The Hilltoppers came off the loss to the Summit rivals Kent Place Dragons in fairly good spirits. The team had competed with the #1 team, had earned a chance to win a set and had proven that they could score on a team of that caliber. All it had left to do was put together a complete match against a team of that caliber. And that next opportunity came against the Pioneers of New Providence, a team Summit had not beaten in 7 seasons, that is, until this season.
After 6 rotations Summit had a perfect start against the Pioneer offense who is anchored by one of the county’s best hitters. The Hilltoppers were tied 7-7 after a Barsh tip found an opening in the New Prov defense. But things began to fall apart then as the Pioneers nailed 2 attack attempts, got an ace and a Summit error before the Pioneers missed a serve. However, the damage was done and SHS was looking at the wrong end of an 8-11 score. As it has been all season long, the character of this team is always its strength and they did not wilt under the pressure and fought back to within 2 at 10-12 after an out of system set by Williamson found Macpherson on the outside who was able to put it down past the Pioneer defense.
But the New Prov side got back to basics and looked to its premier outside hitter to take control and that she did as the Pioneers went on a 7-0 run that, for all intent and purposes, ended any shot the Hilltoppers had at the set win. New Providence took the set by a 25-13 score.
Things did not look good for a Hilltopper win but the fact was that SHS had served poorly in set 1 and allowed New Prov to dictate the offensive tempo of the match. In addition, the Maroon and White had very little offense to make up for the lack of productivity from the service line as it could only muster 6 kills due to inefficient out of system offense as a result of Pioneer serving pressure.
Set 2 saw a much better passing and offensive performance by the Summit squad. By Barsh’s serve in rotation 6, SHS had built up a slight lead at 11-9 but once again the New Prov squad went to their ace for a solution and she had the answer, getting the Pioneers back even at 11. But then the Hilltopper Captain Trindell got a huge solo block to shift the momentum and give the Hilltoppers a 12-11 lead.
Summit tried desperately to extend the lead but the Pioneers would not allow that to happen. Summit had a point lead until a setting error had a 15-15 result on the scoreboard. New Prov tried to assert its will and break the Hilltopper spirit as the team ripped a 4-0 run (1 NP kill, 2 SHS hitting errors, 1 SHS ball handling fault) to seemingly take control of the set at 19-15.
As is usually the case in these matches, missed serves can be the reason for a collapse or the opening of a door for a trailing team. After a missed serve by the Pioneers, the underdog saw hope. The scoreboard showed 16-21 and the Pioneer best player serving. And then the ball hit the net and the Hilltoppers were a mere 4 points away. Stocks sends a screamer over the net on serve and the New Prov pass was off causing a ball handling error on the next ball, 18-21. Stocks, ace… Stocks, ace… 20-21. Time out New Prov.
Summit still had work to do but the energy level was palpable. Stocks sent the next ball over but the Pioneer serve receive was perfect. New Prov ran the attack they wanted but Williamson dug it up setting up a Trindell set to Barsh who looked like she was going to drive it through the floor but instead tipped it to zone 4 for the easy kill, 21-21. Stocks, ace… 22-21…
Even though Stocks missed the next ball, the set had become anybody’s game as the 22-22 score indicated. New Prov ripped a tough serve that the Hilltoppers had trouble handling and it forced an error which had the Pioneers up 23-22. Next play, same problem but the Maroon and White managed to return the ball just to see it put down on a great tip. Pioneers, two match points, 24-22. And then, a serving error, 24-23.
Nardino, facing enormous pressure, served up a solid ball facing match point but the Pioneer serve receive had the answer. This time, the New Prov outside tried an off speed shot to end the Hilltoppers hopes but Macpherson dug it up and Trindell tipped it off the New Prov blocker and out of bounds for a 24-24 result. Nardino sent a screamer over the net on the next serve and the Pioneers had no other option but to send a free ball over the net. Nardino put that ball on a platter for Trindell who found Macpherson for a kill on the outside to give SHS their first match point.
Nardino’s next service was well handled by the Pioneer defense but the resulting attack was dug up by Stocks. With the ball and set at their control, Summit went to the outside for the put away but New Prov saved the set with a key dig that led to another outside attack that found the floor on the Hilltopper side, 25-25.
The following Pioneer serve was handled poorly by Summit but their return to the Green and White side caused problems and the Pioneers misplayed the second ball, giving SHS a second match point at 26-25. Barsh then stepped up to serve with the match on her hands and she delivered a tough serve that forced the Pioneers to attack with an off speed shot that was easily handled by Macpherson. And when everyone in the gym thought the ball was going to go back to her, Trindell ran a middle attack to Goudreau who got a 1 v 1 attack opportunity that she was able to put down for the set win, 27-25.
Despite 7 serving errors, SHS ran off 6 aces, 5 by Stocks. In contrast, the Maroon and White only gave up 5 to the New Providence squad. Summit managed only 6 kills but also committed only 2 errors. Six different players earned a kill, showing that the offense couldn’t rely on any one player but would need contributions from everyone if the Hilltoppers were to win another set. SHS would also need another double digit dig performance as the Maroon and White saved 11 balls to keep the Hilltopper chances alive.
The deciding set was one for the ages from a Hilltopper perspective. An ace by New Prov started the set but SHS broke serve with a great kill by Macpherson which got Trindell up to serve tied at 1. Trindell rattled off 7 service points (1 Macpherson kill, Goudreau block, 2 NP hitting errors, Trindell ace, 1 Skrobala block) in a total team effort that gave the Summit squad the room it needed to carry the set through the finish line.
From here on out in the deciding set, the Hilltoppers were a reflection of consistency as they prevented any New Province run from materializing with key offensive and defensive plays at various junctions of the set. Summit had, at one point, a nine point lead on the Pioneers at 13-4 but saw the Pioneers attempt to climb back into the match with a 6-3 run that had New Providence within 6 at 10-16. Another serving error by New Providence gave the Hilltoppers a 17-10 lead and Summit had extended that to 8 points after another Pioneer service error (20-12) .
After the New Providence ace hitter rotated to the front row, Summit knew that however they handled those rotations would determine the outcome. After a quick 4-0 run had the Pioneers only down by 5 at 16-21. Coach called a timeout and in the subsequent rally, Summit’s well formed block caused a hitting error by the Pioneers that pushed the score to 22-16. Teams traded points (23-17) but a block by Macpherson saw the Hilltoppers earn 7 match points that they would not waste. On the first match point they earned, Barsh ripped a diving ball that could not be handled by the Pioneer serve receive and with that ace, Summit had pulled the unlikely upset and beaten a New Providence team for the first time in 7 years.
The squad hit for 3 aces and served at nearly 92%. Summit was aced 4 times but hit for 9 kills at nearly a 41% rate. The team also earned another double digit dig total with 11 and blocked the Pioneers 3 times.
For the match, SHS scored on 10 aces led by Stocks with 5. Summit hit for 21 kills as 7 different players registered a kill. Defensively, the squad dug up 32 balls led by Williamson with 7. The team also put up an effective wall, registering 5 blocks, Skrobala with 2 of them.
Next up, Governor Livingston on Monday.
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