Andrews Uses Inner Fire to Make Quick Transition to Michigan
2/8/2019 10:25:00 AM | Water Polo, Features
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Imagine moving to a new country where you barely know anyone and having less than three weeks to experience a new culture, navigate a college campus at a prestigious university, meet new people and catch up to your teammates who had four months to learn the playbook and practice with each other.
That is what University of Michigan freshman Abby Andrews had to do in order to become a starter in her collegiate water polo debut. Not to mention her debut came against the No. 1 team in the country and the defending national champions.
Andrews has been successful in the early going with the Wolverines, and it all comes down to a fire that has burned inside her since she was a kid.
"I was a bit of an angry kid and had a lot of fire in me," said Andrews. "Water polo is such a great way to express yourself in so many different ways. I wasn't going to play originally because my sister played, but my parents forced me into it. I'm so glad they did because I loved it from the start."
Her love for water polo and talent in the sport has grown in the last eight years since she started playing at age 11. She became a member of the U14, U16, U18 and U20 junior teams in Australia from 2014-18. In 2017, she toured Europe with the Australia Born 2000 team and was called up to train with the national team. She captained the Born 2000 team at the 2018 Youth World Championships in Belgrade, where Michigan head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi first saw her play.
"Abby is a baller," Leonardi said when Andrews signed a tender of financial aid in early December. "She has great vision and is an elite left-handed, two-way player. Her leadership, poise, intelligence, maturity and playmaking ability in the water will make her an impact player."
At first, Andrews was not planning to come to the United States to play in college when she finished high school in 2017. She had options but chose to stay in Australia and go to the University of Queensland.
When she met Leonardi her thoughts changed.
"There was something inside me that said 'that sounds like fun,'" said Andrews. "I had wanted to take the easy option out of high school, and I was kind of bored after a year."
After her team placed fourth at the 2018 Youth World Championships right when school was starting up in early September, Andrews took a little time off. She visited campus later in the fall and was able to bounce questions off junior Maddy Steere and sophomore Sofie Pontré, whom she had played with in Australia. She wanted to know if coming to Michigan to play water polo would benefit her, and they both told her they loved it. She committed after hearing their praise.
After Andrews made the decision to come to Michigan, she knew she had to be at peak fitness coming in right before the season began. She did a few Australian junior camps before Christmas to keep her fitness at a high level.
When she arrived in early January, less than three weeks before the season opener, she had a lot more to catch up on.
"It was really hard at first because everyone knew all the plays and, because I'm left-handed, I have to execute and be involved in pretty much all of them," said Andrews. "I knew I had to dedicate hours of my day to watching film and try to catch up. I had to make sure that the team didn't feel as though I was dead weight. Eventually I got into it, and now I feel like I am involved and that the team respects me as a player."
Developing timing with teammates and finding out where they like to receive the ball are things that can take years to perfect. Andrews had less than 20 days to do her best and figure out some of that.
So far, so good. She has been named CWPA Rookie of the Week after both of Michigan's tournaments so far. She leads the team with 16 points and is tied for the lead with seven assists. Her nine goals are third most on the team. Scoring is something she became even more focused on in the team's last game, an 11-9 win over No. 8 Pacific, in which she led the team with four goals and two assists.
"On the first attack of the game, the Pacific coach yelled 'She's not a shooter,'" said Andrews. "He clearly didn't know me. I am a confident player and can shoot. I stepped up against that because I don't like when people doubt me. That is that fire inside of me."
Andrews has worked hard to make the transition as smooth as possible. She had a busy January and is now starting to settle in to her new home. She hopes to transfer to the Ross School of Business and major in finance, which is what she studied at Queensland last year.
With her fire, she is going to be successful at Michigan.
