OFFENSE CLICKS BUT CAN'T OVERCOME ERRORS IN LOSS TO NEW PROV

 The Lady Hilltoppers had a clear size advantage up front but could the SHS serving attack and defense do enough to overcome an always defensive minded Pioneer squad?  

Summit did have a 26-13 kill advantage but lost the serving battle by a 13-4 ace disadvantage to see Summit only tally a 27-26 total point advantage in a 25-23, 25-22 loss to the Green and White.  

SHS started ominously enough 0-4 down and saw the Pioneers extend the lead to 10-3 before a strong response by the Maroon and Black.  It began with Vivian Roberts hitting for 2 kills and Hope Basaman notched another ace to cut the lead to 4.  Roberts notched another kill and the Hilltoppers were within striking distance at 10-7.  But the Pioneers responded with a 5-1 run and yet again the Maroon and Black were down by a bunch at 15-8.  

A serving error by the Pioneers opened the door for the Summit crew and Sarah Noa hit an ace to pressure the Green and White and senior MB Eva Oberhuber added 2 kills on a run that had SHS back again within 2 at 16-14.  New Providence extended the lead to 18-14 off 2 Summit errors (a theme of the set) but the Hilltoppers leaned on their offense to get back into the set with key kills by Basaman and Alison Wauters to crawl within one at 18-17.  But the errors came again and a hitting error, 2 serving errors and an ace later,  Summit was down again  22-19.  The silver lining this year has been the no quit attitude in this team since game one versus Governor Livingston and in this set,  despite all the errors,  the team had managed to score enough to be close and so they relied yet again on that positive to get back into the set with 2 Roberts kills and an ace by the comeback kid,  Julia Nardino tying the score at 22.  Yet again New Prov responded and earned 2 set points but the Top got another kill by Roberts to force a TO at 24-23 but unfortunately that is as close as the team would get as they fall in set 1,  25-23.

The numbers in set one almost made no sense, a 16-11 SHS advantage in points despite a 7-3 ace lead by the Pioneers because of an overwhelming 13-4 kill advantage by the Hilltoppers.  Yet,  because of 8 unforced hitting and return errors,  the Top lost a close set 1 result.

Set 2 saw the Hilltopper serve receive fall apart as the Pioneers continued to rely on their serving attack to mitigate the Summit front row offensive advantage.  Summit got going early behind two Roberts' kills to take a 5-2 lead.  But the reception game went south quick in set 2 and the Pioneers not only eliminated the lead but overtook the Top by a 7-5 lead off some tough serving and easy offense.  Yet again Roberts and Oberhuber combined on kills to give the SHS crew an 8-7 lead but slowly the New Providence Varsity kept chipping away and eventually got their lead back up to 2 at 12-10.  Basaman and Oberhuber got their offense going and got Summit knotted at 13-13 midway through a tight set.  

The SHS errors came again as they had all match after Hilltoppers runs and this time 3 hitting errors and 2 aces allowed saw the Top down 18-15.  And then,  the wheels came off.  Three consecutive aces by the Pioneers looked to be the beginning of the end for the Top but the Summit Varsity started to keep balls alive and it was the New Prov hitters who forced shots that led to errors which had the SHS team within 3 at 22-19.  A Summit hitting error pushed the Green and White one step closer to the win at 23-19 but Roberts tallied another kill and the Hilltopper serving attack finally forced the Pioneers into some errors and the Maroon and Black had life down only 23-22.  But a serving error and an ace allowed later,  the drama was over and the Hilltoppers were looking at the wrong end of a 25-23,  25-22 score-line.  

Noa was the most dangerous server for the Top with a 2.43 serve rating and 2 aces while she was also the top receiver with a 1.90 pass rating.  Thompson tallied 12 digs to lead defensively and Roberts hit for 12 kills for a kill % of 50% and a .417 efficiency making her nearly unstoppable.  Zoe Zacharias distributed 22 assists finding 4 other hitters for 10 kills while targeting Roberts for 12.

Varsity drops to 4W-3L.

JV AND 9TH GRADE CONTINUE WINNING WAYS VERSUS PIONEERS

 9th Graders dispatched their New Providence neighbors in a 2-0 score-line to improve to 5W-0L!  The young Hilltoppers continue to roll but would face their toughest test of the week on Thursday versus the Cranford Cougars.

