The 9th Grade Squad had experienced a great deal of success against Mountain Division opponents and out of conference teams throughout this ¨Grand Re-Inaugural¨ season. The tests have come but usually from programs whose Varsity was a well established successful program.
Entering this stretch of matches in the season the 9th graders have fared as follows:
Out of Conference: 2W-2L (2 Wins versus Payne Tech, Losses to Chatham and Livingston)
In Conference: 6W-1L (beat Union 2x, all divisional wins and a Loss to Cranford)
In Division: 4W-1L (beat Linden 2x, GL, New Prov, Lost to Cranford)
Overall: 8W-3L
Chatham is a perennial state tournament participant at the Varsity level and Livingston is often in the top 25 in the state. With UC being ranked top 5 this year on Varsity, Chatham having beaten the Hilltoppers already and Elizabeth a top 8 team in the county on the Varsity level, the next 3 matches were going to give the squad a glimpse of the future.
VIKINGS ESCAPE SUMMIT UPSET
First up were the Vikings of Union Catholic. The frosh serving attack threw UC for a loop in set 1 with Allison Wauters leading the charge early with a 4 point service run to give the team an early 6-1 lead but the Vikings began to chip away at the Hilltopper lead and by rotation 6, the score was knotted up at 11. Wauters had another run 3-0 to give SHS a 15-12 lead but UC responded and tied the score up again at 15. With Summit up 18-15 after Bridget Dempsey served up a trio of points, the Top held UC to 2 and Cecilia Webb came up to serve with a slim 2 point cushion at 19-17. Webb did not disappoint in the stressful parts of the set and ripped 5 service points before a break of serve to push the Summit lead to 24-18 and essentially ending the set. Final score set 1: 25-18.
Set 2 was a different story as the Vikings jumped out to an early lead and seemed to have control of the set from the onset. By rotation 5 the UC Squad held an 11-5 lead but Webb stepped up again and served up 4 service points to get SHS within shouting distance of the Vikings at 9-12. The teams traded points over the next few rotations and by the end of UC rotation 9, Summit still remained 2 points back at 14-16. This time, Dempsey stepped up and delivered what looked like at the time like the first nail in the proverbial Viking coffin with a 5-0 run that flipped the score to 19-16 Summit. Wauters had SHS on the verge of a 2 set sweep with a 2-0 run that saw Summit go up 22-18 but SHS could not drive the last nail through the coffin as UC went on an unexpected 7-0 run to steal victory from Summit in set 2 with a 25-22 score.
Set 3 began as a tight affair as both teams struggled to serve and made many errors due to the stress of each point but it was UC with an 8-2 run in rotations 4 and 5 that blew the set open taking a 13-6 lead that was just insurmountable. Summit fought back to within 4 with a 4-1 run of their own but ran out of real estate as the Vikings took the set and match 15-10.
SUMMIT COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AGAINST THE COUGARS
The 9th graders fought valiantly in the return match versus the Chatham Cougars as part of the Dig Pink Event but still were not able to overcome the Cougar serving consistency as key errors cost the team their 9th win.
Set 1 was very close as neither team could push through any significant run. Chatham opened up a 14-10 lead in rotation 6 but the Hilltoppers had closed it to 12-14 by the end of rotation 6. But then the Cougar serving attack went to work and a 9-0 run sealed the deal for Chatham as the Hilltoppers fell 25-14.
Set 2 was again a tight affair but it was the Hilltopper squad that struck first with their serving run as Allison Lipschitz lead a 6-0 run that got the Top a 16-9 lead before it was done. Stella Yarden followed suit a couple of rotations later with a 3-0 run that saw SHS build a 22-11 lead and it seemed that Chatham was on its way out of the set but credit to the Cougars, a 7-0 run ensued which cut the Hilltopper lead to 18-22 before the Top broke serve. At 23-18 Summit still looked in control but a service miss gave Chatham the ball back and before the Maroon and White got the ball back, Chatham had closed to 23-21. Serving for the match at 24-21 Summit was unable to convert and 1 point later, the Cougars had all but erased an 11 point lead and were looking to fight off a third match point but was unable to do so and fell to Summit 25-23. A win is a win but the comeback had sparked the Cougars and set up a difficult situation for the Top in set 3.
Summit was able to keep the Cougar serving attack in check through 6 rotations and trailed only by a 8-10 score. A mini 3-0 run by Chatham began to stress the young Hilltoppers as the team saw a 13-10 deficit balloon to 16-10 before a service break occurred. Another 3-1 run in the very next rotation saw Chatham go up 19-12 and the team just could not recover. SHS got as close as 14-19 but Chatham followed up with a 5-0 run after a service break to close out the set 25-14.
SHS GETS 9TH WIN IN BATTLE WITH ELIZABETH
Set 1 was over early as the Hilltoppers attacked the Minutemen serve receive and won that battle early to cruise to a 25-9 win. Dempsey started the festivities with a 7-0 run that had SHS up 10-4 before Elizabeth was able to get the ball back. A 3-0 run by Vivian Roberts extended the lead to 15-7 and Lipshitz ended the suspense with a 7-0 run that had Summit at the edge of a set 1 win by a 23-8 score the squad would not relinquish in route to a 25-9 set win.
Set 2 saw a much different match with Elizabeth running up a 9-3 lead before a service break got the ball to Naya Kim´s hands trailing 9-4. Kim tallied 4 consecutive points to nearly erase the deficit and get the Hilltoppers right in the thick of the match at 9-8. By rotation 6, SHS had stayed in the mix although trailing 14-11 after 7 rotations. Down 18-13, the Top needed a service break and got one getting the ball into the hands of Kim again and the 9th grader continued where she left off in the first service rotation notching 2 more service points to get SHS close again at 18-16 before she was done. Elizabeth tried to respond but a service error derailed that effort and Yarden stepped up down 17-19 and ripped 2 service points to get Summit even at 19. The Minutemen responded to that adversity by out-scoring SHS 4-2 in the next 2 rotations to take the lead 23-21 and get that close to forcing a 3rd set. Wauters then got the ball down 22-23 and with all the pressure on her serving and the young OH was a perfect 3/3 from the service line and got the Hilltoppers over the finish line with a 25-23 set and match win.
With the win, Summit´s record improves to 9W-5L for the season. Upcoming for the young guns are the Ridge Red Devils, the Pioneers of New Providence and the Raiders of Scotch Plains on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to close out their season.
At the conclusion of this stretch of matches in the season the 9th graders have fared as follows:
Out of Conference: 2W-3L (2 Wins versus Payne Tech, 2 Losses to Chatham and 1 to Livingston)
In Conference: 7W-2L (beat Union 2x, Elizabeth once, all divisional wins and a Loss to Cranford and Union Catholic)
In Division: 4W-1L (beat Linden 2x, GL, New Prov, Lost to Cranford)
Overall: 9W-5L
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