RallyNorth.net

Andover falls short in North final

Tuesday, June, 12 By David Willis
Staff writer

For a time, it seemed as if Andover was on the verge of stealing momentum with the Division 1 North title on the line.

With the Golden Warriors trailing 1-0, the team of Elia Petros and Anna Higgins stormed to a dominant victory at No. 2 doubles, handing their teammates a spark and sending fans into massive cheers.

That, however, would be as good as it would get for Andover.

The No. 2 Golden Warriors could not muster another win, falling to top-seeded, undefeated Acton-Boxboro 4-1 in the Division 1 North championship on Tuesday in at Newton South High School.

“We just came up a little short today,” said Hibino. “Our girls battled. We competed and gave ourselves a chance to hang in there. But we knew going in that caliber of team Acton-Boxboro is. They are the No. 1 team in the state, and they definitely played like it.”

Andover finished the season 19-2. It was the Warriors’ first trip to the North final since winning the state title in 2015.

Acton-Boxboro (17-0), advances to the Division 1 state semifinals (Monday in Lexington), against the winner of Wellesley and Brookline. They play for the Division 1 South title on Wednesday.

“This is an (Acton-Boxboro) team that didn’t make the tournament last year,” said Hibino. “But their top three singles players are freshman, and they are great. They changed the fortunes of that team very quickly.”

The Colonials opened Tuesday with a victory, but that’s when Petros and Higgins struck back.

The duo — who clinched Sunday’s North semifinal win over Boston Latin — earned a convincing 6-3, 6-0 victory.

“I’m so proud of them,” said Hibino. “Elia is our captain and the only senior in our lineup. She was coming off graduation and the all-night senior safari on Monday and she was able to pull it together. And Anna was great again.”

But Acton-Boxboro took the next two matches, and by the time Andover’s No. 1 doubles team of Caroline Yang and Annette Kim tied their match 1-1, the Colonials had clinched the team win.

“I felt like, if they had played a full match (instead of a first-to-10 final set), Caroline and Annette could have turned it around for a win,” said Hibino. “But they were a better team today.”

Following the loss, Hibino was looking forward to 2019, when he will return all three singles players and three doubles players.

“I feel like we met or exceeded our expectations for this spring,” he said, “But it’s always sad when you fall a few rounds short of your goals. Our goal, in my eyes, is always to win the state title. We will start work now and set our goals to be the last team standing next spring.”