Ashley Schuman ’27 prepares to serve the ball.
10/11 – Andover: 3, St. Paul’s: 0
10/16 – Andover: 0, Exeter: 3
Andover Girls Volleyball had a commanding performance against St. Paul’s last Friday, showcasing strong communication, strategic play, and control of the game’s pace. However, it faced a tough defeat on Wednesday against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter).
Zoë Gilbertson ’27 described the Exeter game positively. She noted that although the team made some mistakes and unforced errors, it played well.
“We did them out, and I think that overall, the team played pretty well as we did in the past. We’ve struggled a little bit with serve-receive, but I feel like this game, we pulled it together more. I think we should have served better, so that was definitely where St. Paul’s had many of their points. I feel like part of why the sets were closer was because there’s a lot of unforced errors on our side, but overall, I thought it was pretty good,” said Gilbertson.
Selene Xu ’27 had similar remarks about the team’s performance. She believed that Andover was the stronger team overall, but acknowledged that it struggled with their serves throughout the match, a crucial factor that ultimately impacted their ability to maintain momentum.
“The game overall went pretty well. It’s just that we had fourteen missed serves, but we still won. That tells us we are the better team, but it’s all under our control. We should tone down on mistakes on serves, and things under our control so we can play even better. I feel like most of the time it’s also good that we were on our level and not down to their level. I would just say that I think we did very well on teamwork and our energy levels,” said Xu.
Despite the 3-0 sweep and overall outstanding showing, the team faced a daunting ten-point deficit during the second set. Gilbertson credited a large part of their impressive comeback to Kate Rodgers ’26 and Kaliah Fortune ’26, who showcased remarkable composure under pressure.
“It was the second set, and we were down by ten, which was bad because there were a lot of unforced errors on our part. But then Kate Rogers, an Upper, went on an eight-point run. That won us the game. I thought Kaliah Fortune, also an Upper, had a really good serve and was just playing super smart as a setter, and Selene Xu, both of our setters. They were playing smart and making good decisions to run the offense,” said Gilbertson.
After the game against St. Paul’s, Gilbertson shared that the team shifted their focus and prepared for their next challenge. They were set to face their historic rivals, Exeter, on Wednesday.
“During practice, we were focusing on looking for where the holes in their defense are because we know that they’ll do the same for us. Hitting balls down the line deep, looking for tips, but also being ready for when they do that to us because they are very strategic and just an overall strong team,” said Gilbertson.
Unfortunately, the team lost 3-0. However, Ashley Schuman ’27 added that each set was relatively close, an area of optimism.
“It was pretty good. I think we had a lot of energy swings that contributed to the score, but otherwise, we played great and had some really strong moments. Gracie Aziabor ’26 came in and played really well, especially filling in for [Co-Captian] Saraya Angbazo ’25, who is hurt right now. She had some really good blocks and swings that shifted our moment at some point and just getting some balls down in the court,” said Schuman.
Girls Varsity Volleyball will travel away to take on Northfield Mount Hermon this Saturday.
