4/1 – Andover 6, Groton 3
Girls Tennis faced talented rivals Groton in the opening match of the season, playing away without the support of the Andover home crowd. The competition featured six singles matches and three doubles matches, with players of all grades representing both schools. After nine highly contested matches, Andover emerged victorious over Groton by 6 wins to 3.
Following just a few weeks of training, Girls Tennis visited Groton for the first game of the season. Despite the challenging first match, Andover displayed incredible skill and had several standout performances. Angelina Zhang ’27 highlighted some singles matches and the support from her coach, describing her teammates’ resilience and patience when faced with tricky opponents, as well as their passion for ensuring the team’s success.
“Mercan [Draman ’26] did really well in her singles match. Her opponent was doing slices every single shot, basically moon balls. Mercan did very well, and then she was hitting those deep and really wide shots, and then she was able to win with a significant difference. Coach Lapson was also really walking around observing every single match, trying to highlight and support people when mistakes happened, ” said Zhang.
With new players, the team had to adapt and showcase its skills in the important opening game. While six players competed in singles, others played doubles, and some balanced both, combining the focus required for singles with the coordination needed for doubles. Michelle Oh ’29 reflected on the team’s success and shared insights on the techniques the players were able to apply mid-game from practice.
“Kendra [Tomola’s ’26] volleying really stood out to me because she was getting all these low, hard volleys and using their pace against them to hit winning shots. In the tiebreaker, it was going back and forth, but when we pulled away, I think it was mainly because of our consistency. I’m happy about my aggressiveness at the net towards the end of the tiebreaker because that’s something that the coaches have been putting a lot of emphasis on,” said Oh.
Despite playing in an unfamiliar environment, Andover maintained high energy throughout every match. The lack of support only brought the team closer as players grouped to watch matches and cheer on teammates. Draman described the support her teammates gave one another and the steps they took to keep spirits high.
“Doubles are all on at the same time, but across courts, we still like to shout out to each other, ‘Go Blue!’ And then during singles, two players who weren’t playing singles were going around to all the courts and cheering us on. And then, whenever someone was done with a singles match, they would go and watch other people. So we were always cheering each other on,” said Draman.
The team will look to add to its win by defeating Austin Prep and Winsor School next week.
