Summit looked to its last match to earn its 8th victory and wrap up the school year on a 6W-2L run. The Hilltoppers did not disappoint their fans and took the match in 2 games, 26-24, 25-22.
In typical fashion, Summit let a team come back on them late but, much like the match vs. Oak Knoll, the squad avoided a game 1 loss through key kills and magnificent pressured serving. Summit scored 20 of its 26 points through 13 kills, 6 aces and 1 block but also yielded 10 hitting errors and 2 missed serves. The Rams ended up scoring 11 points of their own and almost won game 1 despite the lopsided scoring advantage by Summit.
After Casey Nardino hit for 4 service points (2 aces) , the Rams called a time-out to settle the troops as the game was getting away from them at 17-12. Wardlaw came off the time-out with a renewed sense of purpose and nearly erased the lead in the next rotation. A Nardino kill gave the ball back to SHS leading 20-17 but the Rams found their offense as Summit couldn't get into a passing rhythm and after 11 rotations, Wardlaw-Hartridge led 22-20 as the Rams outscored Summit 10-3 during this stretch. Summit fought back to 22-22 but a kill and a bad pass later, SHS was facing a 24-22 deficit. A perfect pass by Jocelyn Mendez led to a quick middle attack that Nardino put down the get Gabby Mejia up at the service line. Summit rattled off 3 consecutive points thanks to the offensive contributions of Nardino who nailed 7 kills in the game.
Game 2 saw the Hilltoppers jump out to a 5-0 lead early on but the Rams would, yet again, try to chip away at the lead but the Hilltoppers stayed in control and went on 2 separate 5-1 and 4-0 runs that blew the game open at 17-7. The insurmountable lead was very nerve-wracking for the team as SHS saw its lead balloon to 23-13 after Alisha McDonnell ripped 3 service points but the lead proved not to be a lock as the Rams stormed back to to get within 3 at 23-20 after passing and hitting woes prevented Summit from closing out the match. The team settled down though and used Grace Galuppo's serving to close out the match at 25-22.
Another 20 kill effort by the Hilltoppers as Casey Nardino pounded out 9 kills to lead the way as Wardlaw had no answers for the senior captain. Summit served at 90% and hit for 11 aces led again by the 3 from Nardino. Grace Galuppo and Jocelyn Mendez got 4 digs apiece to lead the way defensively.
The team passed at an incredible 2.00 rating led by Mendez and Val Guzman who combined for receiving 26 of the 40 serves sent by the Rams and did so for a combined 2.27 pass rating.
JV CLOSES OUT 2016 WITH STYLE
JV finished out its 2016 campaign with a 25-8, 25-15 dominant win over the Rams of Wardlaw-Hartridge. Summit led 16-7 after 6 rotations after Camille Della Piazza and Cheryl Liu ripped 8 service points and the team was not really challenged from that point on. Olivia Skrobala finished it with 8 service points (6 aces) to close out game 1.
Game 2 was more of the same as the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind Micaela Nardino's serving (4 aces). Summit was never threatened again as the team was able to maintain that cushion and expand on it. By rotation 6, the Hilltoppers were up 19-12 and the lead was up to 22-15 by rotation 7. Summit got the 3 points it needed in rotation 8 and the record setting 17th win was a done deal.
The 2016 season was banner year for the group considering they had many first year players in the starting lineup. The 2016 squad will leave holding the Wins Record and the Best Winning % Record.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
COUGARS SLASH HILLTOPPERS HOPE FOR A WIN
The Summit Hilltoppers came into the non-conference match with the Cougars of Chatham looking to extend their winning streak and get their 8th win of the season. Chatham proved to be a bit more than the Summit squad could handle as the Cougars dispatched of the Hilltoppers on Varsity 25-21. 25-16.
Summit trailed quickly 9-2 and just never recovered as the serve receive and the offense could not stay in sync. Val Guzman was the only bright spot in the game as she hit for 4 kills (.333 efficiency) and nailed 3 aces which helped keep Summit in the game as Guzman scored 1/2 of the Hilltopper points in the game.
Game 2 was a different game for a stretch as the Hilltoppers were always in the match until the latter half of game 2 when the serve receive fell apart and allowed a 14-12 Cougar lead to blow up into a 20-14 lead. Casey Nardino was the only bright spot offensively as she led the team with 3 kills.
The Hilltoppers hit for 15 kills (.204 hitting efficiency), hit for 5 aces on 36/38 serving and added 2 blocks to round out the team's scoring.
The Hilltooppers will host the Walrdlaw-Hartridge Rams on Thursday to close out the regular season.
JV NO MATCH FOR COUGAR ATTACK
The Hilltopper squad could not solve the Cougar serve and was out of the match early in each game in a lackluster 25-15, 25-13 loss to Chatham.
Game 1 saw the Hilltoppers down 14-9 in a game where the Maroon and White could not generate any kills (only managed 3 in the game) and fell late in the game 25-15. Game 2 was resolved early as the team dropped a 25-13 decision thanks in part to an early 10 point Cougar run that had the Hilltopper squad down 14-4, a deficit they could not overcome.
Tessa Pulgar dug up 3 balls and Olivia Elko nailed 2 serves and dug up 1 ball to keep SHS alive.
Summit trailed quickly 9-2 and just never recovered as the serve receive and the offense could not stay in sync. Val Guzman was the only bright spot in the game as she hit for 4 kills (.333 efficiency) and nailed 3 aces which helped keep Summit in the game as Guzman scored 1/2 of the Hilltopper points in the game.
Game 2 was a different game for a stretch as the Hilltoppers were always in the match until the latter half of game 2 when the serve receive fell apart and allowed a 14-12 Cougar lead to blow up into a 20-14 lead. Casey Nardino was the only bright spot offensively as she led the team with 3 kills.
The Hilltoppers hit for 15 kills (.204 hitting efficiency), hit for 5 aces on 36/38 serving and added 2 blocks to round out the team's scoring.
The Hilltooppers will host the Walrdlaw-Hartridge Rams on Thursday to close out the regular season.
JV NO MATCH FOR COUGAR ATTACK
The Hilltopper squad could not solve the Cougar serve and was out of the match early in each game in a lackluster 25-15, 25-13 loss to Chatham.
Game 1 saw the Hilltoppers down 14-9 in a game where the Maroon and White could not generate any kills (only managed 3 in the game) and fell late in the game 25-15. Game 2 was resolved early as the team dropped a 25-13 decision thanks in part to an early 10 point Cougar run that had the Hilltopper squad down 14-4, a deficit they could not overcome.
Tessa Pulgar dug up 3 balls and Olivia Elko nailed 2 serves and dug up 1 ball to keep SHS alive.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
SUMMIT COMES FROM BEHIND TO EARN 7TH VICTORY, 5TH IN LAST 6 MATCHES
Summit took the short trip to Springfield to take on the Bulldogs of Dayton looking for and finding their 7th win of the season -their 5th out of the last 6 matches- by a 25-15, 25-27, 27-25 result.
The 10 point victory in game 1 was reflective of the way the Hilltoppers dominated in all 3 phases of the game. From an offensive perspective, SHS pounded out 11 kills (kill % 55%, .400 efficiency) and hit for 4 aces going 22/24 from the service line. The team also dug up 13 balls and had a block earning 16 points in the game.
Game 1 was fairly even through 6 rotations as the squad led by only 2 at 13-11 at the conclusion of rotation 6. Casey Nardino led rotation 9 with an ace and added 3 more points to blow the game open at 19-14. Grace Galuppo followed up with 5 service points of her own as the team rallied around her serving as the Hilltoppers outscored the Bulldogs 10-2 in these 2 rotations to put the game out of reach.
Katie Samay led the Hilltoppers in game 1 with 4 kills, Val Guzman led with 2 aces and Jocelyn Mendez anchored a solid defense with 4 digs and a near perfect pass rating of 2.42.
Game 2 was not as stellar for the Hilltoppers as the team hit for only 7 kills, 1 ace and 1 block for a mere 9 points. Summit was the recipient of multiple errors from the Bulldogs which gave the team a false sense of security as the squad led through a good part of game 2. Gabby Mejia had the team up 11-8 by rotation 7 after 4 straight service points and the team looked like it had the game in control as Amanda Fonseca served Summit into a 4 point lead in rotation 11, 17-13.
But the Bulldogs mustered a strong comeback, outscoring the Hilltoppers 14-8 the rest of game 2 to seal the game 2 win despite the fact that SHS had the ball in hand and a match point at 24-23 in rotation 18.
Taylor Thompson was inserted into the match in game 3 and much like her teammate Katie Samay in game 1, Thompson hit for a game leading 4 kills which gave an otherwise stagnant offense a boost. Summit hit for 8 kills and 3 aces for 11 earned points.
Summit was up early 6-3 and after Thompson served in rotation 5, an ace and 4 service points later, SHS seemed like they had righted the ship as they led 11-5. But the Hilltoppers could not keep the lead in the next 6 rotations as the Bulldogs had eradicated their deficit and actually led 18-17 by rotation 12. Mendez regained the team's lead after 3 good service attempts at 20-18. Reminiscent of earlier 3 game matches most of the season, the team lost its effectiveness on serve receive and it led to a late time-out by Coach Martins who saw the Hilltoppers fall behind 21-20. Val Guzman ripped a key kill with SHS trailing 22-20 to get Summit back in the match but the Maroon and White could not take advantage as a Dayton side-out and a free ball error later had the Bulldogs in possession of 2 match points at 24-21.
The unwavering characteristic of the Hilltoppers in 2016 is their mental and emotional fortitude as the team's energy and enthusiasm has never waivered throughout the year despite numerous setbacks. This match proved to be another example of this team characteristic. Summit ran a perfect serve receive by Jocelyn Mendez that was set perfectly to Casey Nardino who put the game saving kill down to give Val Guzman the ball on serve down 24-22. The senior captain hit for an ace and forced Dayton into a hitting error as the Bulldogs could not get into system off her serves. Tied at 24-24, the Hilltoppers had stolen all the momentum and when Taylor Thompson put down her 4th kill of the game, Summit regained full control with a 25-24 score. Despite a side-out by the Bulldogs, Summit was yet again able to side-out immediately and Casey Nardino forced an out of system attack by Dayton that fell harmlessly into the net as Summit collected its 5th win in the last 6 matches and 7th overall in the campaign.
Casey Nardino spearheaded the Summit offense with 8 kills and was the top point scorer for the team with 11 points (8 kills- 1 ace- 2 blocks). The two-headed outside hitter tandem of Taylor Thompson and Katie Samay hit for 8 kills as the juniors sparked the Summit offense in each of the games they played. Jocelyn Mendez was outstanding on serve receive, the Libero passing at a 2.09 rating giving up only 1 ace in 3 games passing 22 of the team's 53 reception attempts. Gabby Mejia facilitated 24 kills from the setter position and again led the team with 7 service points going 15/16 from the service line with 1 ace.
But the player of the match was Val Guzman who was again the best all-around player on the floor, hitting for 6 kills (2nd on team), scoring a team leading 3 aces, 7 service points while going 13/14 from the service line including 4/4 when the team was facing 2 match points. Guzman was also a defensive stalwart, leading the Hilltopper defense with 14 digs.
The team tied a season best with 26 kills and a hitting efficiency of .177, 3rd best this season. Summit also had the 3rd highest number of service points with 34 despite not hitting double digits in aces. Summit had the highest number of digs though in 2016 with 44 as the team defense was the key to the win especially as the offense sputtered. Summit will take on Chatham on Wednesday on the road in their last regular season match of the year.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
HILLTOPPERS TAME LIONS FOR 6TH WIN, JV DOMINATES FROM SERVICE LINE TO TIE WINS RECORD
Summit has had a difficult competitive week. The match-ups were not favorable considering the team's performance all season against higher ranked opponents. Summit had been exceptionally competitive with all teams but always managed to find a way to lose those tight 3 game matches.
