The Summit Varsity Squad was looking to do the unthinkable and beat the county semi-finalist, Prep School Champion and 18W-1L Kent Place Dragons who had dropped only 4 sets all season, two of those to the #2 team in the state, Union Catholic. Kent Place had beaten SHS soundly last time out with a 25-12, 25-9 score-line that did not even reflect how dominant the Dragons were from the service line.
The odds were long but the squad was playing in its last match of the 2019 season and playing about as well as it had at any point in the season. Coach Martins started with the senior serve receive in this, their last match of their high school career and early on, the squad was up to the challenge Kent Place presented.
The Dragons jumped out to a 4-2 lead after a kill by their first team all county OH but Summit responded with a kill by their #1 OH Maldonado and a couple of errors by KP due to the Maroon and White offense that had SHS up 5-4. Kent Place stormed back to take a 7-5 lead after a tip kill and an ace but again, the Summit play forced a couple of more errors from the Green and White squad and the score was knotted up at 7.
However, the Dragons had seen what the Hilltoppers were attempting to do and the 2nd time through the rotation, KP went on a 5-2 run that had them up 12-9. With the score at 13-10, Kent Place went on an 9-1 run fueled by their serving pressure that sealed the fate of the Hilltoppers as the teams played fairly evenly the rest of the way with SHS not being able to get closer than 5 points the rest of the way (14-19, 15-20 and 17-22) bowing out at 25-17.
Set 2 was a mere continuation of the second half of set 1 with the Dragons jumping out to a 4-0 lead before SHS could respond. Summit got 2 kills by Goudreau and 1 from Yorio to get the set tied at 4 but another long run by the Green and White of 6-1 had the Dragons up 10-5 and despite a Clapp swing that put the Dragons in all kinds of trouble and led to a hitting error, Summit saw itself on the wrong end of another 6-0 run that put the score at a seemingly insurmountable 16-6 score against the Dragons.
Often in the year, when coaches feel that their teams have good control of a set, they often put into matches players who are short on experience but hungry to play in real matches with real consequences on the line. Often, those players come through and finish the job. But, often enough, unpredictable things occur and things change quite rapidly. The Hilltoppers have been on both ends of that equation with matches like New Providence in set 2 and Rahway in set 2. The team was about to go through another of those crazy moments.
A Maldonado kill off a perfect pass by Stocks got the Top to 7 points. Another Maldonado attack led to a tight ball that Vostal managed to block down and, despite the Dragons saving that point, it led to a hitting error and SHS had reached 8. A glimmer of hope was shredded by a serving error by Summit, an ace by KP and an errant dig by the Top. Score, 19-8.
Maldonado continued to put the Dragons under pressure and scored another kill for Summit´s 9th point. A subsequent Brennan serve put the Green and White squad into all sorts of trouble and a hitting error resulted giving the Hilltoppers 10 points. Next play, perfect pass by the Dragons, middle quick gets run, Yorio and Vostal stuff block it for 11th point. Next point, another great Kent Place pass led to a great attack but Tarashuk got a huge dig up that Summit put deep into corner of zone 1 and the Dragons were unable to handle it well, sending an errant third ball over for the Hilltoppers´ 12th point. To understand the mountain the team needed to climb, that 4-0 run showed a 12-19 deficit. A service error handed the ball back to Kent Place and the 20-12 score-line seemed depressing after the emotional 4-0 run.
This team hasn´t been the type to give in to adversity and despite what seemed like a foregone conclusion, it kept playing through the set as if the score was 0-0. That was key as the Dragons´ coaching staff had already substituted its starting setter a few points prior and, at 20-12, put in other OHs to finish off Summit holding an 8 point lead.
Brennan, perfect pass to Guenther, sets up Yorio... kill. Vostal serves effectively, Tarashuk digs up another key ball, Goudreau pushes a shot to zone 1 corner, kill. Vostal, topspin heavy serve, swerves one foot right to left at the end, Dragon DS unable to handle it, ace. Another Vostal serve, this time hugging the line to zone 5. Pass shanked out of bounds, ace. Next serve, Kent Place handles it and sends it to their starting MB and she puts it out of bounds after a Dragon time-out. Score, 20-17 Dragons.
