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.
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