The Varsity Squad felt that they had been competitive with Scotch Plains in their home match during the second set where the team held a lead late but let a late run by the Raiders end their chances to tie the match. With that confidence, Summit took the floor at Scotch Plains and played one of their best sets of the season, hitting for 10 kills, getting 2 solo blocks from Nicole Bazalar, 1 ace and 13 digs to win the set 25-21 despite 5 service errors. It was no surprise that in the set win, Summit gave up only ace. Margo Reigle hit for 4 kills, Julianne Smolyn dug up 6 balls and Jess Salter dialed up 6 assists as the three captains led the way to the set victory.
The second set was really not a different story until late in the set. Summit led 15-11 but Scotch Plains closed the gap to 15-13 and it looked like another late collapse by the Hilltoppers. Summit, however, reacted and fought back, extending the lead to 21-16 and looking like they had the Raiders defeated. But 2 kills by SP's middle hitter, 2 hitting errors by Summit and 1 ace against, the Raiders were back in the match at 21-21. Summit regained the lead after a free ball error by Scotch Plains but a key missed serve gave the momentum right back to SP. Summit's passing was not perfect in the next 3 points and it led to poor attacks which gave the Raiders to run their offense and score 3 points to finish off Summit 25-22. Summit hit for 7 kills and 6 aces (2 each from Angela Scott and Gabbie Mejia) but only had 9 digs and still committed 4 serving errors.
The team could not recover emotionally and it affected the quality of their play as Scotch Plains started off set 3 by taking a 13-7 lead midway through the set. Summit cut the lead down to 3 at 13-10 but another big Raider run had them up 20-10 late. The teams split points after that and Summit ran out of time in a 25-15 loss. Summit managed only 6 kills and had no aces in the set but gave up 4 aces in the set loss.
Margo Reigle led the way with 8 kills and Kathleen Morano chipped in 6 to lead the way. Julianne Smolyn's 9 digs paved the way for Summit's 31 digs. Nicole Bazalar tied for second in point scoring with 6 points thanks to her 4 kills and 2 solo blocks out of the middle.
The JV Squad came back in set 1 from a 24-20 deficit to win 26-24 in a stunning turn of events as the Summit serving got 3 late aces to get Summit out of the hole they had put themselves in. The second set, however, saw the team's serve receive fall apart and the Raiders dominated throughout, ending the Summit squad's chances with a 25-12 set win.
The 3rd set was a close set with both teams taking brief leads through th latter portions of the set but Summit's passing faltered late and the team found itself down 19-14 late. But the serving attack of SHS got the team back into the game as the team closed to 2 at 19-17 but the Raiders fought back and had the Hilltoppers on the brink of elimination at 24-19. Taylor Thompson stepped up and served an ace and 3 consecutive near ace serves which allowed Summit to run easy attacks and get to within 1 at 24-23. The next point was a microcosm of the entire season as the team served tough, got an easy ball to defend but could not capitalize and tie the game. The Raiders defended the Summit attack and finished it off with a middle attack for a 25-23 win.
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