate, new approaches were implemented, utilizing conditioning and watching film. Although it can be difficult to focus on weaknesses, Holten shared how this helped the team bounce back after the loss by focusing on positioning and movement.
“This week, our practices were structured differently on Monday and Tuesday. So Monday, we did a lot of conditioning and film. That really pushed us to go beyond our comfort zone in our play. In film, it was really helpful to look at and nitpick almost every detail. Especially against harder teams where we zoomed in on our weaknesses, focusing on our positioning, our movement, and our touches was really helpful. Tuesday was just mostly gameplay and we were really able to focus on getting those faster plays in and being on our toes more often. When we paired those two practices together, it really just helped elevate our game in a way that was really useful and helpful for the next game,” said Holten.
In its Wednesday game against Austin Prep, the team was forced to adjust to the different environment of Austin Prep’s gymnasium, which led to a slow start. Beckwith shared how the atmosphere of the game both distracted but also motivated the team to outdo its competition, generating spectacular plays in the end.
“The energy definitely built from the first set to the second and so on. Austin Prep played a really sound game. We found our rhythm after we got used to the different type of ball and the different gym environment. Austin Prep also had a pretty rowdy student section; they even received a yellow card from the referee for heckling our team. This, at some points, caused a lack of focus on our side, but it also fueled us to try and shut them up in a way. We had some really impressive plays while nearing the end of the game,” said Beckwith.
Holten commended Angbazo and Kaliah Fortune ’26 for their impactful play. Through setting and hitting, they transformed the team into a threat against Austin Prep, motivating the rest of the team through their energy.
“Saraya, my Co-captain, was an absolute monster in the middle today. She was up on every single ball, and she was just absolutely swinging everything she could I was really impressed with her effort, her ability to work for every single point, and her energy. I’d also say Kaliah was an important part of this game. She was able to take a couple of off balls from the back row and turn them into absolutely beautiful sets for our front row players and our back row players,” said Holten.
The game concluded with an exciting come-from-behind win in the final set, despite being down early. Beckwith highlighted a leading factor in this comeback, noting how Kate Rodgers ’26’s serves brought the team to victory with many aces and impressive plays.
Beckwith said, “A standout player in this game was Kate Rodgers. She hit and passed strong throughout the game, but she was particularly crucial in the fifth set while serving. She served over ten points to finish the set 15-9, starting when we were behind 4-9. It was a mix of both aces by her and also well-fought plays by the team as a collective.”
Girls Volleyball will play against St. Paul’s on Friday.
