FROSH REMAIN PERFECT, JV GOES 3 SETS IN 2 MATCHES TO CLOSE OUt SEASON, VARSITY 3-0 FINAL WEEK OF SEASON

 

The 9th Grade Lady Hilltoppers Volleyball Team remained perfect for the season with a 2-0 victory over the Madison Dodgers to end the 2024 campaign at an astonishing 18W-0L!!! Can't wait to see what they do off-season and how many of them will develo in the off-season to challenge for some of those coveted Varsity spots.

The JV Squad finish the season with 6 consecutive 3 set matches of which they won 5,  including 3-0 this week versus Dayton, Chatham and Madison to finish the season at 16-6!!! Congrats to the crew for their outstanding efforts against the toughest schedule the squad has ever faced so far in its history.

The Varsity Squad capped off the regular season with a 9-1 run (3-0 this week) to propel the team into the playoffs with a bit of momentum.  

DAYTON

A 2-0 win over the Bulldogs saw the Top out-score its opponent by a 36-14 score which translated into a 25-16, 25-16 win for the Summit side.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - A Feuerstake 5

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal 2.80

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal and N. Feuerstake 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) -  Henry 2.40

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 4

KILLS - Ge 10

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .600

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 60%

DIGS - Henry 6

BLOCKS - DeYonge 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 19

***TOP POINT SCORER (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 13

CHATHAM

The Hilltoppers had a classic battle versus the Cougars of Chatham but the team came out on top 25-23, 25-23 in a match that saw the Top outscore the opposition 29-26 with a 19-14 kill advantage for the match.

That was the first win by the Top on the road at Chatham for at least 14 years!!! 

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Welsh 3

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Heary 2.38

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Heary and A Feuerstake 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) -  A Feuerstake 2.30

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 11

KILLS - Ge 6

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - N Feuerstake .167

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - N Feuerstake 41.7%

DIGS - Henry 16

BLOCKS - N Feuerstake and Nowicka 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 17

***TOP POINT SCORER (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 13

MADISON

The Madison Dodgers rolled into town looking to avenge the loss in 2023 at the hands of the Hilltoppers but it was not meant to be in this year.  SHS outscores their neighbors 33-23 in route to a 27-25, 25-15 score line on Senior Night and close out the regular season with a 17-10 record!!

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 5

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry 3.10

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge  91.7%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) -  Henry 1.82

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 4

KILLS - Ge 5 

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Deyonge and Herring .400

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Deyonge and Herring 60%

DIGS - Ge 7

BLOCKS - Herring 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 16

***TOP POINT SCORER (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 8

ALL THREE MATCHES COMBINED

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Welsh 9

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Welsh 2.44

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal 94.4%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) -  Henry 2.18

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 19

KILLS - Ge 21

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge .286

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge 42.9%

DIGS - Henry 26

BLOCKS - Devaney and Herring 3

ASSISTS - Welsh 16

***TOP POINT SCORER (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 52

10/14-10/24 VARSITY REVIEW

OAK KNOLL

A 2-0 win over the Royals of Oak Knoll evened out the Top's record to 9-9 as the team got ready for the start of the county tournament as the #5 seed.  Summit out-scored Oak Knoll 26-19 for the 25-18, 25-17 win.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 4

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Basaman 2.80

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Basaman and A. Feuerstake 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Ge 2.14

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 4

KILLS - Nowicka 5

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Welsh .500

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Welsh 50%

DIGS - Ge 12

BLOCKS - Herring 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 15

***TOP POINT SCORER (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Nowicka 5

NEW PROVIDENCE

Next up were the Pioneers of New Prov and the Hilltoppers got more of a match than the squad expected from a very improved team.  Summit won 25-21,  21-25,  25-15 in a preview of the County Tournament's 1st Round matchup the very next day.  SHS scored 50 points in the match versus 33 from New Prov to move to 10W-9L.  

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - A. Feuerstake and Welsh 4

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Welsh 2.90

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - N Feuerstake 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 1.81

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 5

KILLS - Devaney 10

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .467

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 66.7%

DIGS - Henry and Ge 10

BLOCKS - Devaney and Welsh 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 32

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge and Devaney 11

ROUND 1 COUNTY - NEW PROVIDENCE

The very next day the Hilltoppers welcomed back their New Providence neighbors into the main gym but this time with much more on the line.  Summit improved to 11W-9L with a 25-14, 25-20 win and moved on to the Quarterfinals against the Kent Place Dragons by out-scoring the Pioneers 38 - 17.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Welsh 8

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 3.00

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 2.40

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 6

KILLS - Devaney 7

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Herring .400

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 63.6%

DIGS - Henry 8

BLOCKS - Herring, N Feuerstake 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 19

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Welsh 7

ALJ

The Top traveled to Clark on Friday to take on the Crusaders of ALJ and probably got more of a match than they bargained for as the Crusaders pushed the Hilltoppers to OT with Summit earning a hard fought 25-21 and 28-26 victory to move to 12W-9L.  SHS out-scored ALJ 44-26. 