And so began the week against #1 in Union County, Union Catholic. Despite a 25-16, 25-15 loss, SHS played very competitively and hung in the match until the latter phases of each game. Tuesday, the Hilltoppers took the short bus ride to Oak Knoll as the squad attempted to win against the Royals, #6 in Union County, for only the first time in 6 years. Losing the first game late 25-21 was not a great sign for the Maroon and White and the hope that the Hilltoppers could right the ship faded quickly as the Royals jumped out to a 13-6 lead and, after Summit tied the score at 13, Oak Knoll opened a seemingly insurmountable 18-13 lead. But the Hilltoppers have never quit all season and not only did the squad come back and win 25-23, SHS fought off 2 match points and won game 3 28-26.
And thus, Senior Night arrived today after that emotional win over Oak Knoll. Last year, the Hilltoppers beat the Roselle Catholic Lions for only the first time in 5 years and in 2016, on paper, the #10 team in the county had seemingly an advantage over the Maroon and White. It's a good thing matches aren't decided on paper though as the Hilltoppers handled the Lions on this day 25-12, 25-18 playing perhaps their most complete game of the season and featuring all the seniors in the match.
Game 1 was decided on rotation 4 and 5 as the Hilltoppers struck for 10 points against only 3 to take a 16-7 lead that the team would never relinquish. Summit ran a balanced offense with 4 hitters getting at least 2 kills. Summit had 12 kills (led by Taylor Thompson's 4) and hit a season high .242. SHS also hit for 5 aces (Thompson for 3), scoring 17 points in the game 1 victory. The Hilltoppers dug up 15 balls defensively in the game led by Grace Galuppo's 6. The team yielded 0 aces, a testament to their outstanding serve receive.
Game 2 was a more difficult matchup as early serving errors and some key kills allowed the Lions to stay close through 8 rotations at 13-14. But then Nardino stepped up and did what she has been doing all season long and ripped 3 straight aces to give the Hilltoppers some breathing room at 18-13. Despite a break in serve, Summit got a kill by Maddie Young as the team got back on serve and Galuppo struck for an ace and 2 more service points to extend the Hilltopper lead to 22-15.
Summit could sense victory was there for the taking and the team on the floor, 6 seniors, for the first time all year, played like a team who believed they were supposed to win and after Jocelyn Mendez served the final ball, the Hilltoppers had done just that, beating another higher ranked opponent in an upset 25-18.
Summit only scored 14 points in game 2 but still hit for 9 kills led by Nardino and Val Guzman with 3 kills apiece. The Hilltoppers struck for 5 aces again and dug up 12 more balls with 3 players notching 3 digs apiece (Mendez, Guzman and Galuppo) which reflected the quality of the team defense exhibited by the Maroon and White.
For the match, Galuppo led the way on defense with 9 digs. Guzman and Nardino led offensively with 6 kills apiece. Taylor Thompson nailed 4 aces and Nardino added 3 to lead the team's 10 ace effort.
Summit hit at an impressive .203 and had 36% kill %. Summit served at 86% and clicked for a 20% ace %. Nardino was nearly unstoppable with a .455 efficiency rating and a kill % of 55%. Guzman was equally impressive from the outside with a .267 efficiency and a kill % of 40%. Nardino was again the top point scorer with 9 total points but Taylor Thompson was also impressive, especially in game 1, with 8 total points. Gabby Mejia conducted her offense brilliantly, getting all players involved and making all the right decisions in a 17 assist night.
JV TIES WINS RECORD WITH 15TH WIN OVER THE LIONS
Summit played its last match of the week against a Lions team that it had beaten for the last 2 consecutive years. Summit JV did not disappoint on Senior Night and took care of Roselle Catholic 25-12, 25-23 for their 15th win of the season to tie the wins record the team set last year.
Summit came off a tremendous offensive performance versus Linden in the UCIAC Tournament but could not find its offensive rhythm in game 1 as the squad hit for only 6 kills. But the serving was phenomenal as the team scored on 8 aces to pace the win. The Hilltoppers were led by Olivia Elko and Cheryl Liu who stunned RC for 5 aces (3 and 2 respectively).
The offense got back on track in game 2 as the serving errors began to creep in and Summit struck for 10 kills with 5 players notching at least 1 kill. Juliane Fiore led the way from the service line with 2 of the team's 5 aces while Camille Della Piazza and Emily Ramirez dug up 3 balls each to pace the defense.
Next up for the Hilltoppers is Westfield in a 2 vs. 7 matchup in the next round of the UCIAC Tournament. Summit will meet Westfield on Saturday at 1pm on the road.
And so began the week against #1 in Union County, Union Catholic. Despite a 25-16, 25-15 loss, SHS played very competitively and hung in the match until the latter phases of each game. Tuesday, the Hilltoppers took the short bus ride to Oak Knoll as the squad attempted to win against the Royals, #6 in Union County, for only the first time in 6 years. Losing the first game late 25-21 was not a great sign for the Maroon and White and the hope that the Hilltoppers could right the ship faded quickly as the Royals jumped out to a 13-6 lead and, after Summit tied the score at 13, Oak Knoll opened a seemingly insurmountable 18-13 lead. But the Hilltoppers have never quit all season and not only did the squad come back and win 25-23, SHS fought off 2 match points and won game 3 28-26.
And thus, Senior Night arrived today after that emotional win over Oak Knoll. Last year, the Hilltoppers beat the Roselle Catholic Lions for only the first time in 5 years and in 2016, on paper, the #10 team in the county had seemingly an advantage over the Maroon and White. It's a good thing matches aren't decided on paper though as the Hilltoppers handled the Lions on this day 25-12, 25-18 playing perhaps their most complete game of the season and featuring all the seniors in the match.
Game 1 was decided on rotation 4 and 5 as the Hilltoppers struck for 10 points against only 3 to take a 16-7 lead that the team would never relinquish. Summit ran a balanced offense with 4 hitters getting at least 2 kills. Summit had 12 kills (led by Taylor Thompson's 4) and hit a season high .242. SHS also hit for 5 aces (Thompson for 3), scoring 17 points in the game 1 victory. The Hilltoppers dug up 15 balls defensively in the game led by Grace Galuppo's 6. The team yielded 0 aces, a testament to their outstanding serve receive.
Game 2 was a more difficult matchup as early serving errors and some key kills allowed the Lions to stay close through 8 rotations at 13-14. But then Nardino stepped up and did what she has been doing all season long and ripped 3 straight aces to give the Hilltoppers some breathing room at 18-13. Despite a break in serve, Summit got a kill by Maddie Young as the team got back on serve and Galuppo struck for an ace and 2 more service points to extend the Hilltopper lead to 22-15.
Summit could sense victory was there for the taking and the team on the floor, 6 seniors, for the first time all year, played like a team who believed they were supposed to win and after Jocelyn Mendez served the final ball, the Hilltoppers had done just that, beating another higher ranked opponent in an upset 25-18.
Summit only scored 14 points in game 2 but still hit for 9 kills led by Nardino and Val Guzman with 3 kills apiece. The Hilltoppers struck for 5 aces again and dug up 12 more balls with 3 players notching 3 digs apiece (Mendez, Guzman and Galuppo) which reflected the quality of the team defense exhibited by the Maroon and White.
For the match, Galuppo led the way on defense with 9 digs. Guzman and Nardino led offensively with 6 kills apiece. Taylor Thompson nailed 4 aces and Nardino added 3 to lead the team's 10 ace effort.
Summit hit at an impressive .203 and had 36% kill %. Summit served at 86% and clicked for a 20% ace %. Nardino was nearly unstoppable with a .455 efficiency rating and a kill % of 55%. Guzman was equally impressive from the outside with a .267 efficiency and a kill % of 40%. Nardino was again the top point scorer with 9 total points but Taylor Thompson was also impressive, especially in game 1, with 8 total points. Gabby Mejia conducted her offense brilliantly, getting all players involved and making all the right decisions in a 17 assist night.
JV TIES WINS RECORD WITH 15TH WIN OVER THE LIONS
Summit played its last match of the week against a Lions team that it had beaten for the last 2 consecutive years. Summit JV did not disappoint on Senior Night and took care of Roselle Catholic 25-12, 25-23 for their 15th win of the season to tie the wins record the team set last year.
Summit came off a tremendous offensive performance versus Linden in the UCIAC Tournament but could not find its offensive rhythm in game 1 as the squad hit for only 6 kills. But the serving was phenomenal as the team scored on 8 aces to pace the win. The Hilltoppers were led by Olivia Elko and Cheryl Liu who stunned RC for 5 aces (3 and 2 respectively).
The offense got back on track in game 2 as the serving errors began to creep in and Summit struck for 10 kills with 5 players notching at least 1 kill. Juliane Fiore led the way from the service line with 2 of the team's 5 aces while Camille Della Piazza and Emily Ramirez dug up 3 balls each to pace the defense.
Next up for the Hilltoppers is Westfield in a 2 vs. 7 matchup in the next round of the UCIAC Tournament. Summit will meet Westfield on Saturday at 1pm on the road.
JV MOVES ON IN UCIAC TOURNEY WITH 2 GAME SWEEP OVER LINDEN
The Hilltopper JV Squad looked dominant in a 2 game sweep over Linden yesterday as Summit dismantled the Linden serve receive for a 25-19, 25-13 sweep of the Tigers.
This is the team's 3rd win over Linden this year but by far the easiest of the 3 as Coach Ross played a new lineup that featured some key changes in both the serving order and offensive options.
In game 1, Summit used 8 aces (Liu 4, Eloko 3, Viana 1) and a potent offensive outburst (9 kills) to overcome a late Tiger burst and win game 1 going away 25-19. Micaela Nardino was unstoppable with 6 kills and a perfect 6/6 attack efficiency.
Game 2 was far less surprising of a result although it did not begin that way with the Hilltoppers missing 3 of the first 4 serves and trailing 4-3 at the onset. But then the Hilltoppers corrected their serving woes and proceeded to go on a 21-9 run fueled by 7 aces by Olivia Elko who blew the game open.
For the match, the stat leaders were:
Olivia Skrobala distributed 7 assists, Cheryl Liu had 4 digs, Olivia Elko scored 10 aces and Micaela Nardino nailed 7 kills.
This was the team's 14th win and their record stands ar 14W-4L, 1 win shy of the record set last year and currently hold the best winning % in program history. Next up for the Hilltoppers is Roselle Catholic.
This is the team's 3rd win over Linden this year but by far the easiest of the 3 as Coach Ross played a new lineup that featured some key changes in both the serving order and offensive options.
In game 1, Summit used 8 aces (Liu 4, Eloko 3, Viana 1) and a potent offensive outburst (9 kills) to overcome a late Tiger burst and win game 1 going away 25-19. Micaela Nardino was unstoppable with 6 kills and a perfect 6/6 attack efficiency.
Game 2 was far less surprising of a result although it did not begin that way with the Hilltoppers missing 3 of the first 4 serves and trailing 4-3 at the onset. But then the Hilltoppers corrected their serving woes and proceeded to go on a 21-9 run fueled by 7 aces by Olivia Elko who blew the game open.
For the match, the stat leaders were:
Olivia Skrobala distributed 7 assists, Cheryl Liu had 4 digs, Olivia Elko scored 10 aces and Micaela Nardino nailed 7 kills.
This was the team's 14th win and their record stands ar 14W-4L, 1 win shy of the record set last year and currently hold the best winning % in program history. Next up for the Hilltoppers is Roselle Catholic.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
SUMMIT PROVES TO BE A ROYAL PAIN - JV LOSES 2ND TIME THIS YEAR VS. OAK KNOLL
Summit came off their loss to the best team in the county with a new found attitude and belief. The squad felt it could play with the best and be competitive and it needed to prove it against the #6 seed Oak Knoll.