Meanwhile JV was locked into a huge battle with the Pioneers as the New Providence squad used a consistent defense that led to many transition opportunities out of the middle to match the Hilltoppers offense.  Despite an early Summit advantage,  New Prov roared back to take a 24-23 lead and earn a set point.  The Summit JV fought back to tie at 24 with a key kill by Abby Wells and then the junior stepped back and forced the Pioneers into a free ball error thanks to a tough serve and then,  with the set on the line,  she ripped an ace to seal the victory.

Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers take a 5 point lead at 19-14 and all seemed to be going the Maroon and Black's way but just like set 1,  the Pioneers were not going to be an easy out thanks to their defense and forced a SHS time-out at 19-18 Summit.  Unfortunately,  the time-out failed to settle the troops and the Pioneers soon knotted the score at 19.  Both squads kept slugging it out like heavyweights and neither side would yield an advantage as both teams were again tied late at 22.  But then Wells got set the ball on a long rally that she finally put away to give the Top a 23-22 lead.  But yet again the Pioneers fought that off and actually took a 24-23 lead to get another set point.  SHS fought that point off but saw another set point against at 25-24 but  Maeve Keegan got the set on a free ball return and she finished the attack in zone 5 to stave off that set point.  Keegan went back to serve and ripped an ace to earn a match point and the next serve and return finished the job as the Hilltoppers improve to 6W-1L on a 27-25 win!!!

OAK KNOLL ROYALS CAN'T SLOW SUMMIT ATTACK

 Both the Junior Varsity and Varsity squads came away with victories on the road by 2-0 score lines.  JV took care of the Royals by 25-11 and 25-13 scores as the serving attack was the main difference in the match to improve their record to 5W-1L.

Varsity opened up set 1 with a 5-0 run with kills by Eva Oberhuber, Julia Nardino, and Hope Basaman and a Rebekah Thompson ace  and never looked back.  Summit held a 13-4 kill lead in the set and had a combined 5-2 advantage in aces and blocks for an 18-6 point advantage as the team finished set 1 by a 25-18 tally.  

Although set 2 saw the Royals take a 2-1 lead early,  SHS took 10 of the next 11 points to open up an 11-3 lead the team would not relinquish.  Vivian Roberts led the run with 4 kills and Cece Webb added one herself and  Ally Lipschitz tallied a tip kill before the run was over.  The Hilltoppers finished the set 25-6 to improve to 4W-2L.  

Thompson led the team with 3 aces,  Sarah Noa was the best rated server with a 2.56 and the team served at a 91% clip with an ace % of 14.3%.

The squad passed at a 2.04 rating led by Thompson's 2.33 and defensively,  the Captain also tallied 4 digs to lead SHS.  

Roberts was again the go-to player on offense as the junior OH scored on 9 kills for a kill % of 75% and a .583 efficiency.  

Oberhuber notched another block and Zoe Zacharias tallied 18 assists as the sophomore combined with Lipschitz for 23 assist day.  

SUMMIT JV CONTINUE WINNING STREAK VS. OAK KNOLL

 The JV Lady Hilltoppers improved to 5W-1L with an efficient 25-11,  25-12 victory over the Royals on the road.  Since the day one loss to Governor Livingston,  the JV Squad has gone on a 5-0 run and has not dropped a set in the run.  

Although the Oak Knoll match was close early,  8-6 SHS through 5 rotations,  the Summit athletes broke the game wide open over rotations 6 through 8 as Abby Wells got SHS to a 13-7 lead after her serving turn,  Isabelle Meltzer ripped another 3 points in rotation 7 for a 17-11 lead and Abby Thompson finished the set off with a 7-0 run that saw contributions from the entire squad to shut the door on the Royals' hopes. 

Set 2 was a carbon copy start of set one as the teams were fairly close through 5 rotations with SHS holding on to an 11-8 lead and then the Hilltoppers began to pull away with Emily Griffith sparking a 3-0 run that had the Top up 15-9.  Elizabeth Walsh extended the lead to 18-10 in rotation 7 and Wells pushed any idea of an Oak Knoll comeback to the category of wishful thinking as the JV Team saw themselves up 20-11 by rotation 8.  The rest of the match saw the team earn a 5-1 scoring advantage with key contributions by Jessica Clark out of the front along with Maeve Keegan.  

The Squad hopes to continue the run with an always competitive match with their neighbors New Providence on Wednesday at home.   

