Co-Captain Dagny Bingham ’23 hits against opponents.
Wendy Wang ’24 sets the ball to Co-Captain Dagny Bingham ’23.
With a quick recovery by Wendy Wang ’24 and a final hit by Dagny Bingham ’23, Girls Volleyball defeated Milton in a 3-0 shut-out last Saturday. The team’s record stands at 14-4.
For its Senior Night game, the team modified its starting lineup to incorporate the senior class. According to Lena Ciganer-Albeniz ’25, Andover effortlessly eased into the game with big plays despite these major changes.
“I think we played really well overall. There were a lot of adjustments to the line-up because it was Senior Night. I think we were pretty consistent with our hits, and our defense was very good as usual [and] there were also a lot of big blocks,” said Ciganer-Albeniz.
Head Coach Clyfe Beckwith noted that players were able to depend on each other to keep the ball alive and to make smart plays throughout the game. Coach Beckwith particularly identified Pauline Huand ’23 as one of the main offensive contributors.
Coach Beckwith said, “We played as a team against Milton, covering for each other and playing to our own strengths, like setting Pauline in the middle as she was on a hot streak, and going to the outside sparingly as Milton set a very strong block. We got strong plays when we needed to stop Milton’s momentum [with] strong hits and key defense.”
Co-Captain Dagny Bingham ’23 also identified Huang as a key player on the team’s offensive. Bingham mentioned that Huang successfully executed skills and plays that the team had been practicing throughout the season.
“[Huang] had an amazing game, probably her best game of our season. I think she had at one point like ten kills in one set. It was really awesome and she was running faster plays [and] we’ve been working towards that all season. She finally got to try [running the faster plays] and it worked very well. That definitely contributed to the team’s success,” said Bingham.
Huang shared the growth in how she deals with stressful games. She played one of her most successful games against Milton, and that was, as she explained, due to her ability to concentrate and be present in the game.
“Surprisingly I’ve learned to get over performance anxiety. I used to care so much about what people think about my performance on the court, but I found out that the more I care about others’ opinions the worse I do. Now I’ve learned to focus more on what’s happening on the court, to think that I have all my skill sets in my pocket, and to believe in myself and my teammates,” said Huang.
With only two games left in her volleyball career at Andover, Huang shares her ambitions of pushing herself to play aggressively while enjoying the rest of the season.
Huang said, “I definitely don’t want the season to end this quickly because this is probably going to be the last time that I play volleyball competitively and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to continue playing in college. But I’m trying to have as much fun as I can and treasure every moment with the team and on the court right now, so that I don’t leave any regrets.”
Looking forward, the team will continue working on communication in the transition from defense to offense, which the team struggled against Milton, according to Coach Beckwith. Moreover, the team will strive towards curating offensive attacks and preparing for the ball after a block.
“We let quite a few balls drop after a teammate made an amazing defensive play and we made too many service errors… Confidence in our varied and quick attack, and covering for each other on the court,” said Coach Beckwith.
Girls Volleyball will face Worcester on Wednesday and Exeter on Saturday.
