The Girls Volleyball team has already avenged last season’s loss to Exeter, and the season hasn’t even officially started yet. Captain Isabelle Engelsted ’09 feels optimistic about the team’s dynamic: “Saturday was a great way to start off the season. We worked really well together, especially for our first games as a team. As we play more together, we can only improve more. I’m really excited for the season.” The Girls Volleyball team unofficially kicked off the season with a tournament held at Andover last Saturday. Andover played 20-minute scrimmages against Phillips Exeter Academy, Deerfield Academy and Northfield Mount Hermon, completing the day on a high note, defeating rival Exeter in a stunning display of technique and finesse. Coach Clyfe Beckwith said, “As far as scores go, I was very pleased how the teams played. We have some tweaking to do in timing of plays, covering blocks, etc., but it looks good overall.” On Tuesday, Andover faced Central Catholic High School in a scrimmage. Scrimmages are particularly useful, especially at this early point in the season. The team got a chance to further develop a collective team dynamic. Each member enjoyed the opportunity to work with her teammates and to continue honing team cohesion. In a regular game, the starting lineup will play the entire game, with few substitutions into the second string, but the scrimmage allowed all of the players on the squad time on the court. Central Catholic proved to be a worthy opponent; each team finished within four points of the other, except in game two. Andover started the first game with the serve. For the first several minutes, the score flipped-flopped back and forth. Bolstered by accurate serving from Melissa Yan ’10, Andover managed to pull away and secure a 25-21 win. Engelsted and Caroline Gattuso ’09 carried the team in the second game. At the 13th point, Yan made a stunning play off of the net. Andover won easily. The final score was 25-17. Game three brought newcomers Kemi Amurawaiye ’11, Caroline Colombo ’09, Alice Tao ’11 and Jamie Shenk ’12 to the court. The team started out behind, but soon caught up to Central Catholic at 16 points. Of special note was Amurawaiye, who displayed her skill with spectacular hits, blocks and service. The final score was 25-23. The two teams decided to continue the match, although usually games are played for the best three out of five sets. Andover once again prevailed in the fourth game, winning 25-23. Despite its clean sweep of Central Catholic, Andover still has a few kinks to work out in its offensive strategy. Among the errors committed were sending hits into the net and serving out of bounds. The squad, however, displayed effective communication and defensive finesse. Coach Beckwith made final cuts this week; the team will include 13 players, including veterans Engelsted, Stephanie Xu ’09, Cristina Mommsen ’09, Megan McCafferty ’10, Viola Rothschild ’10, Katy Svec ’10,and Yan. Among the newcomers is Shenk, an outside hitter from California. Other new players include Amurawaiye at net and setter, and defensive specialist Shelby Carpenter ’12, both from Kansas. Carpenter’s sister was Cassidy Carpenter ’08, a captain of last year’s team. They will be joined by Gattuso, a postgraduate from North Reading, Massachusetts. Colombo and Tao of Andover, Massachusetts, both players from last year’s JV squad, will also contribute talent and experience. The team begins its season officially with an away game at Loomis this Saturday.