VARSITY USES SERVING ATTACK AND SOLID PASSING TO DOWN ROYALS

VARSITY CAPTAIN THOMPSON RETURNS TO LEAD HILLTOPPERS TO VICTORY

The Varsity Squad took the short trip to Oak Knoll for their divisional matchup looking to improve upon the serving and passing woes that beset the team against Rahway.  It was a dominant performance by the Hilltoppers as they welcomed back the return of Captain and Libero Rebekah Thompson who solidified the two weak areas that were exposed on the match versus Rahway,  serving and receiving.   The Top earned a 24-4 kill advantage for the match,  a 7-2 ace advantage and 1-0 on blocks.  Unlike the Rahway match however,  the team did not nullify that with hitting and serving errors and the result was a 25-18,  25-6 victory by the Summit team. 

Eva Oberhuber  took the first pass from the Royals and then followed up with a kill out of the OPP to start things off.  Hope Basaman followed up with a kill from the OPP after Thompson stepped up to serve,  Julia Nardino subsequently got a tip kill and Basaman added another OPP point which gave Thompson the opportunity to serve again, this time for an ace.   And before 5 minutes had elapsed,  the scoreboard read 5-0.  The set became more of a back and forth affair after that but after a Vivian Roberts kill gave the Top a 10-5 lead,  a Sarah Noa ace and an Oberhuber block (along with a few Royal errors) had the squad up 14-5.  Oak Knoll just could not threaten the Hilltoppers offensively on a consistent basis which saw the Maroon and White maintain a comfortable 16-9 lead late.

Alison Wauters had passed exceptionally well in the set and finally found the court on a hard angle attack which sparked a run punctuated by a Thompson ace that had SHS up and in control 20-10.  Two ball handling errors by Oak Knoll on the ropes at 24-14 and despite a run by the Oak Knoll squad that cut the lead down to 24-18 after a Summit hitting error,  Roberts ended the drama with a seam shot between zone 1 and 6 for the 25-18 set 1 win.

Set 2 provided less drama but displayed a much more efficient and clinical performance by the Hilltoppers. Although a few errors early had Summit down 2-1,  a kill by Cece Webb hadthe Top knotted up at 2-2 which quickly turned into 3-2 by a Roberts kill from the outside.  While still in the front row,  Roberts tallied the next 3 kills for the Maroon and White and SHS had built a 9-3 cushion.  Ally Lipschitz continued the run with a tip kill and before Basaman was done,  SHS was looking at an 11-4 lead.  Anyone watching saw the immediate change from the Rahway match,  few serving errors,  error free passing and a clinical offensive efficiency not seen in the prior match.  All those elements continued to be prominent as the set progressed.

When Thompson stepped up to serve leading 13-4,  the only question was whether the SHS squad could maintain their level of play.  Two aces by the Captain and another two kills by Roberts started to answer that question.   Oberhuber also got in the mix with two kills and the Top had built the lead to 20-6.  Lipschitz continued the serving attack with 2 aces and Thompson even got in the mix with an out of system, defensive instinctual hit over the net for a kill to push SHS to 24-6.  Zacharias was brought into the match cold at that point to serve,  a way to work on certain situations that the team may come upon in a game and the sophomore not only served safely but got a dig on defense that led to an Oak Knoll attack error which closed out the set and match 25-6.  

Summit rebounded from their poorest serving match of the season with a 91.8% serving rate and had a 14.3% ace production led by Thompson with 3 aces on a 13/13 serving performance.  Lipschitz served just in one rotation in the match but was 4/4 with 2 aces. With a new serving rotation now that Thompson  returned,  SHS went 29/32 with 4 aces from their top 3 servers.

With the Captain back on serve receive,  the top receivers were outstanding,  delivering 10/23 perfect passes to the setters and the squad overall passed at a very good 2.04 rating.  This in turn led to many offensive opportunities for the Hilltoppers and Summit was particularly lethal on this match with a team kill % of 51.1% and a hitting efficiency of .298 led by Roberts who tallied 9 of the team's 24 kills (kill %-75%) with a team leading .583 efficiency.  The setters ran a very diverse offense as well as 6 other front row players got at least one kill led by Wauters  who has stepped up in the absence of Hannah Barlow due to injury and not only has switched to the OH position but has taken an ever increasing and key role in the serve receive and offensive formations.  Wauters was second on the squad with 4 kills with a .333 efficiency and a kill % of 44.4% versus the Royals.  You need no more evidence than the combined assists number by Zacharias (18 assists) and Lipschitz (5 assists) to get a feel of how effective the entire offense was on this day.