SHS hadn't beaten the Royals since 2011 so it was not an easy task, especially on the road. The team's heart and resilience that have been on display all season long despite tough losses was seriously put to the test as the Royals took game 1 25-21 and pushed the Hilltoppers to the brink of a loss in game 2 before Summit closed it at 25-23 to force a game 3. The Hilltoppers faced 2 match points, fought them off, and won on their 2nd opportunity to close out game 3 at 28-26 for one of the best victories the squad has had in the past 3 seasons.
Game 1 was the tight battle it seemed to be on paper. By rotation 6 it was clear that the team that could sustain any run would probably win the game as Summit trailed 9-8. Summit erased that minor deficit and led 15-14 late but a late mini 5-3 run by Oak Knoll had the Hilltoppers trailing again 19-16 after 12 rotations. Summit got as close as 21-22 but allowed the Royals to close out the game on a 3-0 run that settled things at 25-21.
Ahead 5-2 in game 2 after a quick start, Summit looked to regain the momentum of the match but the Royals pressured the Hilltopper serve receive and did not allow the Hilltoppers to get the ball back in rotation 4 as the team found itself down 9-5 before the run was over. Summit was in dire need of a spark by rotation 6 as the Royals had extended the lead to 13-7 and the match was quickly slipping away. But then 2 things occurred that changed the momentum of the game. Coach Martins inserted Taylor Thompson into the lineup as an OH in hopes of generating offense and break the Royal's momentum. The move payed off as Thompson got a quick kill to give the ball back to Summit down only 5, 13-8. Lastly, that switch in rotation allowed Jocelyn Mendez to serve and the captain proceeded to run off 3 consecutive points (1 ace) to bring the Maroon and White to within 3 at 13-10.
The Hilltoppers and their fans felt the momentum shift and the team could sense there was an opening if they could execute their offense. But the Royals responded yet again and pushed the lead back to 8 at 18-10 and seemed to be in total control despite a Gabby Mejia serving run that had Summit within 5 at 18-13. By rotation 10, SHS had cut the lead down to 3 at 21-18 as Thompson continued to generate pressure out of the OH spot. Serving specialist Sammy Auerbach nailed an ace and added another service point that got the Hilltoppers to within 2 at 22-20 but the Royals got the ball back with the lead at 23-20 and everyone knew the next point would be monumental. Val Guzman got the key kill that turned the game on its head and gave the ball back to Summit and Jocelyn Mendez. Mendez ran off 4 of her 7 service points (2 aces) to bring the team back from certain defeat and extended the match with a 25-23 game 2 win.
Summit celebrated the game 2 win but a lot of work needed to be done. Game 3 mimicked game 1 in so far as neither team could generate much sustained pressure. Through 6 rotations the Royals held a slim 11-9 lead. By rotation 10, Grace Galuppo had the Hilltoppers up 19-17 after her serving rotation. But again, the Royals responded and SHS was only up by 1 at 21-20 after 12 rotations. Summit missed another serve and had a couple of hitting errors on a brief 3-0 run that put Oak Knoll up 23-22. Coach Martins was forced to take a time-out and exhort his team to execute the offense. Summit knotted up the score with another Thompson kill but Oak Knoll sided-out to get the ball and their first match point at 24-23. Summit forced a hitting error to knot up the score at 24 and Casey Nardino forced an Oak Knoll passing error which gave SHS a match point but a service error after an Oak Knoll time-out stalled the team's momentum. Tied at 25, the Hilltoppers got blocked to get the Royals another match point but another amazing out of system play by Summit kept the ball alive and forced a Royal hitting error that gave Summit new life at 26-26. Grace Galuppo was perfect from the service line and the Summit defense got up a couple of balls that led to quick kills, the last one, fittingly enough, by Taylor Thompson through the Royal block to give Summit one of its best victories in the past 4 seasons.
The OHs led the 3rd game as Val Guzman and Taylor Thompson combined for 7 kills - 3 errors - 24 attempts (.166 efficiency, 29.1 kill %) out of the team's 11 total kills. The squad served at an 89% rate with an 11% ace rate. Jocelyn Mendez, Grace Galuppo and Val Guzman combined for 18 of the team's 26 serve receptions and passed at a combined 2.01 pass rating to allow the offense to get in gear. Guzman was a defensive machine, digging up 9 point saving balls of the team's 19 total digs.
For the match, Guzman dug up a team leading 13 balls and Mendez 11. Mendez (2.05), Galuppo (2.00) and Guzman (2.10) combined for a 2.05 pass rating and handled 48 of the team's 66 serve receptions. Guzman and Nardino led the team with 6 kills apiece and Thompson got 4 crucial kills and Lauren Trindell chipped in with 3 to round out most of the offensive output. Gabby Mejia ran an effective offense, distributing 21 balls and keeping the Royals off-balance with her offensive choices. From a serving perspective, the team served at a 93% clip with a 15% ace rate. Mendez was a perfect 12/12 with 3 aces, Guzman 16/16 with 2 aces and Galuppo 12/12 with 2 aces to lead the Summit serving attack.
JV POSES LITTLE THREAT TO ROYALS IN TUNE-UP UCIAC MATCH
The JV Squad was looking to avenge 1 of its 3 losses versus the Royals but fell in 2 games 25-22, 25-13. After 7 rotations, game 1 looked all but over as Oak Knoll held a 22-14 lead. Olivia Skrobala, back from illness, ripped off 6 consecutive service points (1 ace) to give Summit a chance trailing only 22-21. But like much of the game, the Royals serving got another ace and the Summit serving couldn generate much as SHS dropped the last few points to lose 25-22.
Game 2 was over early as the passing gave the Hilltoppers many offensive opportunities but the players couldn't execute the attacks that led to a 6-0, 11-1 and 19-2 Royal leads that SHS could not overcome despite outscoring Oak Knoll 11-6 the remainder of the match.
Summit drops to 13W-4L. The Hilltoppers will host Linden at SHS Wednesday, 10/19 at 4pm in the first round of the UCIAC JV Tourney.
Monday, October 17, 2016
HILLTOPPERS VALIANT IN DEFEAT AT UC IN UCIAC ROUND 1
Summit traveled to Scotch Plains to take on the #9 Union Catholic Vikings in the 1st round of the UCIAC Tournament. Summit was a clear underdog but the team would show great resolve and compete with the #1 seed for most of the match despite the 25-16, 25-15 loss.
Summit won the coin flip and chose to serve but that win was the only thing early on that the Hilltoppers would win. UC quickly put down a kill to side-out and rattled off 5 straight service points to take a 6-0 lead. Summit struggled to find any rhythm offensively and UC kept expanding their lead through rotation 5 as the Vikings took an 18-7 lead. The game seemed lost but that's when the SHS fans could see something had changed with the Hilltopper offense as Casey Nardino began to score out of the front row. Although UC won game 1 25-16, Summit went toe-to-toe with the Vikings, ending the game with a 7-7 run and forcing a time-out at 23-16.
Nardino scored 6 points in the game to lead the Hilltopper scoring (2 kills- 1 ace- 3 blocks).
Summit was confident they could play with the Vikings after ending game 1 on a 7-7 run and came out more aggressive to start game 2. In rotation 5, Sammy Auerbach stepped up to serve and rattled off 5 straight service points (2 aces) to give the Hilltoppers a 10-8 lead over the #9 team in the state. Summit forced a UC time-out which led to another Auerbach serve that had the Vikings out of system but the MAroon and White committed a crucial hitting error to end Auerbach's serving run. By rotation 7 UC had regined the lead but could not pull away from the Hilltoppers as the team kept game 2 close trailing 18-15 late in the game. But that was as close as the Hilltoppers could get as their serve receive let them down in rotation 11 and UC ran off 6 consecutive points to close out the game and match 25-15.
Nardino paced the offense again with 3 kills and Auerback led all servers with 6 service points and 2 aces in the game. Nardino scored 9 points (5 kills- 1 ace- 3 blocks) in the loss which accounted for 60% of all the Hilltopper earned points. Jocelyn Mendez had a great passing day, passing safely in 15/16 receptions at a 2.11 pass rating.
Summit won the coin flip and chose to serve but that win was the only thing early on that the Hilltoppers would win. UC quickly put down a kill to side-out and rattled off 5 straight service points to take a 6-0 lead. Summit struggled to find any rhythm offensively and UC kept expanding their lead through rotation 5 as the Vikings took an 18-7 lead. The game seemed lost but that's when the SHS fans could see something had changed with the Hilltopper offense as Casey Nardino began to score out of the front row. Although UC won game 1 25-16, Summit went toe-to-toe with the Vikings, ending the game with a 7-7 run and forcing a time-out at 23-16.
Nardino scored 6 points in the game to lead the Hilltopper scoring (2 kills- 1 ace- 3 blocks).
Summit was confident they could play with the Vikings after ending game 1 on a 7-7 run and came out more aggressive to start game 2. In rotation 5, Sammy Auerbach stepped up to serve and rattled off 5 straight service points (2 aces) to give the Hilltoppers a 10-8 lead over the #9 team in the state. Summit forced a UC time-out which led to another Auerbach serve that had the Vikings out of system but the MAroon and White committed a crucial hitting error to end Auerbach's serving run. By rotation 7 UC had regined the lead but could not pull away from the Hilltoppers as the team kept game 2 close trailing 18-15 late in the game. But that was as close as the Hilltoppers could get as their serve receive let them down in rotation 11 and UC ran off 6 consecutive points to close out the game and match 25-15.
Nardino paced the offense again with 3 kills and Auerback led all servers with 6 service points and 2 aces in the game. Nardino scored 9 points (5 kills- 1 ace- 3 blocks) in the loss which accounted for 60% of all the Hilltopper earned points. Jocelyn Mendez had a great passing day, passing safely in 15/16 receptions at a 2.11 pass rating.
Friday, October 14, 2016
HILLTOPPERS AVENGE EARLIER 3 GAME LOSS TO PANTHERS IN UCIAC MATCH
Summit took on the Roselle Park Panthers in the first match of the UCIAC Tournament looking to move on past the first match for the 3rd consecutive year and to avenge an earlier loss last week to the Panthers in 3 games. Summit relied on its serving power (13 aces, 26.5 ace %) and its hitting efficiency (18 kills, .139 efficiency) to score a 2-0 victory on the road, 25-18, 25-13.
Captains Gabby Mejia and Val Guzman started the first game on fire, giving the team 10 service points and (6 aces) in the first 2 rotations which opened up an 11-2 lead for the Hilltoppers that they would not relinquish. The game became a fairly even affair from that point on and Summit held the lead late at 23-14 despite 4 of 6 serving errors late that allowed Roselle Park to get to 18 points.
Casey Nardino paced the Hilltopper offense in game 1 with 4 kills in 6 attacks but Guzman led all scorers with 6 points on the strength of 5 aces and 1 kill. Summit scored 15 points with a balanced 8 kill-7 ace performance.
Having seen a similar outcome in the first match at Roselle Park, SHS was determined not to allow the Panthers to gain any momentum early in game 2. To this end, the Hilltoppers achieved this, jumping out to a 5-0 lead behind Gabby Mejia's serving as she got another ace and 4 service points. To the Panther's credit, their serving and offense came around and by rotation 6, Summit found itself on the wrong end of a 15-7 run that had Roselle Park up 15-12. The Maroon and White found it difficult to produce offensively due to the Panther's serving game and the team could not find the aces it needed and relied upon in game 1. With both teams settling into a back and forth affair, Summit looked to be running out of points as the Panthers got to within 3 points of the game 2 victory after a middle attack at 22-19.
