Andover played its second home scrimmage of the season against Central Catholic High School on Tuesday. Although seeking revenge for its previous loss to Central Catholic High School, the team walked away with a tie match 2-2. Andover’s last scrimmage against Central Catholic was its first scrimmage of the season, and the team had not yet finalized its line-up. Andover’s lack of experience and undeveloped team chemistry perpetuated its defeat. Despite a strong start in the first set of that game, Andover lost when the persistent Central Catholic came from behind to steal the victory. Fortunately, Andover recovered from its early loss, and has since maintained a nearly unblemished record. Although Andover was disappointed with the results ofTuesday’s game, the team faced several challenges that made the game difficult. Several members of both the starting lineup and the bench were sidelined for a variety of different reasons. Despite these difficulties, the team came out strong, takiing he first two sets easily, 25-13 and 25-21. Despite Andover’s quick start, Central fought back in the third and fourth sets. Andover, plagued by serving woes and strong Central serving, were unable to generate offense. Additionally, the Central defense improved dramatically, and Andover hitters were unable to find the holes on Central’s side of the net. Central had trouble hitting in the first two sets, and resorted to short balls and tipping over the block. Several of these balls fell just beyond the outstretched arms of the Andover defense. Despite a late serving surge by Katy Svec ’10, the team dropped the fourth set to Central, 25-23. The referees and coaches convened after the fourth set, and called the match to a precipitous conclusion, as the match was only a scrimmage. Once again, the Central scrimmage proved to be a valuable benchmark for Andover at this point in the season, as the team looks down the stretch towards the postseason. The Andover volleyball team with travel to Deerfield Academy for its game on Saturday. Entering with a two-game winning streak, Deerfield hopes to top league powerhouse Andover.Andover, meanwhile, remains in an intense fight with Choate and Hotchkiss for first place in the league standings.
