RallyNorth.net

Andover sweeps into state semis

Saturday, November, 10 By Jeff Hamrick

LAWRENCE — For Andover volleyball coach George Sullivan it all proved to be all too symetrical.

The top-seeded Golden Warriors remained perfect on the season and advanced to the state semifinal for the second time in three years with a convincing sweep over sixth-seeded North Andover last night at Lawrence High School.

"I love the Andover-North Andover rivalry," said Sullivan, whose squad improved to 23-0. "We started the season with them, and it's really great we ended the North (tournament) with them. All the games are great."

The Warriors, who posted their 17th shutout of the season, advance to Tuesday's 7 p.m. state semifinal against Central/East champ Newton North (21-1). Andover has now won 69 of the 78 games it's played this season.

"I wanted to win for the seniors," Sullivan said. "When you're undefeated you start to make mistakes and start to panic, and that's what I was afraid of."

His Warriors quickly put their coach at ease last night. Andover breezed to 25-14 and 25-18 victories in the opening two games. North Andover (18-6) forced six ties and led only two times, both of them in the second game and never by more than two points.

But the Knights regrouped in the finale, forcing six ties and holding a 6-2 lead. But the Warriors showed their experience, breaking the last tie with seven straight points and a convincing 20-13 advantage. North Andover, making its first finals appearance since moving to Division 1 in 2009, never recovered.

"I think we were very focused," said Sullivan, whose squad is 2-2 in the past four North title matches. "We had a game plan and they stuck by it for a change. We've been here before, and the kids are really motivated."

Knights' coach Veronica Schaefer seconded that theory.

"I think the the biggest difference from our last couple games is that this was our first time (in the final)," she said. "It was just a different atmosphere that we haven't been in before. It was a much bigger crowd."