But then Grace Galuppo stepped up to the serving line with the match on the line and proceeded to rattle off 2 aces and hit another 2 serves which led to manageable digs that Katie Samay was able to convert for 2 kills to pull Summit into the lead at 23-22. This forced a time-out by the Panthers but it was to no avail as Galuppo ripped another serve out of the stoppage that led to a Jocelyn Mendez dig which was set up beautifully bu Mejia for Samay who put the kill down to give SHS a 24-23 lead and get Summit to within 1 point of the upset victory. A side-out by the Panthers gave the ball back to Roselle Park but the Hilltoppers were able to deal with the subsequent serve and forced Roselle Park into an unforced error to end the game and match at 25-23.
The Hilltoppers were led by Samay offensively as she hit for 4 kills in 10 attempts without an error to her stat line, 3 of those in the crucial moments of game 2. Galuppo went 9/9 from the service line and got those 2 late aces to lead the team in service points while adding a key kill late in game 2 to create the change in rotation that got Galuppo to the service line at the right time.
SHS got 10 kills and hit .200 for game 2 and scored another 6 points on aces while adding 2 blocks for a game high 18 points to earn the UCIAC win in its first match of the 2016 tournament.
Nardino scored 15 points for the match (7 kills- 3 aces- 2 blocks) and Samay was only 1 kill behind Nardino with 6 kills and a .217 hitting efficiency. Guzman was lethal from the service line with team leading 5 aces and a second best 7 service points while also digging up a team leading 7 balls. Jocelyn Mendez also dug up 6 balls but had another outstanding passing day, earning a 2.00 pass rating suffering only 1 ace as the team gave up only 5 the entire match.
But the woman of the match was Galuppo whose serving late in the match and key kill that got her to that serving rotation was the turning point of the match.
Summit will now face the #1 team in the tournament Union Catholic who, according to njo.com, is also the #11 ranked team in the state on Monday, on the road, at 5:30pm.
Captains Gabby Mejia and Val Guzman started the first game on fire, giving the team 10 service points and (6 aces) in the first 2 rotations which opened up an 11-2 lead for the Hilltoppers that they would not relinquish. The game became a fairly even affair from that point on and Summit held the lead late at 23-14 despite 4 of 6 serving errors late that allowed Roselle Park to get to 18 points.
Casey Nardino paced the Hilltopper offense in game 1 with 4 kills in 6 attacks but Guzman led all scorers with 6 points on the strength of 5 aces and 1 kill. Summit scored 15 points with a balanced 8 kill-7 ace performance.
Having seen a similar outcome in the first match at Roselle Park, SHS was determined not to allow the Panthers to gain any momentum early in game 2. To this end, the Hilltoppers achieved this, jumping out to a 5-0 lead behind Gabby Mejia's serving as she got another ace and 4 service points. To the Panther's credit, their serving and offense came around and by rotation 6, Summit found itself on the wrong end of a 15-7 run that had Roselle Park up 15-12. The Maroon and White found it difficult to produce offensively due to the Panther's serving game and the team could not find the aces it needed and relied upon in game 1. With both teams settling into a back and forth affair, Summit looked to be running out of points as the Panthers got to within 3 points of the game 2 victory after a middle attack at 22-19.
But then Grace Galuppo stepped up to the serving line with the match on the line and proceeded to rattle off 2 aces and hit another 2 serves which led to manageable digs that Katie Samay was able to convert for 2 kills to pull Summit into the lead at 23-22. This forced a time-out by the Panthers but it was to no avail as Galuppo ripped another serve out of the stoppage that led to a Jocelyn Mendez dig which was set up beautifully bu Mejia for Samay who put the kill down to give SHS a 24-23 lead and get Summit to within 1 point of the upset victory. A side-out by the Panthers gave the ball back to Roselle Park but the Hilltoppers were able to deal with the subsequent serve and forced Roselle Park into an unforced error to end the game and match at 25-23.
The Hilltoppers were led by Samay offensively as she hit for 4 kills in 10 attempts without an error to her stat line, 3 of those in the crucial moments of game 2. Galuppo went 9/9 from the service line and got those 2 late aces to lead the team in service points while adding a key kill late in game 2 to create the change in rotation that got Galuppo to the service line at the right time.
SHS got 10 kills and hit .200 for game 2 and scored another 6 points on aces while adding 2 blocks for a game high 18 points to earn the UCIAC win in its first match of the 2016 tournament.
Nardino scored 15 points for the match (7 kills- 3 aces- 2 blocks) and Samay was only 1 kill behind Nardino with 6 kills and a .217 hitting efficiency. Guzman was lethal from the service line with team leading 5 aces and a second best 7 service points while also digging up a team leading 7 balls. Jocelyn Mendez also dug up 6 balls but had another outstanding passing day, earning a 2.00 pass rating suffering only 1 ace as the team gave up only 5 the entire match.
But the woman of the match was Galuppo whose serving late in the match and key kill that got her to that serving rotation was the turning point of the match.
Summit will now face the #1 team in the tournament Union Catholic who, according to njo.com, is also the #11 ranked team in the state on Monday, on the road, at 5:30pm.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
SUMMIT USES KEY PLAYS TO EARN 3rd VICTORY; JV ROLLS TO 13th WIN
Summit´s third win was highly elusive but the team finally put together a string of key plays to beat the Cardinals for their third win, 25-22, 25-19. Casey Nardino was crucial in the victory, hitting .312 with a team leading 8 kills and adding 4 aces from the service line while serving at a serving % of 93% while scoring 10 service points. Madison Young came in off the bench and had a huge impact with 4 kills and a .333 hitting %, second only to Nardino.
In game 1, both teams struggled to find any consistency off the serve or attack and found themselves tied at 11 after 6 rotations. By the 9th rotation, Casey Nardino stepped up to the service line with the score 14-14 and proceeded to serve 7 service points (4 aces) which turned the match on its head. Leading 21-15, the Hilltoppers got key kills from Maddie Young and Lauren Trindell to close out the game 25-22. This accomplishment could not be overlooked as the team had managed to lose these type of games recently but the true test would come in game 2. Summit was led in game 1 by Nardino who had 4 kills and 4 aces to score 8 of Summit´s 14 earned points in the game. Val Guzman and Jocelyn Mendez were stalwarts defensively, digging up 9 of the team´s 13 balls (5 and 4 respectively) and passed 14/21 balls on serve receive at a 2.1 rating.
Game 2 was more of the same with Summit trailing 11-9 after 6 rotations due to Summit´s serving errors. Gabby Mejia put 2 aces away in rotation 7 and had Summit up 13-12 and Val Guzman did some damage with an ace and 2 service points to extend the lead to 16-13. With both teams trading points over the next 2 rotations, it started to look like the Hilltoppers were going to face that moment of truth again late in the match. Would the team respond or would it find a way to self-destruct?
Grace Galuppo gave everyone the answer as she served up 2 high pressure serves which led to 2 free ball opportunities the Maroon and White put away which gave the team a 21-16. Both teams traded points throughout the next few rotations but Summit´s execution on side-out opportunities was the key down the stretch as the team closed out the match 25-19.
Maddie Young and Casey Nardino were key in the game 2 win as they hit for 4 kills apiece. Of note, Young was the most productive and effective hitter on the squad in game 2 and was vital in the late scoring for the squad. Young hit for 4 kills at a .571 kill and hitting efficiency! Gabby Mejia ran a great offense distributing 8 assists and led the squad in the game with 2 aces. Val Guzman dug up 3 balls to lead the Hilltoppers and, along with co-captain Jocelyn Mendez, passed at an incredible 2.585 rating as the team gave up 0 aces in game 2.
Team leaders for the match were Guzman with 8 digs, Mendez with a 2.38 pass rating, Nardino with 8 kills, Young with a .333 hitting efficiency and Mejia with 17 assists.
Next up for the Hilltoppers is first round of the UCIAC as they travel to Roselle Park for the second time this season, looking to avenge its earlier 3 game loss and move on past the first match in counties for the 3rd consecutive year.
JV STRUGGLES EARLY BUT FINDS SERVING TOUCH FOR 2 GAME SWEEP AND 13th WIN
The JV Hilltoppers continued their record setting season with a 25-23, 25-9 sweep of the Cardinals. Summit missed many serves in game 1 and were locked in a close match with a slim 10-9 lead after 6 rotations. Cheryl Liu opened the game up in the Hilltopper´s favor with 2 aces to give SHS a 15-11 lead by rotation 9. Olivia Elko added another ace 2 rotations later and the Maroon and White held a seemingly insurmountable 18-12 lead. But then the Cardinal serving attack took over and the Hilltoppers gave up a 6-0 run in rotation 11 which had SHS leading only by 1 at 20-19 by the end of rotation 12. Summit responded and extended the lead to 22-19 just to see Plainfield get a key kill and add 2 service points to knot the score at 22. Olivia Skrobala hit a highly pressurized serve that led to a Plainfield hitting error to get Summit to within 1 point of the win at 24-22. Plainfield got a kill for a side-out but missed on its subsequent serve to give SHS the game 1 win at 25-23.
Coach Ross stressed the importance of eliminating the service errors in between game 1 and 2 and the team seemed to heed his words as it missed only 3 serves while pounding out 8 aces in route to a 25-9 win in game 2. The key to the game 2 performance was the serving of Cheryl Liu who hit for 5 aces in an 8-0 run in rotation 3 that opened up a 13-3 lead for the Hilltoppers and the subsequent server, Camille Della Piazza, who followed it up with a 5-0 run (3 aces) to give Summit a 19-5 lead. The rest of the game was academic.
Summit got key performances from Camille Della Piazza (3 kills, 4 aces, 5 assists), Cheryl Liu (7 aces 2 digs) and Bella D´Ambrosi (3 kills).
The team will face off next week versus the Linden Tigers in a home match between the 7 v 10 matchup in the UCIAC JV Tournament, time TBD.
In game 1, both teams struggled to find any consistency off the serve or attack and found themselves tied at 11 after 6 rotations. By the 9th rotation, Casey Nardino stepped up to the service line with the score 14-14 and proceeded to serve 7 service points (4 aces) which turned the match on its head. Leading 21-15, the Hilltoppers got key kills from Maddie Young and Lauren Trindell to close out the game 25-22. This accomplishment could not be overlooked as the team had managed to lose these type of games recently but the true test would come in game 2. Summit was led in game 1 by Nardino who had 4 kills and 4 aces to score 8 of Summit´s 14 earned points in the game. Val Guzman and Jocelyn Mendez were stalwarts defensively, digging up 9 of the team´s 13 balls (5 and 4 respectively) and passed 14/21 balls on serve receive at a 2.1 rating.
Game 2 was more of the same with Summit trailing 11-9 after 6 rotations due to Summit´s serving errors. Gabby Mejia put 2 aces away in rotation 7 and had Summit up 13-12 and Val Guzman did some damage with an ace and 2 service points to extend the lead to 16-13. With both teams trading points over the next 2 rotations, it started to look like the Hilltoppers were going to face that moment of truth again late in the match. Would the team respond or would it find a way to self-destruct?
Grace Galuppo gave everyone the answer as she served up 2 high pressure serves which led to 2 free ball opportunities the Maroon and White put away which gave the team a 21-16. Both teams traded points throughout the next few rotations but Summit´s execution on side-out opportunities was the key down the stretch as the team closed out the match 25-19.
Maddie Young and Casey Nardino were key in the game 2 win as they hit for 4 kills apiece. Of note, Young was the most productive and effective hitter on the squad in game 2 and was vital in the late scoring for the squad. Young hit for 4 kills at a .571 kill and hitting efficiency! Gabby Mejia ran a great offense distributing 8 assists and led the squad in the game with 2 aces. Val Guzman dug up 3 balls to lead the Hilltoppers and, along with co-captain Jocelyn Mendez, passed at an incredible 2.585 rating as the team gave up 0 aces in game 2.
