Andover Girls Tennis emerged with its undefeated record broken after a 6-3 clash with Milton last Wednesday.
Ahead of the match, Andover knew toppling the tennis titans would be no easy task. While Milton has only dropped one set the entire season, Andover added six more in its last matchup.
“They [Milton] have a very strong team with a very deep ladder. We knew it was going to be a very tough challenge,” said Isabella Haegg ’16, who fell 6-0 in the second set and 10-7 in her emotional tie-breaker.
Haegg said, “It was tough. I mean, I was disappointed because this was a girl I grew up playing with. We’ve been doubles partners before. She got more consistent, and I got more inconsistent.”
Despite the loss, Andover had a few shining moments. Number One seed Reagan Posorske ’17 extended her undefeated streak, overwhelming Milton’s nationally-ranked Number One in a 6-1, 6-1 win.
“It means a lot to me to remain undefeated,” said Posorske. “But if it wasn’t for my team, the outcome of my matches would be different.”
The second point for Andover came from Katherine Tobeason ’14 at the Number Five spot.
At 4-2 going into doubles, Andover knew it could claim victory if it took all three of the doubles matches.
“We thought we could win three matches,” said Haegg. Posorske and Co-Captain Camille Price ’15 won 8-4 on Court 1, giving Andover a life-line. The team jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Court 2, but eventually fell 8-4. A close 8-6 loss on Court 3 added to the loss.
“I think while our loss against Milton today was certainly frustrating and close towards when we had the opportunity to clinch the doubles points,” said Price.
With a tournament at Kent this coming weekend, Andover must recover quickly to be on top of its game. “I think this loss only adds fuel to the fire to be successful during the Kent tournament — it motivates us to train and play a lot harder,” said Posorske.
Haegg said, “We’re a little disappointed, but we knew [Milton was] good. All in all, we’re not crushed.”
“Given the dynamic of the team, we’re going to take the loss and turn it into motivation. We’ve been winning so consistently that this gives us something to work towards, some incentive to ramp up the training,” Price added.
“We will face them in the NEPSAC tournament at the end of the term, and I think this will be good in the long run.”