The Squad takes on New Providence on Wednesday at home on all three levels.

DESPITE OFFENSIVE OUTPUT, VARSITY DROP 2-0 DECISION TO RAHWAY

 

The Summit Lady Hilltoppers took on Rahway as the feature match-up of the day in the Go4theGoal event at SHS.  The Hilltoppers entered the match versus the Rahway Indians very confident in what they had been able to do for the past week.  Summit out-dueled Cranford,  was dominant over ALJ and were the stronger team late against Linden,  the then division #2,  to go on a 3-0 run in a week.  The squad was confident that 4 wins was realistic and reachable against the Rahway squad.  But,  as with any match in any sporting event,  the games are not played on paper and teams and individuals still have to execute to win.  In set one,  the result was more of a case of the Hilltoppers not executing the serve.  In set 2,  Rahway executed all phases brilliantly while SHS could not pass well enough to match the Indian service game.  Result, a 2-0 loss that saw the Hilltoppers out-kill Rahway 17-13 but Summit created a combined 14 serving and fault errors compared to Rahway's 6,  in essence,  the difference in the match.  SHS passed at a mere 1.48 thanks to a 1.09 set 2 number while Rahway reached a 1.79 for the match.

 The first two plays of set one was a service error and a net touch call from the Hilltoppers that became the theme of the set for the home side.  SHS got kills from Zoe Zacharias and Julia Nardino to knot the set at 2 and that offensive production was also a staple of the set and match for the Top.  Rahway saw themselves,  perhaps unexpectedly,  ahead 6-3 early but Vivian Roberts hit for 2 kills and added a block and Hope Basaman continued her ace game along with Nardino which had the Hilltoppers back up by 1 at 8-7.  This started to feel like a turnaround but the SHS squad followed that up with a series of hitting and serving errors that prevented the team from going on a dominant run despite the multiple free ball opportunities and had a mere 1 point lead at 13-12.  At this point of the set,  critical plays define the outcome and Summit looked like they had found that moment.

A hitting error by the Indians opened the door and Roberts burst through it with 2 kills and the Top looked like they were starting to gain full control up by 4 at 16-12.  But a service error followed which triggered a hitting error and a net touch fault call that saw that lead evaporate.  Yet again Roberts asserted herself and another kill got the ball back with the lead yet again but that was short lived and,  despite kills by Nardino and Roberts,  Summit was staring at a 20-20 score line by rotation 7.  A tough back row attack call,  a Rahway ace and kill had the Hilltoppers up against the wall down 23-20.  The Indians opened the door for a comeback with a service error and Sarah Noa took advantage with an ace but the Top lost the serve again with a miss and,  despite a must have, set saving kill by Basaman,  the team missed its serve on set point and set one went to Rahway, 25-23.

Summit out-killed the Rahway squad 11-5,  tied in blocks 1-1 and out-aced them 3-2 for a 15-8 score but,  as the first 2 points of the set foreshadowed,  SHS had 6 hitting errors, 7 serving errors and 4 faults called, giving the Indians 17 points while Rahway notched only 8 error points.  

Summit might have proven they were the more offensive team but it had also played right into Rahway's game plan of keeping balls alive long enough to have Summit commit an error and look to get key kills and aces at key moments.  The task was simple for the Hilltoppers.  Could the team rally?

Ally Lipshitz and Aya Laws were inserted into set 2 in order to spark the squad and find some serving consistency but the start of the set was once again an auspicious one.  A hitting error started it off after a perfect pass by Thea Rind that led to an Alison Wauters swing that was brilliantly dug by Rahway.  Rind thwarted the subsequent Indian attack but a hitting error by SHS followed and despite the defensive execution,  Summit got no reward.  An apparent Eva Oberhuber kill was over-ruled by the head ref and the Hilltoppers were down 2-0.  The call affected the team as the squad quickly felt like things were going against them and the Top followed up with a receive error and a free ball return error to stare at a 4-0 deficit.  The next few rotations were not much better for SHS and the only thing that seemed to help their cause was 2 consecutive service errors.  Despite that,  Summit still trailed 7-2.  The team then looked for Roberts for some stability and she provided it with a tip kill into the block and the Maroon and White found themselves within striking distance at 4-7 but it was clear that the passing was not where it needed to be at this point, a concern that became a worry as the set moved along.  

