The Plainfield Cardinals traveled to Summit to take on the Hilltoppers in a divisional match. This matchup is always a special one for the coaches as Coach Martins was the Head Coach of the Screaming Eagles of the College of Saint Elizabeth and had the privilege of coaching the current Head Coach of the Cardinals, Chanice Sears (Captain of CSE Vball) and JV Coach Ibmatu Smith at CSE during the best three year stretch in program history.
Summit had a few scares over the last 4 years with Plainfield but always seemed to find a way to earn a victory. After a 22-25 set 1 loss that saw the Hilltoppers miss 9 serves and commit 7 unforced hitting errors, the team stabilized their serving and hit for 20 kills with only 8 errors while also scoring on 12 aces and only 1 error for sets 2 and 3 to lead SHS to a 22-25, 25-16, 25-14 comeback win over the Cardinals.
Despite the 17 errors committed by the Maroon and White in set 1, the team did have 9 kills and 4 aces which kept them in the match. Five different players had a hand in the offense and Camille Della Piazza was the shining beacon of light for the servers with a 3 ace performance in the set to pace the Hilltopper scoring in the loss. The silver lining in the set was the SHS passing as the team passed at a 2.04 clip led by the Ava Williamson and Taylor Thompson's combined 2.35 pass rating.
In set 2, the team bounced back nicely starting with their passing. Summit was an extraordinary 2.53 rating with Williamson and Thompson leading the charge with a 2.72 combined pass rating. The team also hit for 9 kills led by Katie McPherson's 3 kills. But the story of the set and of the match for that matter was Alisha McDonnell. McDonnell hit for 6 aces in the set on a 10/11 serving performance. The senior setter ripped a close game apart as SHS and Plainfield were separated by only 2 points at 10-8 when she stepped up and ripped 3 service points including a couple of aces to give the Hilltoppers the lead it would not relinquish. McDonnell came back a short time later to put the game away as the Cardinals had crawled to within 5 at 19-14 by serving another 4 volleyballs, getting 2 aces in the process.
Set 3 was all about the points as the team scored on 10 kills (5 different players) and 5 aces which was led by McDonnell's 3 aces. Della Piazza served Summit to a comfortable lead after Plainfield had closed to within 3 at 8-5 with 3 serves (1 ace) that had the Maroon and White up by a 12-8 score. With the score at 13-9, Cheryl Liu served up 4 balls (1 ace) that had the crowd cheering as she ballooned the lead up to 18-11. The contest seemed just about done but it was again McDonnell who shot down any glimmer of hope the Cardinals had with another 4 serve performance that pushed SHS to the brink of the win by a 23-11 score. The set was over soon thereafter as Summit had earned its 3rd victory of the month.
Carmel Barsh was outstanding as she hit for 6 kills and Taylor Thompson added 5 to pace the Hilltoppers attack. Williamson passed up a team leading 24 balls for a 2.33 pass rating while Thompson sent 12 to the setter for a 2.41.
JV CLIPS CARDINALS WINGS FOR 7TH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY
The young Hilltoppers Squad defeated their Plainfield adversary by 25-10, 25-10 scores. The contest was won from the service line and Summit did not disappoint, hitting for 14 aces in the match. Annabella Yorio led all hitters with 5 kills but it was the duo of Gabbie Giudecci and Meghan Tarashuk that combined for 8 aces that sealed the deal.
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