Sarah-Beth Sirmon PG’24 digs the ball.
Saturday 10/7 – Andover: 3, Choate: 1
Wednesday 10/11 – Andover: 3, Austin Prep: 0
Andover Girls Volleyball demonstrated resilience this week, defeating both Choate on Saturday and Austin Preparatory School (Austin Prep) on Wednesday. The team’s consistent support for one another led to a great week of games for the team.
In its game against Choate on Saturday, Sophie Holten ’25 acknowledged how well the team did as a whole, but also highlighted how Sarah-Beth Sirmon PG’24 was resilient after the team would lose a point and being a source of support for the team.
“Sarah Beth…[is] very good at coming back after a point that we’ve lost and just changing something and kind of just rebounding off of it easily and just resetting… She’s just always such an amazing base and foundation for our team,” said Holten.
Holten noted how Andover’s loud atmosphere during Saturday’s game contributed to its strong performance. According to Holten, the high level of energy didn’t just come from the players on the court, but also the bench and the people in the crowd.
“I think that not only the starters, but the bench obviously brings a huge amount of warmth and volume to the table when we’re playing a game, and also the audience and our friends who come to watch us… Andover in general is just a place that’s just loud and friendly and full of energy… I think that’s really well reflected during games, especially volleyball because it’s a loud sport,” said Holten.
According to Jacqueline Li ’27, the team’s loud and strong communication on the court has helped them succeed because other teams have noted the high spirit and volume of the team.
“We’ve been labeled as a decently loud team by other teams in our league because we yell a lot which I think is good for us… We have a lot of energy and other teams are intimidated by that,” said Li.
Andover ultimately defeated Austin Prep 3-0, but it wasn’t exactly an easy win for Andover. According to Saraya Angbazo ’25, the team started off strong in its first set but suffered a significant drop in intensity in the second and third set.
“Our first set started off really strong and we had top-notch energy… [We] brought a lot of fire to the beginning of the match, something we’ve been needing to work on for a while. However, in the second set, our energy dipped tremendously, and the score was actually quite close, scaring us a bit. We were able to pull through, but the third set wasn’t looking amazing either. We had a dip in the energy, but luckily, we were able to bring it up, winning us our match against Austin Prep,” wrote Angbazo in an email to The Phillipian.
Angbazo looks forward to the anticipated game against St. Paul’s today and predicts a close game. Despite the quick turnaround after the Austin Prep game, Andover will step onto the court ready to play.
Angbazo wrote, “With only one day to practice between [the] Austin Prep game and Friday’s St. Paul’s game, we’ll definitely be working towards cleaning up our playing and increasing the aggressiveness we bring to the court. As a whole, we’re always looking to up the energy both on the court and on the sidelines, so that’s something constantly in our minds!”
Andover Girls Volleyball will play away against St. Paul’s on Friday.