Rahway then tallied 6 of the next 7 points off 2 Rahway kills, a Hilltopper service error and 3 consecutive aces off 2 Hilltoppers that saw the home team go from a 7-4 deficit to a 13-5 deficit in a matter of 5 minutes.  SHS needed a spark and Nardino provided a brief flash with a kill which she followed up with an ace.  Oberhuber blocked down an Indian offensive attempt and just like that,  SHS had won 3 of 4 points.  Could the comeback be starting?

Unfortunately,  2 serve reception errors,  a blocking error and a Rahway kill later,  Summit was staring at a ginormous hole trailing 18-8.  Down 20-10,  things looked almost inevitable but,  yet again in the set,  Nardino just kept producing the sparks that the home team hoped would turn into a comeback with a kill and a presence at the net that forced Rahway into 2 hitting errors which cut the lead to 20-13.  Another SHS service error extinguished that run but Roberts hit for another kill to put the Hilltoppers in a position to see the light at the end of the tunnel,  down 21-14.  But the defense and passing that had struggled all 2nd set reared its head again and the Top had 2 dig errors and allowed another couple of aces which ended all hopes and led to a 25-14 upset win by Rahway.  

Despite the loss,  some silver linings ahead.  Rebekah Thompson returns Monday against Oak Knoll which should get the Summit squad close to its starting serve receive rotations.  Roberts continued her torrid attack numbers with another 7 kills (53.9 kill %) and a .385 hitting efficiency.  But more hopeful was the emergence of Nardino on offense as she made the most of her opportunities with 5 kills on 11 attempts and no errors (45.5 kill% and .455 efficiency) and chipped in with a perfect 5/5 from the service line with 2 aces.  Noa was a defensive factor with 12 digs and the pairing with Thompson come Monday should make the team stronger on receive and defense.  Noa was also the team leader on serve receive going 15/16 safe passes,  giving up only 1 ace,  a team leading pass rating of 1.88 while also notching 6 perfect passes for a team leading 37.5% perfect pass.

TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVE:

Although Summit took the loss,  the squad has rebounded nicely from its injuries and adjusted marvelously despite the numerous lineup changes the past 7 days (4 matches).  Since the GL match,  the team has gone 3W-1L.  Basaman and Noa lead the team with 13 and 11 aces respectively and a 2.66 and 2.10 serve rating.  Despite the tough serving game yesterday,  the squad has served at a 2.09 rating with 38 aces and an ace % of 20.5.  

On the receiving side,  SHS lost 2 players that,  before injuries,  were #1 and #2 in pass rating (Barlow 2.27 and Thompson 2.00) with a combined 16/35 perfect pass on reception (45.7%)  and only 1 ace allowed among the Hilltoppers.  In their absence,  the passing responsibility and load has shifted to Noa and Wauters who have managed nicely in their absence with a 1.82 pass rating with a 26/68 perfect pass on reception (42.2%),  leading the squad to a 3-1 record.  

Roberts has officially taken over the offensive load with 34 kills in 5 matches (6.80 kills/match) but the most impressive number is the .393 hitting efficiency and a 55.7% kill %.  In comparison,  Roberts had 58 kills in 14 matches for a 4.14 kills per match number,  a 39.7 kill % and a .150 hitting efficiency.  

The team has hit for 77 kills (7.7 kills/set) with a kill % of 32.3% and an efficiency of .145.  For comparison, last year's squad finished the season at a kill % of 32.3% and an efficiency of .153,  averaging 8.5 kills/set.

Zacharias is currently averaging 7.4 assists/set and is ahead of pace of Kasey Walsh from last year's team who averaged 7.04. 

Kiera Stocks averaged 3.73 digs/set and Noa has stepped in admirably as the Libero in Thompson's absence with 3.30 digs/set.

Summit takes on Oak Knoll on Monday @Oak Knoll at 4:30pm, Varsity first.  

Summit follows up at home vs.  New Providence on Wednesday and closes out the week on the road @Cranford 4pm for Varsity while the JV and 9th Graders play at home,  also at 4pm.