Team leaders for the match were Guzman with 8 digs, Mendez with a 2.38 pass rating, Nardino with 8 kills, Young with a .333 hitting efficiency and Mejia with 17 assists.
Next up for the Hilltoppers is first round of the UCIAC as they travel to Roselle Park for the second time this season, looking to avenge its earlier 3 game loss and move on past the first match in counties for the 3rd consecutive year.
JV STRUGGLES EARLY BUT FINDS SERVING TOUCH FOR 2 GAME SWEEP AND 13th WIN
The JV Hilltoppers continued their record setting season with a 25-23, 25-9 sweep of the Cardinals. Summit missed many serves in game 1 and were locked in a close match with a slim 10-9 lead after 6 rotations. Cheryl Liu opened the game up in the Hilltopper´s favor with 2 aces to give SHS a 15-11 lead by rotation 9. Olivia Elko added another ace 2 rotations later and the Maroon and White held a seemingly insurmountable 18-12 lead. But then the Cardinal serving attack took over and the Hilltoppers gave up a 6-0 run in rotation 11 which had SHS leading only by 1 at 20-19 by the end of rotation 12. Summit responded and extended the lead to 22-19 just to see Plainfield get a key kill and add 2 service points to knot the score at 22. Olivia Skrobala hit a highly pressurized serve that led to a Plainfield hitting error to get Summit to within 1 point of the win at 24-22. Plainfield got a kill for a side-out but missed on its subsequent serve to give SHS the game 1 win at 25-23.
Coach Ross stressed the importance of eliminating the service errors in between game 1 and 2 and the team seemed to heed his words as it missed only 3 serves while pounding out 8 aces in route to a 25-9 win in game 2. The key to the game 2 performance was the serving of Cheryl Liu who hit for 5 aces in an 8-0 run in rotation 3 that opened up a 13-3 lead for the Hilltoppers and the subsequent server, Camille Della Piazza, who followed it up with a 5-0 run (3 aces) to give Summit a 19-5 lead. The rest of the game was academic.
Summit got key performances from Camille Della Piazza (3 kills, 4 aces, 5 assists), Cheryl Liu (7 aces 2 digs) and Bella D´Ambrosi (3 kills).
The team will face off next week versus the Linden Tigers in a home match between the 7 v 10 matchup in the UCIAC JV Tournament, time TBD.
HILLTOPPERS FALL TO KP DRAGONS IN 2; JV PICKS UP 12TH WIN; 9th GRADERS ROLL OVER THE DRAGONS 9th GRADE
Summit had pushed the Dragons to the limit in a 2-1 loss at Kent Place a mere 4 days ago and were looking to right the ship at home. Kent Place started off hot and came from behind to seal the games and match 25-12, 25-23.
Summit was down early in game 1 and couldn´t recover to make the game competitive. SHS managed only 4 kills and had no aces in a game in which it trailed 7-5 by the 3rd rotation but saw its deficit balloon to 10 after an 8-0 run that had KP up 15-8 at its conclusion. Kent Place had another 10-4 run and the game was over in 8 rotations. Katie Samay led the SHS attack with 2 kills.
Game 2 saw a much more spirited Hilltopper squad that scored 12 points in the game (7 kills, 5 aces). SHS was led again by Samay in game 2 as she hit for 3 kills but Grace Galuppo got the ball rolling in rotation 4 with 8 service points (5 aces) to give the Maroon and White a seemingly comfortable 13-5 lead. Summit was up 20-9 entering the 9th rotation when the wheels started coming off their game. Kent Place went on a 7-0 run that had the Dragons within striking distance at 20-16 before a Hilltopper kill stalled their momentum at 21-16. Summit still seemed in control despite the Dragon run but Kent Place never stopped pressuring the Hilltoppers, forcing the team to make plays to close them out. After a Mendez ace gave the Maroon and White a 23-19 lead, Summit looked like it would do just that and close out the Dragons and force a 3rd game. But that´s when the Hilltoppers failed to find the key plays that would´ve earned them the victory. Summit suffered a 6-0 run fueled by 2 Kent Place kills and 4 hitting errors that gave the win to the Dragons.
Samay was a bright spot in the game as she hit for 3 of the team´s 7 kills in the game and Galuppo went a perfect 10/10 with 5 aces to account for 8 of the team´s 12 earned points in game 2.
Samay led the Hilltoppers with 5 kills and Galuppo´s 11/12 serving and 5 aces were tops from the serving line. Galuppo and Mendez had 6 digs apiece to lead the Maroon and White and Amanda Fonseca chipped in 5 herself as the trio accounted for 17 of the 26 team digs.
JV PICKS UP 12th WIN
The JV Squad picked up their 12th victory of the season as it rolled over the Kent Place Dragons 25-11 in game 1 behind Olivia Elko´s serving who put the game away with 18 consecutive service points, blowing the game open, bringing SHS from a 6-9 deficit to a 24-10 lead. Elko was only 5 aces away from breaking the all-time season record for aces entering the match and she nailed 8 in game 1 alone to break the record previously set by MB Jackie Goda in 2009.
Game 2 was a far more competitive affair as the Dragons held 23-19 lead late after most of the match was a tight 1 or 2 point differential on both sides. A key kill by Katie McPhearson gave the ball back to the Hilltoppers trailing 23-20 and put Camille Della Piazza a chance to bring the Hilltoppers back. The Captain did not disappoint with 5 straight service points (2 aces) which gave the team a come from behind 25-23 victory. Elko added 2 more aces in game 2 to extend the record lead.
9th GRADERS PICK UP 2nd WIN
The 9th graders swept Kent Place in 2 games, 25-11, 25-15 behind the serving attack of Abby Doyle in game 1 and Cassandra Hrerovich in game 2. The 9th graders got some key kills in game 2 and Kyra Gunther and Krista Clapp added consistent setting along with Doyle to keep the pressure on the Dragons throughout the match. 9th Graders have earned a 2W-2L thus far in the season.
Summit was down early in game 1 and couldn´t recover to make the game competitive. SHS managed only 4 kills and had no aces in a game in which it trailed 7-5 by the 3rd rotation but saw its deficit balloon to 10 after an 8-0 run that had KP up 15-8 at its conclusion. Kent Place had another 10-4 run and the game was over in 8 rotations. Katie Samay led the SHS attack with 2 kills.
Game 2 saw a much more spirited Hilltopper squad that scored 12 points in the game (7 kills, 5 aces). SHS was led again by Samay in game 2 as she hit for 3 kills but Grace Galuppo got the ball rolling in rotation 4 with 8 service points (5 aces) to give the Maroon and White a seemingly comfortable 13-5 lead. Summit was up 20-9 entering the 9th rotation when the wheels started coming off their game. Kent Place went on a 7-0 run that had the Dragons within striking distance at 20-16 before a Hilltopper kill stalled their momentum at 21-16. Summit still seemed in control despite the Dragon run but Kent Place never stopped pressuring the Hilltoppers, forcing the team to make plays to close them out. After a Mendez ace gave the Maroon and White a 23-19 lead, Summit looked like it would do just that and close out the Dragons and force a 3rd game. But that´s when the Hilltoppers failed to find the key plays that would´ve earned them the victory. Summit suffered a 6-0 run fueled by 2 Kent Place kills and 4 hitting errors that gave the win to the Dragons.
Samay was a bright spot in the game as she hit for 3 of the team´s 7 kills in the game and Galuppo went a perfect 10/10 with 5 aces to account for 8 of the team´s 12 earned points in game 2.
Samay led the Hilltoppers with 5 kills and Galuppo´s 11/12 serving and 5 aces were tops from the serving line. Galuppo and Mendez had 6 digs apiece to lead the Maroon and White and Amanda Fonseca chipped in 5 herself as the trio accounted for 17 of the 26 team digs.
JV PICKS UP 12th WIN
The JV Squad picked up their 12th victory of the season as it rolled over the Kent Place Dragons 25-11 in game 1 behind Olivia Elko´s serving who put the game away with 18 consecutive service points, blowing the game open, bringing SHS from a 6-9 deficit to a 24-10 lead. Elko was only 5 aces away from breaking the all-time season record for aces entering the match and she nailed 8 in game 1 alone to break the record previously set by MB Jackie Goda in 2009.
Game 2 was a far more competitive affair as the Dragons held 23-19 lead late after most of the match was a tight 1 or 2 point differential on both sides. A key kill by Katie McPhearson gave the ball back to the Hilltoppers trailing 23-20 and put Camille Della Piazza a chance to bring the Hilltoppers back. The Captain did not disappoint with 5 straight service points (2 aces) which gave the team a come from behind 25-23 victory. Elko added 2 more aces in game 2 to extend the record lead.
9th GRADERS PICK UP 2nd WIN
The 9th graders swept Kent Place in 2 games, 25-11, 25-15 behind the serving attack of Abby Doyle in game 1 and Cassandra Hrerovich in game 2. The 9th graders got some key kills in game 2 and Kyra Gunther and Krista Clapp added consistent setting along with Doyle to keep the pressure on the Dragons throughout the match. 9th Graders have earned a 2W-2L thus far in the season.
Friday, October 7, 2016
LADY HILLTOPPERS PUSH PIONEERS TO 3 BUT CAN´T CLOSE; JV GETS CHALLENGED BUT PREVAIL FOR 11th VICTORY
Summit was looking to buck their 3 game loss trend against the Pioneers of New Providence but fell short with a 16-25, 26-24, 25-18 loss, their 3rd consecutive 3 game loss and the team´s 7th this season.
Gabby Mejia ripped off 7 service points to start the match and brought Summit to an 8-4 lead but in rotation 5, SHS lost all momentum and lost a 2 point lead at 12-10 and trailed 22-16 after 6 rotations. The damage was done in rotation 5 and the squad couldn´t recover as New Providence closed out the match at 25-16.
Val Guzman led the attack for the Maroon and White with 4 of the team´s 10 kills. Summit went a perfect 16/16 from the service line and hit for 3 aces led by Mejia with a perfect 8/8 and 2 aces. Guzman was a defensive star with 8 of the team´s 12 digs and both Guzman and Jocelyn Mendez combined for 13 of the team´s 24 receptions and passed at a 2.16 rating.
Despite the team only hitting for 9 kills in game 2, Summit pounded out 6 aces and outscored New Prov 15-10 which was the determining factor in game 2. Summit trailed 13-9 after 7 rotations but Val Guzman brought the team back with 3 service points and knotted the score at 13. The Pioneers fought back and extended the lead back to 4 at 21-17. The match looked out of reach but to the credit of these young women, they have not given up all season long and they proceeded to storm back in the Pioneer home court. Jocelyn Mendez ripped 3 straight aces to get SHS to within 1 at 21-20 but New Prov finally got a side-out and the Pioneers got back up by 2 at 22-20. Summit put a kill down to get the ball back and Gabby Mejia got SHS 1 more point to knot up the score at 22 before another New Prov side-out put SHS back down by 1 yet again. Both teams sided out and Summit fought off a match point with a Guzman kill and Casey Nardino took the ball at 24 all and ripped 2 aces to give SHS the victory in game 2 26-24.
The Hilltoppers felt confident and excited but, early on, it was the calm and collected Pioneers that got out to a good start and led 5-1 early. Summit trailed 11-6 by rotation 6 when Mendez again brought Summit closer with another ace and had SHS down only by 3 at 11-8. Unfortunately, the New Providence offense found its rhythm and kept pressuring the Hilltopper defense and despite the best efforts by SHS, Summit could not cut into the Pioneer lead anymore and found themselves down 21-15 late in the game. Summit and New Providence traded points the rest of the way and the 25-18 final result reflected the competitiveness of the match. Summit managed only 4 kills but the team did hit for 5 aces in game 3 and dug up 11 balls.
