Cristina Mommsen ’09, Captain Isabelle Engelsted ’09, Melissa Yan ’10, and Meghan McCafferty ’10 led the way as Andover preserved its perfect season. The team bested both Deerfield Academy on Saturday and St. Paul’s School on Wednesday, improving its season record to 11-0. On Saturday, amidst a crowd of cheering fans, Andover played an impressive Parents’ Weekend game. All players received playing time. Andover easily secured the win in three sets, taking each 25-15, 25-17, and 26-24, respectively. Mommsen led the team with 10 kills, closely followed by Engelsted with nine. Yan garnered 27assists as setter. Stephanie Xu ’09 had 10 service points and three aces, and Kemi Amurawaiye ’12 had five blocks. Jamie Shenk ’12 led Andover’s defense with 21 digs. This Wednesday, Andover traveled to Concord, New Hampshire, to play St. Paul’s. Andover triumphed, playing four sets and winning the match 3-1. The final scores of each set were 25-18, 23-25, 25-13, and 25-17, respectively. While St. Paul’s is usually a comfortable win, Andover lost the second set. In the second set, Andover boasted an unusual lineup, with Mommsen setting. Mommsen said, “We hope to improve upon this rotation in the upcoming week. The reason for the change is the absence of Melissa Yan, our setter, for the Andover-Exeter rivalry match-up in a week.” Caroline Colombo ’09 continued, “The third set, however, we played our game, and St. Paul’s managed to give us a great second half of the match.” Mommsen once again led the team with fifteen kills and thirteen saves. Yan had thirty-six assists. Shenk had seventeen service points and four aces, and McCafferty had ten blocks, six of which were stuffs. Katy Svec ’10 and Engelsted led defensively with nineteen digs each. The team has come a long way this season. Engelsted said, “We have learned how each other plays and have found a rhythm of our own. Both our offense and defense has improved dramatically as we work together. We hope to finish our season playing strong.” Mommsen added, “We are moving forward with bitter-sweet emotions to the end of our regular season. Our team will continue to work hard and fight for the title. We always need to bring our A-game, knowing that other teams facing us play with fearless emotions, leaving everything on the court because they have nothing to lose.” This coming Sunday, select Andover players will compete in the All Star Tournament of the New England Prep School Fall Girls Volleyball Association (NEPSFGVA) at Wilbraham Monson. As a top-three ranked team, Andover will be allowed to send four representatives to the tournament: Mommsen, 2007 MVP of the league, Engelsted, Boston Globe All Star 2007, Yan, and McCafferty. Currently, as the only undefeated team in the league, the Andover squad is ranked number one.