The next rally was ginormous as a Hilltopper point would get the team within 2 but a loss of point would extend the Kent Place lead to 4. SHS had two attack attempts at it thanks to two Tarashuk digs but couldn´t convert which gave the Dragon OH, their starter this time, all the chances she needed to slam it down for a 21-17 lead. The Green and White were elated but the Hilltoppers were still within striking distance. Could the squad get to within 3 late in the match? It would come down to serve receive and the next ball was handled brilliantly by Brennan who allowed Yorio to roll a mini-sky ball deep to zone 5, corner pocket, to get SHS to within 3 at 18-21.
As up as the team was feeling at that moment was as low as it felt a play later as a service error that was followed by an unforced hitting error had the Hilltoppers on the ropes at 23-19. But the volleyball gods are cruel at times and whether they wanted to torture the Hilltoppers by offering hope or whether they wanted the Dragons to doubt themselves, the result was a service error by Kent Place´s best player to get Summit to within three again at 23-20. Would the next rally decide the set? Or would Summit gain more momentum?
Guidetti´s serve handled by the KP squad but the attack was dug up by the junior DS in zone 5. Maldonado, back in the game, ripped a shot to the line that was dug up but the resulting scramble led to a tip error by the Dragons, 21-23. Another Guidetti serve, another good Dragon pass. This time a push shot by the KP outside hitter that Maldonado handled. Walsh flying in from zone 1 sets the imposing OH who tips just over the out-stretched fingertips of the KP middle. The Dragon Libero makes an amazing dig but the pass isn´t high enough and forces a low set that the Dragons rip about 2 feet out, 22-23. Service error Summit, two match points for the Kent Place Dragons.
Goudreau is targeted, the middle blocker passes a great ball to Walsh who sets up Clapp for a shot that finds the Kent Place setter, forcing the Libero to handle the second ball. The Dragons can´t execute a good pass and send a free ball over that is perfectly handled by Maldonado and Walsh finds Goudreau for the kill out of the middle, 23-24, one match point averted. Captain Stocks to serve facing a match point against.
Kent Place got what they wanted and sent a perfect ball to their setter who went to the middle looking for a quick put away. The MB saw a hole on the short side of zone 4 as Maldonado came over to block but Guidetti came flying in to dig the ball which Summit sent over on two, setting up an out of system situation for the Dragons which led to a massive hitting error, score tied at 24! A fast moving diving serve by Stocks caused an overpass that Maldonado attacked unsuccessfully but that attempt led to a double contact call, 25-24 Hilltoppers, set point, only the 4th faced by the Dragons all year. Serve Stocks, tip by the Dragons best hitter into the net, comeback complete, 26-24. Stunning result which had the Top thinking big things.
Unfortunately, the 2nd set loss was also a wake-up call for the Dragons which lived up to the saying that the most dangerous animal is a wounded animal. Summit hurt Kent Place but would need another Herculean effort to slay the Dragons and, unfortunately, the Hilltoppers would come up just short.
Kent Place took the serve and the lead over the Top in the very first rotation jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Stocks served in rotation 3 with the 7 point lead still there and the early signs were there that this might be more like set 1. Teams traded points through the next couple of rotations and a Yorio kill brought up Vostal to serve with the team still down by 7 at 15-8. Vostal ripped two aces to get the lead down to 5 but yet again, two rotations later, Guidetti was serving staring at that same 7 point deficit at 19-12. Two aces later the lead was down to 5 at 19-14 but a 6-2 run to end the match sealed the set and match for the Dragons as the 7-0 lead in the onset of the set was the nail in the proverbial Summit coffin.
Despite the loss, the 2019 Squad registered 11 wins (5th most) and also registered the 5th best winning percentage in program history. The Squad reached the finals of the Fall Classic for the first time ever and the semi-finals of the Raider Tourney for the first time ever with the highest seed it had ever garnered entering the playoffs. The team did not match its 7W-7L record in division from last year (6W-8L) but it did finish in the same spot in the Mountain Division as last year.
Five individual season records were broken this year and the defense produced the highest total number of digs and digs per set ever in program history while the offense generated the third highest number of kills and aces in a decade. Great things are in store for the squad next year as nine players return to action (one setter, three outside hitters, one middle blocker, the starting libero and all three starting defensive specialists).
Congrats 2019 Team!!! Proud of you!!!
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