Deerfield traveled to Andover for an unusual Sunday match. The final score was 3-1 in favor of Andover with both teams showing some very strong volleyball as well as some uncharacteristic mistakes.
Deerfield fell behind in the first set on Andover’s strong serving and our own inconsistent passing, but Deerfield was able to fight back on the strong, intelligent hitting of Georgia Quesnelle ‘19 and Camila Navarro ‘20. Andover took the first one, but by the end of the set, it was clear that the teams were closely matched.
In the 2nd set, Navarro went on a long service run, backed by the newly awakened hitting of Kaelene Spang ‘19 and Lara Akande ‘20 in the middle. Rosa Sun ‘21 was able to move the ball around effectively to keep Andover guessing on their blocks while Daphne Gavros ‘22 and Nat Jimenez ‘20 provided the strong passing that is the foundation of any offense. Deerfield was able to even the match by taking the set, 25-22.
In the 3rd set, Deerfield let Andover get out to an early lead again before closing to 9-9 then letting them get ahead again, 15-10. Some good right-side hitting from Abby Bracken ‘19 kept us in the set and a late service run from Navarro looked like it might allow Deerfield to pull even, but Andover prevailed 25-22.
In the fourth set, Deerfield came out strong and took an early lead. A succession of untimely injuries stopped our momentum and Andover took advantage with a few service runs that allowed them to win the set 25-19 and take the win for the day.
Next up, Deerfield hosts their final home contest of the regular season with a match against Taft on Saturday at 4 pm.