Summit hit for 23 kills in the match led by Guzman's 8 and Nardino's 6 kills. Mendez and Mejia combined yet again for an amazing serving day as both Captains hit for 7 of the 14 team aces with a combined 25/26 serving. Nardino and Mendez led the team with 4 aces piece. Guzman and Mendez combined for 24 digs (14 and 10 respectively) in the loss. Nardino led the Hilltoppers again with 12 points.
11th WIN HARDER THAN EXPECTED FOR JV HILLTOPPERS
The JV Squad got their 11th victory behind a 25-21, 25-23 2 game sweep of the Pioneers. Summit led 14-8 after 6 rotations and looked to be in cruise control especially after Olivia Elko pushed the Hilltopper lead to 8 at 20-12. Despite a brief run by the Pioneers, Summit held on and closed the game 25-21.
SHS found themselves in a dog fight in game 2 as New Providence had the score knotted up at 10 by rotation 6. After Summit regained the lead and extended it by 4 to 20-16, the Pioneers fought back and tied the score at 20. After a few sideouts, SHS saw New Prov get the crowd all pumped up at 23 all but the Summit receive came alive and Carmel Barsh dropped a key kill and Katie McPhearson finished it off with another kill as the Hilltoppers took the game and match 25-23.
Barsh led the Hilltoppers with 3 kills, Camille Della Piazza and Micaela Nardino led the serving attack with 4 aces apiece and Emily Ramirez dug up a team leading 4 balls.
9th Graders took on the New Providence frosh and came away with a 25-14 and 25-21 loss to the Pioneers.
Gabby Mejia ripped off 7 service points to start the match and brought Summit to an 8-4 lead but in rotation 5, SHS lost all momentum and lost a 2 point lead at 12-10 and trailed 22-16 after 6 rotations. The damage was done in rotation 5 and the squad couldn´t recover as New Providence closed out the match at 25-16.
Val Guzman led the attack for the Maroon and White with 4 of the team´s 10 kills. Summit went a perfect 16/16 from the service line and hit for 3 aces led by Mejia with a perfect 8/8 and 2 aces. Guzman was a defensive star with 8 of the team´s 12 digs and both Guzman and Jocelyn Mendez combined for 13 of the team´s 24 receptions and passed at a 2.16 rating.
Despite the team only hitting for 9 kills in game 2, Summit pounded out 6 aces and outscored New Prov 15-10 which was the determining factor in game 2. Summit trailed 13-9 after 7 rotations but Val Guzman brought the team back with 3 service points and knotted the score at 13. The Pioneers fought back and extended the lead back to 4 at 21-17. The match looked out of reach but to the credit of these young women, they have not given up all season long and they proceeded to storm back in the Pioneer home court. Jocelyn Mendez ripped 3 straight aces to get SHS to within 1 at 21-20 but New Prov finally got a side-out and the Pioneers got back up by 2 at 22-20. Summit put a kill down to get the ball back and Gabby Mejia got SHS 1 more point to knot up the score at 22 before another New Prov side-out put SHS back down by 1 yet again. Both teams sided out and Summit fought off a match point with a Guzman kill and Casey Nardino took the ball at 24 all and ripped 2 aces to give SHS the victory in game 2 26-24.
The Hilltoppers felt confident and excited but, early on, it was the calm and collected Pioneers that got out to a good start and led 5-1 early. Summit trailed 11-6 by rotation 6 when Mendez again brought Summit closer with another ace and had SHS down only by 3 at 11-8. Unfortunately, the New Providence offense found its rhythm and kept pressuring the Hilltopper defense and despite the best efforts by SHS, Summit could not cut into the Pioneer lead anymore and found themselves down 21-15 late in the game. Summit and New Providence traded points the rest of the way and the 25-18 final result reflected the competitiveness of the match. Summit managed only 4 kills but the team did hit for 5 aces in game 3 and dug up 11 balls.
Summit hit for 23 kills in the match led by Guzman's 8 and Nardino's 6 kills. Mendez and Mejia combined yet again for an amazing serving day as both Captains hit for 7 of the 14 team aces with a combined 25/26 serving. Nardino and Mendez led the team with 4 aces piece. Guzman and Mendez combined for 24 digs (14 and 10 respectively) in the loss. Nardino led the Hilltoppers again with 12 points.
11th WIN HARDER THAN EXPECTED FOR JV HILLTOPPERS
The JV Squad got their 11th victory behind a 25-21, 25-23 2 game sweep of the Pioneers. Summit led 14-8 after 6 rotations and looked to be in cruise control especially after Olivia Elko pushed the Hilltopper lead to 8 at 20-12. Despite a brief run by the Pioneers, Summit held on and closed the game 25-21.
SHS found themselves in a dog fight in game 2 as New Providence had the score knotted up at 10 by rotation 6. After Summit regained the lead and extended it by 4 to 20-16, the Pioneers fought back and tied the score at 20. After a few sideouts, SHS saw New Prov get the crowd all pumped up at 23 all but the Summit receive came alive and Carmel Barsh dropped a key kill and Katie McPhearson finished it off with another kill as the Hilltoppers took the game and match 25-23.
Barsh led the Hilltoppers with 3 kills, Camille Della Piazza and Micaela Nardino led the serving attack with 4 aces apiece and Emily Ramirez dug up a team leading 4 balls.
9th Graders took on the New Providence frosh and came away with a 25-14 and 25-21 loss to the Pioneers.
VARSITY PLAYS WELL ENOUGH TO LOSE IN 3 AGAIN; JV ROLLS TO 10th WIN
The Hilltoppers took the short walk to Kent Place Blvd. to take on their city rivals the Dragons of Kent Place looking to bounce back from the Roselle Park loss the day before. Despite another valiant effort against a top team in the conference, SHS could not close out the match with a lead again and dropped a 14-25, 25-21, 25-23 decision to the Dragons.
In game 1, Summit missed 4 of its first 6 serves, passing was not solid (1.65 pass rating) and the offense could not make up the ground lost on those errors and the team dropped game 1 25-14. Summit served at an abysmal 60% and had only 2 aces. The offense only mustered 6 kills led by Val Guzman´s 3 with a .200 hitting efficiency. The silver lining was that despite all the errors, the team was in the match for most of game 1 and were winning the rallies.
Game 2 proved to be a much better display of Hilltopper volleyball as the team stayed close to KP throughout the game and despite trailing by 2-3 points most of the way a late 9-2 run by the Hilltoppers helped the team quiet the Dragon fans with a 25-21 game 2 win. Jocelyn Mendez helped straighten out the offense with a 2.66 pass rating and the team only gave up 3 aces to the Dragons while only committing 2 serving errors themselves. A serving percentage of 92% was the key factor in the win as Kent Place had 8 missed serves which proved to be decisive in a game where Summit only had 5 kills (Casey Nardino with 3 and a .200 hitting efficiency) and hit a -.042 for the game!
Summit seemed re-energized by the the late game 2 heroics and thanks to Gabby Mejia´s serving to open game 3, the team jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Summit fought off numerous runs at them by the Dragons but never allowed Kent Place to get closer than 2 points throughout. Summit seemed to respond with a key kill or dig at those points and push the lead back to 4 or 5 snuffing out any Kent Place run. But then SHS hit 20 points with a 20-17 lead.
As has been much of the pattern throughout this year, the Maroon and White could not deal with the success it had created despite coming off a time-out and extending the lead to 21-19 and stopping the Dragons on their serve to give Jocelyn Mendez the ball. Mendez hit for an ace and helped keep the Dragons out of system on the next play to give Summit what looked like a commanding lead at 23-19. The Hilltoppers though hit 4 of their 9 attack errors in the game during this stretch and allowed KP to go on a 6-0 run which sealed the game and match 25-23 for the Dragons.
Summit mustered only 3 kills in the game, a major factor in the loss, and hit for a season low -.222 on offense but were in the position to win thanks to 8 aces and an 88% serving percentage. Jocelyn Mendez passed at a consistent 2.00 rating to give the offense multiple chances to score and combined with Mejia and Nardino for a perfect 17/17 from the service line with a combined 8 aces (4 Mejia). Mendez was a defensive stalwart digging up a team leading 6 balls in the game 3 loss.
Mendez passed for a great 2.00 rating for the match and led the team with 13 digs. Mendez also put down 2 aces in a perfect 10/10 serving performance. Nardino was once again the top point scorer with 10 points behind 5 kills, 4 aces and 1 block while also chipping in with 2 digs. Guzman was the only hitter on the positive side for the Hilltoppers with a .100 hitting efficiency behind 4 kills while also digging up 5 balls.
But the woman of the match was Mejia who, despite sustaining a minor finger injury in game 1, contributed 5 points to the scoring with 5 aces and an outstanding 14/15 serving performance. Mejia was also highly active defensively with 5 digs and saved numerous errant passes that led to momentum changing plays for the Hilltoppers throughout game 2 and 3.
JV ROLLS TO 10TH VICTORY
The JV Hilltoppers were absolutely dominant in their 25-15, 25-12 victory over the Dragons. Summit won through a total team effort as multiple Hilltoppers contributed to the lopsided win. In game 1, SHS ripped a season high 13 kills and hit for 5 aces to overwhelm the Dragon defense.
Game 2 proved to be more of the same as the Maroon and White pounded out a season high 13 aces to go with 6 kills against Kent Place who had no answers for the Summit offense.
Olivia Elko tacked on 6 more aces as she continues her assault on the JV record of 59 aces in a season and added a kill and 3 digs. Camille Della Piazza added 4 aces, 3 kills, 3 assists and 1 dig to be the most active Hilltopper on the day. Cheryl Liu was lethal from the service line as well ripping 6 aces while also adding 2 digs. Offensively, Carmel Barsh led the way with 5 kills along with Katie McPhearson who also nailed 5 kills.
In game 1, Summit missed 4 of its first 6 serves, passing was not solid (1.65 pass rating) and the offense could not make up the ground lost on those errors and the team dropped game 1 25-14. Summit served at an abysmal 60% and had only 2 aces. The offense only mustered 6 kills led by Val Guzman´s 3 with a .200 hitting efficiency. The silver lining was that despite all the errors, the team was in the match for most of game 1 and were winning the rallies.
Game 2 proved to be a much better display of Hilltopper volleyball as the team stayed close to KP throughout the game and despite trailing by 2-3 points most of the way a late 9-2 run by the Hilltoppers helped the team quiet the Dragon fans with a 25-21 game 2 win. Jocelyn Mendez helped straighten out the offense with a 2.66 pass rating and the team only gave up 3 aces to the Dragons while only committing 2 serving errors themselves. A serving percentage of 92% was the key factor in the win as Kent Place had 8 missed serves which proved to be decisive in a game where Summit only had 5 kills (Casey Nardino with 3 and a .200 hitting efficiency) and hit a -.042 for the game!
Summit seemed re-energized by the the late game 2 heroics and thanks to Gabby Mejia´s serving to open game 3, the team jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Summit fought off numerous runs at them by the Dragons but never allowed Kent Place to get closer than 2 points throughout. Summit seemed to respond with a key kill or dig at those points and push the lead back to 4 or 5 snuffing out any Kent Place run. But then SHS hit 20 points with a 20-17 lead.
As has been much of the pattern throughout this year, the Maroon and White could not deal with the success it had created despite coming off a time-out and extending the lead to 21-19 and stopping the Dragons on their serve to give Jocelyn Mendez the ball. Mendez hit for an ace and helped keep the Dragons out of system on the next play to give Summit what looked like a commanding lead at 23-19. The Hilltoppers though hit 4 of their 9 attack errors in the game during this stretch and allowed KP to go on a 6-0 run which sealed the game and match 25-23 for the Dragons.