9TH GRADERS EARN HARD FOUGHT VICTORY, JV ROLLS PAST RAHWAY

 Friday the 17th saw the Hilltoppers take on Rahway on the JV and Varsity level and Bridgewater-Raritan on the 9th grade level as part of their Go4TheGoal event to help make the lives of kids and families affected by pediatric cancer.  All teams donned gold laces in commemoration of the event and it a great afternoon for Volleyball!

FROSH COMEBACK TO GET FOURTH "W"

The 9th graders knew they were in for a fight from the beginning of the set against the Panthers.  Through six rotations, the Hilltoppers found themselves up only up 14-11 despite going through their best servers who have dominated recently.  When Caroline Henry served again and got the Hilltoppers to an 18-13 lead, it all seemed to be going to plan but the very next rotation saw the Panthers rip off a 5-0 run and Summit saw the lead evaporate as the scoreboard read 19-19.  A few rotations later,  Gabbi Nowicka had SHS on the verge of the set 1 victory at 22-20 but a break of serve and a 3-0 run by the Panthers kicked the Maroon and White off their pedestal and Summit were facing 2 Panther set points at 22-24.  The Hilltoppers fought off 2 set points but could not finish the job as the squad dropped a 26-24 set 1 decision to a very game and experienced Panther squad with the most club players and multi year experienced players that the Hilltoppers have faced this year,  Ridge included.

Set 2 was a tight affair until Abby Cammarano stepped up to serve and ran off a 7-0 run that catapulted the Hilltoppers to a 14-7 lead.  The teams settled into a very even set after that and that service run proved to be the difference in set 2 with the Maroon and White taking it 25-14.

The deciding set was a tense one as the Panthers continued to fight back and push the Hilltoppers through the first 6 rotations.  Despite Molly Davies opening the scoring 3-0,  Panthers responded right back with a 4-0 run that had them up 4-3.  And so it went the first 6 rotations with the teams separated by a mere 3 points at 13-10 SHS thanks to each of rotations 4-6 scoring 1 point while the Bridgewater-Raritan crew could not do the same.  But that all changed in rotations 7-12 as it was the Panthers' turn to score 1 point in rotations 2 through 4 while the Hilltoppers could only manage a sole point on Caroline Henry's service  turn, knotting the score at 20-20 as Davies stepped up yet again and this time,  Davies and the squad ran an unexpected 5-0 service run that sealed the deal at 25-20, a hard fought victory to improve the 9th graders to 4-0!

JV SQUAD TAKES WIN OVER FEISTY RAHWAY

The JV Hilltoppers took on the Rahway Indians in the opening match in the main gym of the Go4TheGoal event and expected that their service game would carry them to victory but the Rahway squad was able to stymie the Summit service game and SHS had to rely on their offense to earn the victory.  

Abby Thompson began the first set on the serve, the first match back since her hand injury, and immediately put her imprint on her first game back with a 5 point service run to get the Hilltoppers off to a 6-1 start.  Rahway ate into that lead and got within 2 at 7-5 but Emily Demm hit for a couple of aces and got the Top another couple of points to extend the lead to what seemed to be a very comfortable 12-5 score.  The set came to somewhat of a stop as Rahway would not allow the Summit servers to score easily and the SHS offense found it difficult to get a ball down so the teams traded points over the next few rotations as the teams remained 6-7 points apart throughout the process,  ending rotation 6 with Summit up 17-11.  SHS just could not find a run to finish off the Indians and the Rahway squad just did not seem to have the answers to solve the Summit defense so,  with the score 21-16 SHS,  Stella Yarden stepped up and took the control of the set and finished off the Rahway team with a 3-0 run (1 ace) to close out set 1 25-16.

Set 2 was unexpectedly tight as the Summit squad began to experience a higher number of service errors and more of an offensive threat from the Indians.  The result,  a 13-11 deficit for the Hilltoppers through 6 rotations.  Elizabeth Walsh got the SHS crew even with a key service point in rotation 8 which seemed to get the Maroon and White going as the team proceeded to win 6 of the next 8 points as Demm again ran off a 3 point service rotation to have the Top up 22-17 late in the set.  But Rahway would not give in and the Indians ran off a 3 point run of their own to get within 2,  forcing Coach Ross to call a time-out.  Despite a service break by the SHS squad,  Rahway broke right back and had a chance to close the 23-21 gap they faced.  But a missed serve gave Summit a reprieve and the Hilltoppers closed it out with Yarden again one serve later.  

Final score 25-21,  Record 4W-1L