Thursday, September 29, 2022

PIONEERS CAN'T SOLVE HILLTOPPERS; SUMMIT GOES 3-0 VS NEW PROVIDENCE

 The ninth grade Volleyball Squad improved to 6W-1L over the Pioneers after a 25-15, 25-22 decision which erased an earlier defeat at the hands of New Providence on the road by a 2-1 set margin, the only loss of this young team's season.  The improvement of the team is quite evident in not only their play but energy and communication.  Credit to the athletes and to Coach Seifert for their steady improvement and wins!

Coach Ross and the JV Team continue to roll with an 8W-2L record after coming out victorious against the Pioneers with 25-14,  25-18 set tallies.  Summit has bounced back nicely from defeats this season,  going 3-0 after each loss.  The team has beaten Linden and New Providence after a setback to Kent Place and will face off against Rahway this Friday on the road.  SHS defeated the Indians by a 2-0 tally but had to come from behind to earn that victory at home so the match at Rahway will be an interesting test for the Junior Varsity Team.

Varsity came off the 2-1 victory over the Linden Tigers and opened up against the Pioneers missing Julia Nardino due to illness.  The sudden loss of the MB put Naya Kim into the starting lineup and scrambled some serve receive rotations.  SHS started the match very much like their old selves however and after a net fault,  a return error and two NP aces,  Summit was right where it seems to want to be early in matches,  down 4-0.  Alison Wauters started to change the dynamic with 4 early kills as Vivian Roberts also notched 3 of her own while Hannah Barlow ripped multiple serves to the opponents,  scoring one ace and giving SHS lots of free ball opportunities to convert which flipped the script midway through the set with the home team up 12-7.  

Despite a service break,  Roberts got the ball right back to the Summit squad with 2 kills and the lead ballooned to 15-9.  Cece Webb followed up one rotation later with a 3-0 serving run (1 ace) and the Pioneers were forced to call a TO with the scoreboard showing 18-10.  The TO worked for the visitors as the Hilltoppers lost the ball and saw the New Prov side cut the lead down to 5 but a service error gave the ball back to the Top and Roberts stepped up to the service line and got a quick ace to begin a 3-0 run which saw Emily Demm step in for Barlow late in the set and notch a kill while teammate Abby Wells came in for Wauters and scored a kill to seal the set win at 25-15.  

Summit out-scored the Pioneers 15-9 and had only 3 service errors but notched 3 aces which seemed to be the key to the set. 

Set 2 saw ninth grade setter Mckenna Welsh take over the setting duties while Wells, Demm and Ana Joseph stepped in on offense as the pin hitters.  Summit held a 3-1 lead early as Welsh distributed the ball to Roberts and Demm for kills in transition while Caroline Henry scored off an ace from the service line.  The Pioneers responded with a 3-0 run of their own and it took a Demm kill to interrupt the momentum but the visitors responded off a hitting error by the Top with another 2-0 run and SHS were down 7-4.  Wells got the ball back with a kill and Wauters scored off an ace to start a 5-1 run which saw Kim get a solo block and Webb hit for another ace to flip the lead to 9-8 SHS.  

Unfortunately the home side could not hold the lead and gave up 6 of the next 7 points and the Summit crew were staring at a 14-10 deficit as they neared a critical junction in the match.  Roberts was inserted back into the lineup and quickly converted on an attack attempt to get the Top to within 3 at 11-14.  Wells continued to produce with another kill but the New Prov side could sense they were within a couple of points away from a set win and delivered with 3 of the next 4 points fueled by a service and tip error by the Top.  With the scoreboard showing 17-13 New Providence,  the next few points would be key in determining the outcome of the match.  

Barlow stepped up to the service line after a Pioneer hitting error and delivered a blistering serve that forced an errant return ball by the visitors.  She then followed that up with an ace and despite a hitting error from the home side,  SHS was back,  down only 18-16.  Another Pioneer service error opened the door for the home side and Webb converted on an attack attempt after a Wauters perfect pass and that was followed by another tough serve by Wauters which led to an eventual hitting error by New Providence which forced a TO as Summit had taken the lead 19-18.  The TO proved fruitless as Wauters delivered another ace and another tough serve that had SHS up 21-19 after a service break occurred.  New Providence continued to fight back and cut he lead down to 22-21 but Kim had a key tip kill to give the home side some breathing room at 23-21.  A service error by SHS gave some hope to the Pioneers but Barlow notched a kill to set up 2 match points and a NP hitting error later,  it was over,  25-22 Summit.

Summit out-scored New Providence 15-8 in the set.

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Webb, Wauters, Barlow 2 aces each

Serve Rating: Zacharias 2.67

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Barlow, Yarden 3 each

Receiving (Pass Rating): Yarden 2.75

Attack (Kills): Roberts 7

Attack (Kill %): Roberts 77.8%

Attack (Efficiency): Roberts .778

Defense (Blocks): Kim 1

Defense (Digs): Barlow 7 

No comments:

Post a Comment