Summit mustered only 3 kills in the game, a major factor in the loss, and hit for a season low -.222 on offense but were in the position to win thanks to 8 aces and an 88% serving percentage. Jocelyn Mendez passed at a consistent 2.00 rating to give the offense multiple chances to score and combined with Mejia and Nardino for a perfect 17/17 from the service line with a combined 8 aces (4 Mejia). Mendez was a defensive stalwart digging up a team leading 6 balls in the game 3 loss.
Mendez passed for a great 2.00 rating for the match and led the team with 13 digs. Mendez also put down 2 aces in a perfect 10/10 serving performance. Nardino was once again the top point scorer with 10 points behind 5 kills, 4 aces and 1 block while also chipping in with 2 digs. Guzman was the only hitter on the positive side for the Hilltoppers with a .100 hitting efficiency behind 4 kills while also digging up 5 balls.
But the woman of the match was Mejia who, despite sustaining a minor finger injury in game 1, contributed 5 points to the scoring with 5 aces and an outstanding 14/15 serving performance. Mejia was also highly active defensively with 5 digs and saved numerous errant passes that led to momentum changing plays for the Hilltoppers throughout game 2 and 3.
JV ROLLS TO 10TH VICTORY
The JV Hilltoppers were absolutely dominant in their 25-15, 25-12 victory over the Dragons. Summit won through a total team effort as multiple Hilltoppers contributed to the lopsided win. In game 1, SHS ripped a season high 13 kills and hit for 5 aces to overwhelm the Dragon defense.
Game 2 proved to be more of the same as the Maroon and White pounded out a season high 13 aces to go with 6 kills against Kent Place who had no answers for the Summit offense.
Olivia Elko tacked on 6 more aces as she continues her assault on the JV record of 59 aces in a season and added a kill and 3 digs. Camille Della Piazza added 4 aces, 3 kills, 3 assists and 1 dig to be the most active Hilltopper on the day. Cheryl Liu was lethal from the service line as well ripping 6 aces while also adding 2 digs. Offensively, Carmel Barsh led the way with 5 kills along with Katie McPhearson who also nailed 5 kills.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
HILLTOPPERS PLAY FAMILIAR TUNE, LOSE IN 3; JV PREVAILS IN 3 FOR 9th WIN
Feeling confident about their performance over the top teams in the league, SHS took on the Panthers of Roselle Park brimming with confidence. After a 25-10 first game victory, the Hilltoppers seemed poised to pick up their 3rd victory but as has been the pattern most of the year, Summit couldn't finish the job and dropped the next 2 games 20-25 and 24-26.
Game 1 saw a Hilltopper team that was hitting on all cylinders. Summit hammered 8 kills, 8 aces and added 1 block for 17 points to easily take a 25-10 game 1 victory. SHS hit for a .353 and aced at a 33% clip as Casey Nardino led the way with 8 points with a team leading 5 kills and 3 aces.
Game 2 saw the regular season debut of Georgia Inggs, Nat Schluter and Alisha Mcdonnell coming in as the setter early on in the game. Summit hit for 11 kills but managed only 1 ace for 12 points. The team also only hit for .172 as the 11 kills were mitigated by 6 hitting errors. Despite the team leading early on by as many as 4 points, the Panthers took a 2 point lead at 18-16 and never relinquished it as they outscored Summit 7-4 the rest of the game for a 25-20 victory.
Game 3 was a tight game throughout without either team being able to establish any run and therefore both teams never more than 2 points from each other. Despite scoring 15 points off 7 kills, 7 aces and 1 block, the Hilltoppers hit for only . 036 due to 6 errors and in spite of 7 aces, hit 2 of their 3 errors in the last 6 rotations of the game. Summit trailed 21-17 and crawled back to within 1 at 21-20 but a free ball error had Roselle Park back in control at 22-20. The Panthers extended the lead to 23-20 but SHS broke serve to get back into it at 23-21 behind a Panther hitting error. Gabby Mejia drove a serve that led to a free ball error by Roselle Park but a kill by the Panthers had Summit facing match point at 24-22. Summit got a key kill by Val Guzman to get SHS to within 1 at 24-23 and Coach Martins asked Maddie Young to step in for Guzman to deliver a key serve at match point. Young delivered with an ace and SHS forced a time-out knotted p at 24. The Hilltoppers could not carry the momentum though as a serving error and a bad reception later led to the team's 10th loss.
Summit was led offensively by Val Guzman who nailed 10 kills with a .250 hitting efficiency. Guzman also chipped in 2 aces and 5 digs. Casey Nardino hit for 7 kills at a .375 efficiency but added a team leading 6 aces with a block for a team leading 14 points. Summit dug up 30 balls with Gabby Mejia leading with 6. Mejia also got 20 assists. Mejia and Nardino combined for 32/33 serving with 9 combined aces. Jocelyn Mendez passed at a 2.05 rating and added 3 digs in a 6/7 serving day.
JV GETS A 2-1 WIN FOR 9-3 RECORD
The JV Squad earned a hard fought 25-16, 17-25, 15-9 victory over the Roselle Park Panthers. Summit led early but it wasn't until Olivia Elko ripped off 4 aces at 16-15 that blew the game open and gave SHS an insurmountable 23-15 lead before she was done. Blakely McCann led the Hilltopper offense with 3 kills.
Game 2 was about Hilltopper passing and serving errors. Olivia Elko got another 3 aces and Katie McPhearson nailed 2 kills but that was as much as the Hilltoppers could manage in the game. Summit trailed early and got only as close as 17-14 behind Elko's serving but the Panthers slammed the door shut with an 8-2 run that sealed the game.
The Panthers continued their run into the 3rd game as Roselle Park took a 5-1 lead which forced a time-out call by Coach Ross. The team settled down after the TO and thanks to Elko and Camille Della Piazza´s serving along with timely kills by various hitters, the squad went on a 9-1 run that shut down any hope the Panthers had to get a home win. Summit finished game 3 with another 5-3 run to close out the match 15-9.
Summit was led from the serving line by Olivia Elko who hit for 7 aces in the match. Elko also led the team with 2 digs. Camille Della Piazza also had a stellar day from the service line as she chipped in 5 aces, 4 in the decisive 3rd game. Della Piazza´s 4 assists also led the squad. Katie McPhearson and Blakely McCann combined for 7 kills to lead the Hilltopper offense (4 and 3 respectively).
JV will attempt to get their 10th win versus Kent Place on the road. Of note, the best record was set by last year´s team with a 15W-7L record. This year´s squad is currently on pace to shatter that record and get their highest UCIAC Tournament seed.
Game 1 saw a Hilltopper team that was hitting on all cylinders. Summit hammered 8 kills, 8 aces and added 1 block for 17 points to easily take a 25-10 game 1 victory. SHS hit for a .353 and aced at a 33% clip as Casey Nardino led the way with 8 points with a team leading 5 kills and 3 aces.
Game 2 saw the regular season debut of Georgia Inggs, Nat Schluter and Alisha Mcdonnell coming in as the setter early on in the game. Summit hit for 11 kills but managed only 1 ace for 12 points. The team also only hit for .172 as the 11 kills were mitigated by 6 hitting errors. Despite the team leading early on by as many as 4 points, the Panthers took a 2 point lead at 18-16 and never relinquished it as they outscored Summit 7-4 the rest of the game for a 25-20 victory.
Game 3 was a tight game throughout without either team being able to establish any run and therefore both teams never more than 2 points from each other. Despite scoring 15 points off 7 kills, 7 aces and 1 block, the Hilltoppers hit for only . 036 due to 6 errors and in spite of 7 aces, hit 2 of their 3 errors in the last 6 rotations of the game. Summit trailed 21-17 and crawled back to within 1 at 21-20 but a free ball error had Roselle Park back in control at 22-20. The Panthers extended the lead to 23-20 but SHS broke serve to get back into it at 23-21 behind a Panther hitting error. Gabby Mejia drove a serve that led to a free ball error by Roselle Park but a kill by the Panthers had Summit facing match point at 24-22. Summit got a key kill by Val Guzman to get SHS to within 1 at 24-23 and Coach Martins asked Maddie Young to step in for Guzman to deliver a key serve at match point. Young delivered with an ace and SHS forced a time-out knotted p at 24. The Hilltoppers could not carry the momentum though as a serving error and a bad reception later led to the team's 10th loss.
Summit was led offensively by Val Guzman who nailed 10 kills with a .250 hitting efficiency. Guzman also chipped in 2 aces and 5 digs. Casey Nardino hit for 7 kills at a .375 efficiency but added a team leading 6 aces with a block for a team leading 14 points. Summit dug up 30 balls with Gabby Mejia leading with 6. Mejia also got 20 assists. Mejia and Nardino combined for 32/33 serving with 9 combined aces. Jocelyn Mendez passed at a 2.05 rating and added 3 digs in a 6/7 serving day.
JV GETS A 2-1 WIN FOR 9-3 RECORD
The JV Squad earned a hard fought 25-16, 17-25, 15-9 victory over the Roselle Park Panthers. Summit led early but it wasn't until Olivia Elko ripped off 4 aces at 16-15 that blew the game open and gave SHS an insurmountable 23-15 lead before she was done. Blakely McCann led the Hilltopper offense with 3 kills.
Game 2 was about Hilltopper passing and serving errors. Olivia Elko got another 3 aces and Katie McPhearson nailed 2 kills but that was as much as the Hilltoppers could manage in the game. Summit trailed early and got only as close as 17-14 behind Elko's serving but the Panthers slammed the door shut with an 8-2 run that sealed the game.
The Panthers continued their run into the 3rd game as Roselle Park took a 5-1 lead which forced a time-out call by Coach Ross. The team settled down after the TO and thanks to Elko and Camille Della Piazza´s serving along with timely kills by various hitters, the squad went on a 9-1 run that shut down any hope the Panthers had to get a home win. Summit finished game 3 with another 5-3 run to close out the match 15-9.
Summit was led from the serving line by Olivia Elko who hit for 7 aces in the match. Elko also led the team with 2 digs. Camille Della Piazza also had a stellar day from the service line as she chipped in 5 aces, 4 in the decisive 3rd game. Della Piazza´s 4 assists also led the squad. Katie McPhearson and Blakely McCann combined for 7 kills to lead the Hilltopper offense (4 and 3 respectively).
JV will attempt to get their 10th win versus Kent Place on the road. Of note, the best record was set by last year´s team with a 15W-7L record. This year´s squad is currently on pace to shatter that record and get their highest UCIAC Tournament seed.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
TIGERS ESCAPE SUMMIT BUT JV AND 9TH GRADERS OVERCOME TIGER PRESSURE FOR WINS
The Lady Hilltoppers hosted the Linden Tigers fresh off their victory over Rahway and looking to get an unlikely victory if you looked at the matchup on paper. Despite the supposed advantage on paper, Summit gave Linden everything they could handle and then some.
Game one started auspiciously for the Hilltoppers as the Linden Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead that forced Coach Martins to call a time-out. The momentum was broken but SHS couldn't get much going and saw themselves down 10-2 as Val Guzman stepped up to serve. Guzman did what she has done over the last couple of years and scored 4 points off her serve to get Summit within striking distance at 7-11. The teams stayed fairly even through the next 4 rotations with great passing and offense and the 15-11 Tiger lead reflected the tight match it had become. Neither the Hilltoppers nor the Tigers could do much to change the nature of the match as it had evolved as both teams were evenly matched and could not get a dominant foothold in the game. Key side-outs and defensive plays by both sides kept any long runs from developing and by the beginning of rotation 10, with Linden leading 19-15, it was obvious that any long run would be decisive at this point. That run came from in the form of an ace suffered and hitting error committed by SHS that had the Tigers seemingly in control at 21-15. A kill by Val Guzman gave Summit a chance to stay in the match but 2 rotations later Linden had the lead at 23-18 as the 7-0 run at the start seemed more and more like the difference in the match.
