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.
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