Kailynn Zheng PG’27 smashes the ball onto Hotchkiss’s side of the court.
9/19 – Andover: 3, Hotchkiss: 1
9/19 – Andover: 3, Taft: 0
On Saturday, Girls Volleyball (3–1) played both Hotchkiss and Taft in a home doubleheader. After falling to both teams in blowout losses at this same event last year, Andover looked to settle the score and continue its strong start to the season. Girls Volleyball emerged victorious against Hotchkiss in a close 3–1 match, before extending its winning streak by beating Taft 3–0.
Girls Volleyball opened its match against Hotchkiss with a dominant 25–10 first set. However, in the second set, Hotchkiss regained its footing, delivering an early push that quickly shifted momentum out of Andover’s favor. As the team lost its lead, down 17–18, Kailynn Zheng PG’27 stepped up to the service line, looking to help her team take back the set. Grace Fang ’30 explained a crucial three point swing that helped drive Girls Volleyball to the second set win.
“In the middle of the second set, and the score was really close, there was a massive three point swing. Kailynn had a really hard serve, which aced, then followed by a really great hit from Danielle [Han ’28] to keep the momentum, and then Kailynn served it to a super short gap for another ace. Then the set eventually ended with an ace from Zaeemah [Keshinro ’29]. The fact that we won the second set was really important. If we had lost the second set, and then we lost the third set, if we had been down 1–2, it would have completely changed the game,” said Fang.
Andover fell short in the third set as Hotchkiss raised its playing level, but the team regrouped in the fourth set to close out the match. Zoë Gilbertson ’27 explained what went wrong in the third set and what changed when the team reset.
“In set three, we were getting a little bit complacent and letting them pick up our softer balls, and not being super strategic about where we were heading. [Hotchkiss] also picked up their game as well. Then in set four, we regrouped, reset, and played the game that we played in the first two sets,” said Gilbertson.
Throughout the entire game, but primarily in the fourth set, the middle hitters played an important role in maintaining control at the net. Specifically, Keshinro consistently got a hand on the ball, relieving the defense and giving Andover more chances to score. Fang described a moment in the fourth set when Keshinro’s play helped the team grit out the win.
“In the fourth set, Zaeemah had three huge blocks in a row, which brought up the energy on our side. Everyone on the bench and in the crowd got hype. Those blocks helped us to go on the long run. Throughout the game, Zaeemah and all the other middles were all really crucial, they were great attacking, and had strong blocks all day,” said Fang.
After finishing victorious against Hotchkiss across four sets, Andover carried its momentum straight into the second match of the doubleheader against Taft. Serving and defense would set the tone early, Co-Captain Selene Xu ’27 highlighted a standout performance from one of her teammates.
“Shoutout Danielle Han, [she] had a crazy serve run. It was so many points in a row that the other team had to call a timeout so that they could throw her off, but they didn’t and she just kept serving hard. Also, we had great defense today. Whether you’re a defensive specialist or a libero, generally we played really strong today and we were hustling a lot,” said Xu.
As the game entered set two and the other home sports events on Saturday afternoon ended, the Blue Key Heads arrived and electrified the gym. Later in the set, Boys Soccer arrived in full uniform to show their support. Elsa Wang ’30 described how the fans brought additional energy and confidence to the team, helping the team finish the night strong with a 3–0 win.
“The Blue Key Heads came in, and it was really energetic. It was hard to keep the energy up in the first set, but much easier in the second set with the help of the crowd. Our bench players were yelling all the time, and we got more comfortable playing,” said Wang.
Girls Volleyball will compete against Loomis Chaffee (Loomis) away this Saturday.