But then Jocelyn Mendez went to serve under a high pressure situation and delivered as you would expect a captain to do so. Mendez' serving yielded 5 service points (1 ace) and the trouble Linden had passing her serves gave Summit easy opportunities to put away as the Hilltoppers knotted the score at 23 and forced a Linden time-out. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to side-out and closed out the game on a Hilltopper hitting error.
Guzman was a stalwart offensively hitting for 4 kills at a .300 efficiency and Casey Nardino collected another 4 kills as well as both girls had 8 of the 12 team kills. Summit hit .152 in the game but the 10 combined hitting and serving errors proved to be too much to overcome for the squad. Summit out hit Linden 12-8 but got out-served 6-1 in aces (4 in that 7-0 run) that swung this tight match.
SHS felt pretty confident entering the 2nd game and it showed in their play as the squad opened 5-0 lead behind Gabby Mejia who would end up with the most service points on the team. The game settled in as game 1 had after Linden's initial run and after Mendez rattled off another 4 service points in rotation 6, SHS was where it had begun the game, with a 5 point cushion at 16-11.
The turning point of the match occurred at this juncture as the Hilltoppers could sense they had the Tigers on the ropes and tried to make every play possible to put them away. To their detriment, the Maroon and White played 3 balls that were traveling out of bounds off a serve, an attack and a block which netted 3 points to Linden and brought the opponent to within 1 at 15-16. Summit was forced to call a time-out but the writing was on the wall. The team that would be able to play the cleanest volleyball would win he game. Summit had 1 serving error and 3 hitting errors after leading 19-18 and lost the game on a 4-0 run by Linden which began with an SHS hitting error. The last Linden burst came off great serving and Summit could not generate enough good passes to counter-act the Tiger serving attack. Linden ended the match with an ace to punctuate an 8-1 run that was made up by 4 Hilltopper hitting and serving errors, 2 Linden kills and 2 aces.
Summit scored 11 points in game 2 (6 kills-3aces-2 blocks) but gave away 11 as well with 8 hitting and 3 serving errors. The difference in game 2 was yet again the serving attack as Linden had 7 aces to Summit's 3.
SHS ended game 2 with 6-5 advantage in kills and overall an 18-13 offensive advantage for the match. Summit also won the defensive battle in the middle as the Hilltoppers out-blocked Linden 3-2. But the service attack cost the Hilltoppers as the Linden passing out-performed Summit. Linden hit for 13 aces while Summit managed only 4. That gave Linden a 28-25 point scoring advantage in the match. While SHS committed 6 service errors, Linden committed only 3. That extended the point differential to 6 with Linden at 34 and Summit at 28. In a match decided by a mere 7 points, the Linden serving advantage of 19-7 proved to be too much for Summit to overcome through their superior offense and defense throughout the match.
Summit shut down the Linden MB who scored 18 kills in their first encounter, limiting her to a mere 5 kills in the 2nd matchup, a tribute to the adjustments and defensive intensity displayed by the squad.
Guzman and Nardino led the Hilltopper offense with 6 kills apiece while Mendez and Mejia combined for 3 of the 4 aces and 16 of the team's service points. Mendez and Amanda Fonseca were defensive stalwarts digging up 9 of the team's 22 digs.
JV GETS 8th WIN THE THE HARD WAY
The JV Squad has always found the Linden matchup to be a difficult one. Earlier this season, a 27-25, 25-23 2 game sweep in Linden did not tell the story of how close the team was to losing. SHS was facing a match point before a Linden serving error allowed Olivia Elko to serve game 1 out. In game 2, despite a 23-17 lead, Summit found themselves knotted at 23 through bad passing and hitting errors. Cheryl Liu cam through that time with 2 key serves to close out the match 25-23.
In the rematch at Summit, the Hilltoppers destroyed the Tigers 25-10 thanks to Olivia Elko who blew the game open with 7 service points (3 aces) to give SHS a 13-3 lead they would not give up. Summit was flawless in its passing and serving and shut down any Linden runs in the game.
In game 2, Summit looked to play the same flawless passing game but that was not to be despite the 11-8 lead the team held through 6 rotations as the Hilltoppers had missed some serves and given up a couple of aces at that point. Leading 16-12, the passing errors finally became an issue as the Tigers went on a 6-0 run fueled by multiple Hilltopper passing errors that gave Linden an 18-16 lead. By rotation 13 Linden was close to match point at 23-21 but a missed serve opened the door for the Hilltoppers to come back. Summit relied on Elko once again as the Captain hit 2 key serves (1 ace) to give the Hilltoppers a 24-23 lead. After a Linden kill knotted up the score at 24, Summit hit for a kill and Micaela Nardino hit the crucial serve that sealed the victory at 26-24.
Despite the win, Coach Ross expressed concern that the lack of serving and passing consistency will lead to problems in the county tournament later on in October. Summit will look to correct those in the next 3 vital match ups next week.
9th GRADERS EARN FIRST VICTORY
The 9th graders got a rare taste of a 9th grade only matchup as the team took on Linden's 9th graders. Summit lost the first set 25-21 after late missed serves and passing errors gave Linden the win.
In game 2, Krista Ann Clapp gave the Hilltoppers an early 6-1 lead and the team served pretty consistently to earn a 25-15 win to force a decisive game 3. Game 3 was an exciting affair and it wasn't decided until very late as both teams showed their nerves and committed a lot of passing and serving errors. Summit committed fewer of those down the stretch and on a close out call, SHS won its first match 17-15.
Game one started auspiciously for the Hilltoppers as the Linden Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead that forced Coach Martins to call a time-out. The momentum was broken but SHS couldn't get much going and saw themselves down 10-2 as Val Guzman stepped up to serve. Guzman did what she has done over the last couple of years and scored 4 points off her serve to get Summit within striking distance at 7-11. The teams stayed fairly even through the next 4 rotations with great passing and offense and the 15-11 Tiger lead reflected the tight match it had become. Neither the Hilltoppers nor the Tigers could do much to change the nature of the match as it had evolved as both teams were evenly matched and could not get a dominant foothold in the game. Key side-outs and defensive plays by both sides kept any long runs from developing and by the beginning of rotation 10, with Linden leading 19-15, it was obvious that any long run would be decisive at this point. That run came from in the form of an ace suffered and hitting error committed by SHS that had the Tigers seemingly in control at 21-15. A kill by Val Guzman gave Summit a chance to stay in the match but 2 rotations later Linden had the lead at 23-18 as the 7-0 run at the start seemed more and more like the difference in the match.
But then Jocelyn Mendez went to serve under a high pressure situation and delivered as you would expect a captain to do so. Mendez' serving yielded 5 service points (1 ace) and the trouble Linden had passing her serves gave Summit easy opportunities to put away as the Hilltoppers knotted the score at 23 and forced a Linden time-out. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to side-out and closed out the game on a Hilltopper hitting error.
Guzman was a stalwart offensively hitting for 4 kills at a .300 efficiency and Casey Nardino collected another 4 kills as well as both girls had 8 of the 12 team kills. Summit hit .152 in the game but the 10 combined hitting and serving errors proved to be too much to overcome for the squad. Summit out hit Linden 12-8 but got out-served 6-1 in aces (4 in that 7-0 run) that swung this tight match.
SHS felt pretty confident entering the 2nd game and it showed in their play as the squad opened 5-0 lead behind Gabby Mejia who would end up with the most service points on the team. The game settled in as game 1 had after Linden's initial run and after Mendez rattled off another 4 service points in rotation 6, SHS was where it had begun the game, with a 5 point cushion at 16-11.
The turning point of the match occurred at this juncture as the Hilltoppers could sense they had the Tigers on the ropes and tried to make every play possible to put them away. To their detriment, the Maroon and White played 3 balls that were traveling out of bounds off a serve, an attack and a block which netted 3 points to Linden and brought the opponent to within 1 at 15-16. Summit was forced to call a time-out but the writing was on the wall. The team that would be able to play the cleanest volleyball would win he game. Summit had 1 serving error and 3 hitting errors after leading 19-18 and lost the game on a 4-0 run by Linden which began with an SHS hitting error. The last Linden burst came off great serving and Summit could not generate enough good passes to counter-act the Tiger serving attack. Linden ended the match with an ace to punctuate an 8-1 run that was made up by 4 Hilltopper hitting and serving errors, 2 Linden kills and 2 aces.
Summit scored 11 points in game 2 (6 kills-3aces-2 blocks) but gave away 11 as well with 8 hitting and 3 serving errors. The difference in game 2 was yet again the serving attack as Linden had 7 aces to Summit's 3.
SHS ended game 2 with 6-5 advantage in kills and overall an 18-13 offensive advantage for the match. Summit also won the defensive battle in the middle as the Hilltoppers out-blocked Linden 3-2. But the service attack cost the Hilltoppers as the Linden passing out-performed Summit. Linden hit for 13 aces while Summit managed only 4. That gave Linden a 28-25 point scoring advantage in the match. While SHS committed 6 service errors, Linden committed only 3. That extended the point differential to 6 with Linden at 34 and Summit at 28. In a match decided by a mere 7 points, the Linden serving advantage of 19-7 proved to be too much for Summit to overcome through their superior offense and defense throughout the match.
Summit shut down the Linden MB who scored 18 kills in their first encounter, limiting her to a mere 5 kills in the 2nd matchup, a tribute to the adjustments and defensive intensity displayed by the squad.
Guzman and Nardino led the Hilltopper offense with 6 kills apiece while Mendez and Mejia combined for 3 of the 4 aces and 16 of the team's service points. Mendez and Amanda Fonseca were defensive stalwarts digging up 9 of the team's 22 digs.
JV GETS 8th WIN THE THE HARD WAY
The JV Squad has always found the Linden matchup to be a difficult one. Earlier this season, a 27-25, 25-23 2 game sweep in Linden did not tell the story of how close the team was to losing. SHS was facing a match point before a Linden serving error allowed Olivia Elko to serve game 1 out. In game 2, despite a 23-17 lead, Summit found themselves knotted at 23 through bad passing and hitting errors. Cheryl Liu cam through that time with 2 key serves to close out the match 25-23.
In the rematch at Summit, the Hilltoppers destroyed the Tigers 25-10 thanks to Olivia Elko who blew the game open with 7 service points (3 aces) to give SHS a 13-3 lead they would not give up. Summit was flawless in its passing and serving and shut down any Linden runs in the game.
In game 2, Summit looked to play the same flawless passing game but that was not to be despite the 11-8 lead the team held through 6 rotations as the Hilltoppers had missed some serves and given up a couple of aces at that point. Leading 16-12, the passing errors finally became an issue as the Tigers went on a 6-0 run fueled by multiple Hilltopper passing errors that gave Linden an 18-16 lead. By rotation 13 Linden was close to match point at 23-21 but a missed serve opened the door for the Hilltoppers to come back. Summit relied on Elko once again as the Captain hit 2 key serves (1 ace) to give the Hilltoppers a 24-23 lead. After a Linden kill knotted up the score at 24, Summit hit for a kill and Micaela Nardino hit the crucial serve that sealed the victory at 26-24.
Despite the win, Coach Ross expressed concern that the lack of serving and passing consistency will lead to problems in the county tournament later on in October. Summit will look to correct those in the next 3 vital match ups next week.
9th GRADERS EARN FIRST VICTORY
The 9th graders got a rare taste of a 9th grade only matchup as the team took on Linden's 9th graders. Summit lost the first set 25-21 after late missed serves and passing errors gave Linden the win.
In game 2, Krista Ann Clapp gave the Hilltoppers an early 6-1 lead and the team served pretty consistently to earn a 25-15 win to force a decisive game 3. Game 3 was an exciting affair and it wasn't decided until very late as both teams showed their nerves and committed a lot of passing and serving errors. Summit committed fewer of those down the stretch and on a close out call, SHS won its first match 17-15.
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