With a cold steady rain falling outside, Deerfield hosted Andover for a Sunday match in the warm confines of the Barn. The final score was 3-0 in favor of Deerfield, but that top-line score is a little deceiving; these were two well-matched teams that both played strong volleyball.
Deerfield got off to a great start in the first set with strong serves from Camila Navarro ‘20 staking Deerfield to a 5-0 lead. Good passing allowed Deerfield to eventually extend that lead to 18-8 before winning the set, 25-14.
Deerfield looked like it might be able to similarly control the 2nd set, getting out to leads of 8-5, 13-8, and 16-10, but Andover’s strong middle hitting and serving brought them to a lead of 19-20. Some long, hard-fought rallies went both ways but Andover held the lead at 21-23 and then had set point at 23-24, but clutch serving from Georgia Sackrey ‘23 and amazing passing/digs from Daphne Gavros ‘22 brought the crowd to its feet and Deerfield ended up winning the set 27-25.
The 3rd set was hard-fought from the beginning with neither team able to get out to a big lead. Good passing and hitting from both teams led to long rallies. Evan Burkert ‘21 and Lara Akande ‘20 battled successfully in the middle against Andover’s strong attacks and blocks, Rosa Sun ‘21 found her setting form after being out for the last week, and Zoe Gavros ‘23 attacked effectively from the front row and the back row. In the end, Deerfield won the set, 25-21.
Thank you to Andover for a great match and for making the long trip today!
Next up, Deerfield takes to the road for a match against Taft on Saturday at 4 pm.