With their season record at 1W-2L, the matchup versus the Oak Knoll Royals was a pivotal one in the early season for the Maroon and White. With the bulk of the conference schedule yet to come, the result of these early season non-divisional matchups are vital to the Hilltoppers long-term success. For only the 2nd time in the last 8 match-ups, SHS delivered when it mattered and out-lasted a game Royals squad for a 25-17, 25-19 victory to even their record for the year.
The first set took an unusually similar tone to the Linden match as early service errors and hitting miscues by SHS gave Oak Knoll 7 of it's first 9 points, leading to a 10-10 score near the midpoint of the set. Carmel Barsh got a key solo block that sparked a mini 5-1 run that featured an ace by Barsh and a kill by Sylvie Goudreau out of the right side to get the lead up to 15-11. Summit retained that 4 point cushion until the latter stages of the set. With the score at 16-13, a Micaela Nardino well placed off-speed attack began a 9-4 run that finished off any chance the Royals had of a comeback. Nardino ripped off two kills in that run and Ava Williamson tacked 4 service points (1 ace) in the back end of the run to seal the deal.
Despite 6 serving errors (4 early), SHS ran off 5 aces to mitigate the damage and stabilize the point scoring phase of the game. Nardino LED the squad with 4 kills in the set and the team tallied 12 with 5 other players contributing to the offensive output.
Set 2 was almost a mirror image of the opening set except that Summit was not committing the service errors. Oak Knoll was playing phenomenal defense, digging up consecutive Hilltopper attacks and converting their defense into points or, most of the time, waiting for a Summit hitting error. That strategy seemed to be working as the teams were tied at 9 nearing the midpoint of the set.
Yet again, and 5-1 run proved to be the difference in the set. Williamson hit for 3 aces which started the run and Annabella Yorio closed it out with a kill to zone 4 which put SHS in the lead 14-10. The Royals whittled the lead down to 2 at 15-13 but a Katie Macpherson dump attack through the block increased the Summit advantage to 3 (16-13) and was the catalyst for a 6-1 run that became the undoing of the Oak Knoll comeback. Despite a late run by the Royals to get within 4 at 23-19, a block by the duo of Barsh and Lauren Trindell snuffed out any hope left in the Oak Knoll sideline. This duo put the bow on the victory with another block on match point.
Summit was a perfect 25/25 in set 2 and scored on 6 aces (3-Williamson) and the squad generated 46 attack attempts in the set although only managed 10 kills. The silver lining was that 7 different players contributed to the kill production in the set. Summit was also exceptional from the defensive side of the ball, not giving up any aces and digging up 34 balls in the set.
Next up for the (2W-2L) Hilltoppers will be Scotch Plains-Fanwood at home, Friday, first serve at 4pm.
JV POWERS THROUGH ROYALS WITH AN ACE BARRAGE
The JVsquad continued to rely on consistently powerful serving and key defensive and offensive play to win 25-17, 25-7.
Although offensive contributions were key in set 1 with kills by Sarah Maldonado, Megan Gregory and Kate Hanson, the key to the set was Gabbie Giudetti who dominated from the service line. In the first serving rotation, Guidetti ran off 6 straight points to give the SHS squad a 13-5 lead. With the score 19-17, Guidetti ran off another 5 points to seal the victory in set 1 by a 25-17 score.
Set 2 was truly a serve and serve receive battle. Both teams struggled to generate much offense as the passing was not yielding great offensive opportunites. Julissa Lopez started the set off in rotation 2 with 8 consecutive service points (3 aces) to blow the game wide open early (8-2). With the score 11-3, Meghan Tarashuk then stepped up and rattled off 10 straight points (6 aces) to slam the door on the Royals chances. Oak Knoll scored a few more points in the set but the Hilltoppers were too comfortable in the match and closed out the match a few points later at 25-7.
JV improved to 3W-1L on the season.
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