Ridgefield High School’s Lizzy Andrew recently traveled to Puerto Rico where her national team secured gold during the 2023 Girls U19 NORCECA Pan American Cup for volleyball. From May 9 to May 14.
The 6-foot-5, soon-to-be-senior was a key piece of the team’s roster and received the Best Blocker Award.
The realization she was playing international volleyball for the United States came to fruition during the first game’s warm-ups, Andrew said.
She was one of only 20 athletes called up for the U19 National Team for the Pan American Cup. After that, Andrew became one of 12 on the final roster to represent the United States in Puerto Rico for the tournament.
“I think it shows that it takes a lot of hard work to get there because of the level of play, and I think it was really good for me because it exposed me to girls from all over the country who are better than me, and it made me better as a person and as a player because I was challenged,” Andrew told The Reflector.
A news release from the Ridgefield School District stated the Pan American Cup took place in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. National teams represented the countries and territories of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The championship match at the national tournament was played between the United States and Mexico. Andrew and the U.S. National Team took three sets, (25-8, 25-18, 25-18).
“The American team dominated 40-18 in attacks and 10-1 in serves. They also held a comfortable 8-2 margin in blocks, but handed out more points from unforced errors 23-17,” the NORCECA Volleyball Confederation stated in an article. “Middle blocker Elizabeth Andrew scored 13 points for the United States, on five attacks, three blocks and a match-high of five aces.”
The release from the school district stated Andrew will play in the Junior National Championships in Chicago with the Athena Volleyball Academy 17 Gold Club team.
After that, she will train to make the final active roster for the U.S. National World Team.
“I think I’m gonna keep an open mind because I know that there are many people better than me and I still need to be better. I need to work harder to improve myself,” Andrew said as she prepares for the World Team. “But it did feel really good to play really well at the Pan American games.”
A packed summer of intense competition is on the slate for Andrew as she looks forward to her final volleyball season as a Ridgefied Spudder.
“I’m really looking forward to using the skills that I learned internationally with the coaches and with the college coaches, and kind of bring it back to school to make my school game better. And just kind of make me a better player, because here, I don’t get access to those college coach resources, and I get access to more opinions and more philosophies around volleyball when I’m playing with USA,” Andrew said. “And it’s really cool to kind of bring them back and kind of form my own philosophy and incorporate in how I play.”
