Sunday, September 30, 2018

HILLTOPPERS OVERCOME SLOW START TO TAKE RC IN 2; JV ROLLS TO 2-0 SWEEP BEHIND BRENNAN SERVING

The Hilltoppers were looking to improve their record to 4-4 and stay near the leaders in the Mountain Division as they took on the Roselle Catholic Lions.  Meanwhile, the JV Squad was seeking their 5th win of this campaign and to avenge a late season loss to the Dragons in 2017.

After Sylvie Goudreau knotted up the score in set 1 at 2 apiece early on, the Lions ran off the next 5 points to take an early 7-2 lead thanks to 2 RC aces and 3 hitting errors by SHS.  Summit got back on track with 4 kills and found themselves back in the mix trailing only 7-8.  Summit kept getting close to overtaking the Lions but every time the squad came within one, they would lose the next point.  At 9-11, Carmel Barsh put home a tip to bring the Maroon and White to within 1 at 10-11, Barsh and Goudreau then combined for a stuff block that finally had SHS even with the Lions at 11 and fueled an 8-5 run that got the Hilltoppers a seemingly key late lead at 19-16. The Lions,  however,  were not going to roll over that easily and stormed back to take the lead 20-19 after hitting for 2 kills and an ace. Captain Georgia Inggs took 2 great swings late to knot up the score at 22 but RC yet again took the lead on a Summit hitting error just to have Katie Macpherson pound out a kill from the outside to get the score tied at 23.  Barsh finished off the set with a kill out of the middle and then scored on a block with Macpherson to rip the victory from the Lions at 25-23.

Barsh and Inggs were instrumental in the win, hitting for 8 of the team’s 16 kills in the set.

Set 2 was a carbon copy of the initial set as SHS found themselves down 5-6 after a Kiera Stock ace but then gave up 5 consecutive points to see themselves on the wrong end of an 11-5 score. But then Lauren Trindell found the floor with a tip, Micaela Nardino found the floor on the subsequent attack and the Inggs Trindell combo block had Summit only down by 3 at 11-8.  After a brief break of serve,  RC saw Macpherson, Trindell and Ava Williamson drop 2 kills and an ace to have Summit tied up at 12. The burst of offense re-energized the squad and Barsh stepped up with 3 kills as Summit began to pull away, leading late 19-14 after Nardino took charge of the outside again and pounded out 2 kills.

It seemed over, it felt over but it was not quite so easy to close out the Dragons as the Hilltoppers offense sputtered with 3 hitting errors before a Dragon hitting error temporarily stopped the momentum with SHS up over RC 20-17.  Summit traded points and saw their lead grow to 4 after a Macpherson kill from the outside had the Hilltoppers up 23-19. RC closed to within 2 at 23-21 but a costly missed serve had SHS on the brink of the set and match win at 24-21.  RC used a kill and a Summit hitting error to get to within one at 24-23 but Macpherson closed it out with a kill to zone 6 for Summit’s 4th win.

Summit was 46/49 from the service line with 4 aces led by Nardino and Cheryl Liu who were a perfect 20/20 and earned 12 combined service points.  Williamson safely passed 18/20 balls for a 2.15 rating and added 8 digs to the win.  Trindell dished out 25 assists and had a team leading 12 digs and the team dug up 44 balls in the match.  SHS pounded out 29 kills led by Barsh with 7 and Nardino and Macpherson each with 6 to pace the offense.

BRENNAN PACES JV ACE BARRAGE TO GET SUMMIT ITS 5TH WIN

The score was 25-16, 25-9 but that did not tell the story of the match.  Summit controlled the match from the onset as the Hilltoppers were clearly more dangerous on offense and were far more consistent on serving to fear a long run of points by the Lions.  Brennan blew set 1 open with a 5-0 run that the Hilltoppers never gave up (2 aces) and SHS cruised in to the set 1 win.  With the score 11-9 Summit in set 2, Brennan hit for 14 service points and 6 aces to close out the match in style and set a new JV record for most consecutive service points in a match.


Summit takes on  Kent Place next  looking for its 6th win.

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