Andover Girls Volleyball completed its third sweep in four consecutive games with a 3-0 victory over BB&N on Wednesday.
On Sunday, however, Andover fell for the second time this season with a 3-1 loss to Choate.
Against BB&N, Darcy Burnham ’18 served four consecutive points to give Andover an early 9-4 lead in the first set. The team maintained its lead throughout the set and finished at 25-22.
“They didn’t have very strong hitters, which gave us an advantage, but their setter was all over the court,” said Tiffany Bauman ’16.
Bauman and Burnham both served well in the second set, boosting Andover to a 25-15 win.
“We started out a little shaky. Things went better in the second set because our energy was back up and we played more cohesively,” said Claudia Leopold ’18.
“Our enthusiasm and our level of play improved throughout the game,” added Janneke Evans ’18.
In the third set, Co-Captain Annette Bell ’16 served four consecutive points to propel Andover Girls Volleyball to an early 4-0 lead.
Andover would ride this momentum to a 25-14 set victory and a 3-0 sweep of BB&N.
Andover made alterations to its starting lineup to allow substitutes to get playing time.
“We worked on changing the tempo during this game,” said Leopold.
Burnham had three aces and a kill percentage of 96. Co-Captain Erica Shin ’16 had a strong defensive showing with 37 digs.
On Saturday, Andover fell to an undefeated Choate team 3-1.
Despite an early lead in the first set, Andover allowed Choate to gain momentum and go up 15-8. Under the leadership of Eden Livingston ’15, Andover rallied back to almost even the score at 21-22. The rally’s momentum was quelled, however, when Choate scored three more points to win the set 25-22.
“When Choate got a really good quick play in, we would get down and they could easily push points on us,” said Franziska Trautmann ’16.
Down early in the second set after service errors, Andover scraped out points to bring the score to 18-15 from 9-2. Once again, however, Choate maintained its lead and won the set, 25-20.
“Choate did really well working their middle [hitter, who is] big and can hit [the ball] where she wants to. It was hard to put a block on her because she is tall and quick, so it put a lot of pressure on our defense,” said Trautmann.
Eager to avenge its previous set losses, Andover entered the third set with strong communication. To match up against Choate’s middle hitter, Andover shifted its defensive mindset and won the set 25-21 with four consecutive points from Alex Becker ’15.
“After the second set, we started working as a team. Once we got that down, it was a different game. We did really well offensively, changing the speed of the ball and placing it where we wanted to. We worked well around Choate’s huge blocks,” said Trautmann.
While Andover seemed poised to take the fourth set, the team faltered down the stretch and allowed Choate to close the set with a 25-18 victory.
Despite the loss, Trautmann and Becker both boasted good offensive performances with eight and nine kills, respectively. Bell had a perfect serving game with 18 successful serves.
Andover ended the week with a 5-2 record. The team takes on Dana Hall on Saturday at home.
