What was to be a tri match in Linden became a best of 5 matchup due to a scheduling issue and both Linden and Summit gave their fans a great show with the match going to 5 sets to decide the outcome! This was a great test for the Top on the road against one of the best teams in the Mountain Division and the squad that knocked the Hilltoppers from the county tourney last year.
Set 1
The set began well for the Hilltoppers as they jumped out to a 6-3 lead but the teams were so evenly matched that in no time the squads were knotted up at 8. Summit pulled away near the midpoint of the set 11-8 after an A Feuerstake kill but the Tigers flipped the script and led 16-13 a few rotations later. SHS closed to within 2 after a ball handling error by the Linden Squad but again the home team responded and when the score showed a 19-14 deficit for the Top, Coach called a TO to work the gameplan. Unfortunately, off the time-out, Linden went on a 6-3 run that closed out the set 25-17 in favor of the Tigers.
SHS managed only 3 kills, 1 ace and 2 blocks for a mere 6 points while Linden hit for 12 points (10k-2blk) which explained the final set score.
Set 2
Ge was cleared to play by the training staff and took the first set to get physically and mentally prepared for the match as the plan was to introduce her into the lineup 2nd set. SHS jumped out to a 10-3 lead with Welsh and Henry hitting for 3 aces and the Feuerstake sisters combining for 2 kills with Ge adding another to get SHS that 7 point lead and forcing a Linden TO. Off the time-out the Hilltoppers went on a 6-1 run with A Feuerstake nailing an ace and Welsh and Ge tacking on 2 kills in the run for a 16-4 lead which was simply insurmountable. Linden fought back to establish momentum but just could not cut into that lead too much as the Hilltoppers crested over the 20 point mark holding a 21-11 lead. Linden forced a TO by the visitors after cutting the lead to 6 but again Summit responded with a 4-1 run with the Feuerstake sisters combining for 2 kills to seal the set 25-16.
SHS outscored the Tigers 13-8 in the set (9k-4ace) which proved to be the deciding factory in the win.
Set 3
The Tigers were a bit slow out of the gate and were forced to take an early TO after the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 7-4 lead after a Nowicka kill and a Handal ace but this time the Linden squad responded after the time-out and in a few rotations the teams found themselves knotted up at 12 forcing a Summit TO. Yet again, much like the first set, the Tigers seemed to have an offensive answer late in the set and Summit could not find one. Linden expanded the lead to 18-15 before Nowicka responded with a kill but to no avail as the Tigers forced Summit into another TO after they had increased the lead to 4 at 21-17. The break in the action got the desired effect as the Lady Hilltoppers won 3 of the subsequent 4 points and found themselves within 2 points again of the Tigers at 22-20 after 2 kills by Herring out of the middle. But it was too little too late as the home side took the set 25-21.
Although SHS nearly matched the Linden production (10k-9k), it was the serving that played a major factor here in this set as the home squad notched 7 aces and SHS managed only 3 for a 17-12 point advantage.
Set 4
In a due or die set for the Hilltoppers, Summit jumped out to a 5-1 lead (Welsh block, Henry kill) and kept that cushion in the early stages of the set until the Top rolled a 5 point run which saw Ge hit for another kill. With the scoreboard showing 12-6, Linden called a TO. It did not seem to help though as the Hilltop crew notched another 3 points off A Feuerstake's tough serves and moved to a comfortable 15-6 lead which, yet again, proved insurmountable for the Tigers. Linden did respond with a 7-2 run but with SHS still up 17-12 after that run, the team came off their TO and ran off 5 of the next 6 points to take full control of the set (Herring, Welsh 1 kill, Ge 2 kills). The team closed out the 4th set again giving up another Linden run to which Summit responded well to after they took a TO and ran off 3 of the last 4 points to take the set 25-19.
Summit was out-scored 12-10 in the set due to a 5-2 lead in aces and blocks by the Tigers although SHS held a slim 8-7 kill lead. The difference in the set was that the Hilltoppers committed only a combined 5 hitting/serving errors in the set while Linden committed 10.
Decisive Set 5
Linden jumped out to a slim 6-4 lead but the SHS responded with a 4-0 run (N Feuerstake 2 aces, Henry kill) to get Summit an 8-6 lead. The Tigers knotted the score up at 8 but then the Hilltoppers went on a 5-1 run (A Feuerstake ace, Ge kill) that forcd a Linden TO at 13-9. SHS saw their lead dwindle to a 2 points a couple of times (15-13 and 17-15) but a Deyonge kill and a service error by Linden ballooned the lead right back up to 19-15 and the final TO was employed by the home side. SHS ran through 2 more points after the time-out (Handal ace) to expand the lead to 21-15 but 3 consecutive Linden points cut the lead right back down to 21-18. The team saw a Linden attack go astray and then Ge nailed down another kill to get the Top some breathing room at 23-19. A Summit service error gave life to Linden but SHS slammed the door with a Ge kill and forcing another Linden error which gave the Ladyhilltoppers the second win of the season at 25-20 SHS!
For the match, Linden barely out-killed the Top 38-36, had one more block (4-3) and 4 more aces (17-13) for a 59-52 point lead. The difference in the match was really in the point loss category where SHS lost 43 points off serves, attacks and faults while Linden lost 56 points. Specifically, the Hilltoppers had a +17 to +14 advantage in net offensive production as the Tigers notched 5 more errors in attack and also had 4 more service errors than the Hilltoppers.
MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:
ACE - Welsh and A Feuerstake 3
SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal 2.31
SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal, Ge and N Feuerstake 100
PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - A Feuerstake 2.06
PERFECT PASSES - Henry 13
KILLS - Ge 11
EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Welsh .154
KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge 40.7
DIGS - Henry 18
BLOCKS - Deyonge, Herring, N Feuerstake, Welsh and Nowicka 1
ASSISTS - Welsh 30
***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)
Ge 11
***NEXT UP - RAHWAY, on the road, 4pm Monday
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