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Welsh 5

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Welsh 5 aces

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry and A Feuerstake 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 1.75

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 6

KILLS - Welsh 7

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Welsh .357

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney,  Herring, Welsh 50%

DIGS - Henry 11

BLOCKS - Herring, Nowicka, Deyonge, A Feuerstake 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 22

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Welsh 12

COUNTY QUARTER-FINALS - KENT PLACE

Summit traveled to Kent Place to take on the Dragons for the 3rd time this season.  The past 2 matches had gone the way of KP 2-1.  SHS lost at home 25-19, 21-25, 24-26 but lost Ge and Devaney all of set 3 which gave the Top hope for the rematch.  Summit lost at Kent Place in the return match 24-26, 25-21, 21-25 but had been in control of set 1 till late.  But this was the match to put the Top in the semis of County Tournament for only the 4th time in school history.  Summit pulled off the upset, 25-18, 24-26, 25-20 to move onto the semis as the Hilltoppers out-scored the Dragons 44-42 in an epic Summit battle to improve to 13-9!

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 5

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry 2..47

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Basaman and A Feuerstake 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - A Feuerstake 1.69

PERFECT PASSES - Ge 3

KILLS - Devaney 9

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .667

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 75%

DIGS - Ge 13

BLOCKS - Herring,  Welsh 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 23

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Devaney 9

UCIAC SEMIFINALS - NJ #4 UNION CATHOLIC

The task was a difficult one but not impossible.  SHS had proven that throughout the earlier 2 matches this season but the Top needed to pull out their best match this season against the top 5 team.  Although nerves were at play early,  the Summit crew settled down and got into the match late set 1 and it carried over to set 2 but the Hilltoppers were just too error prone in the latter half of the match and saw UC pull away late to win 14-25, 18-25.  UC out-scored the SHS squad 30-15 for the match to drop SHS to 13-10.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 2

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry 1.90

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Heary 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Ge 2.13

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 6

KILLS - Ge 5

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Deyonge .400

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Deyonge 40%

DIGS - Welsh 4

BLOCKS - Herring, N Feuerstake, Welsh 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 10

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 5

PINK OUT - RARITAN

The Hilltoppers had a quick turnaround after their loss to UC as the SHS Team got ready to take on the Rockets of Raritan.   Raritan had faced off against the Hilltop 3 times prior,  twice at SHS and once at Raritan.   Summit was victorious in 2022 by a 2-1 margin, SHS was bested by the Rockets 3-0 in a scrimmage in 2023 but came back later in the season to win 2-1.  2024 proved to be no different than before as the Rockets pushed the Top to 3 with the Hilltoppers overcoming the away squad 25-18, 18-25, 25-13 to improve to 14W-10L.  SHS out-scored the Rockets 49-25 for the match.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry and Ge 3

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal 2.44

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Handal 100%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Ge 2.17

PERFECT PASSES - Ge 8

KILLS - Devaney 9

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Nowicka .583

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Nowicka 66.7%

DIGS - Henry 16

BLOCKS - Herring 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 30

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Devaney 10

Summary:  Despite the loss in County Semifinals,  the Hilltoppers are in the midst of a tremendous run,  earning 6 wins to only 1 loss.  Overall the Top has out-killed their opponents by a 177-118 margin, been out-blocked 19-13 and SHS has out-aced their opponents 77-55 for a total 267-192 advantage over that stretch.   Summit has serve received better (1.64-1.52 rating advantage) which has led to a Sideout success advantage of 52.6% to 45.8%.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS in 6W-1L RUN:

ACE - Welsh 22, Henry 18

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Welsh 2.34, Ge 2.22

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 92.2%, Heary 90.6%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 1.85, Ge 1.85

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 34, Ge 16 

KILLS - Devaney 42, Ge 27

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .370, Nowicka .269 

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 57.5%,  Nowicka 37.3%

DIGS - Henry 62,  Ge 55

BLOCKS - Herring 8, Welsh 4

ASSISTS - Welsh 151

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Devaney 44,  Welsh 43,  Ge 41

10/14-10/24 Review: FROSH PERFECT, JV GOOD SEASON CONTINUES DESPITE LOSS IN COUNTY TOURNEY

 The 9th graders entered the week of 10/14 with a perfect 13-0 record and did not falter in the week with a tough 2-0 win on the road versus the Union Farmers,  followed it up with a win over the Pioneers of New Providence before hosting the West Essex Vball Squad at home at the end of the week to move to 16-0.  The frosh were a perfect 8-0 in sets and as a matter of fact,  the team has only dropped 3 sets in the entire season to Union,  Westfield and Elizabeth,  2 of those on the road.  Next up were the Rockets of Raritan HS at PINK OUT and the frosh did not disappoint,  earning a 2-0 victory and improving to 17-0!!!

JV entered the week at 9-5 and got back on the winning track with a dominant win versus Oak Knoll before surviving on the road against the Pioneers 2-1 to improve to 11-5.  Then county tournament began and the JV showed themselves to be hitting their best form with an efficient serving and hitting performance against the Roselle Park Panthers to get to the Quarterfinals and go to 12-5.  In the Quarterfinal match,  the Hilltoppers faced off a third time this year against the Minutewomen of Elizabeth.  Both teams had won 2-1 at home and despite a dominant set 1 win by the Top,  the Minutewomen came storming back to take set 2 25-23 and took the deciding set (Hilltoppers to 12-6) to move on to the semis and eventually the Elizabeth squad beat UC to earn a spot in the county finals.  Summit bounced back with a tough fought 2-1 win over Raritan to move to 13-6,  the first time JV has beaten the Hazlet school in 3 attempts!

UNION CATHOLIC / GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON AND ELIZABETH CLOSE OUT TOUGH WEEK

 The JV Hilltoppers finished the week with a stunning victory over UC,  a tough 2 set loss to the GL Highlanders and closed it out with a 2-0 win versus the Minutewomen of Elizabeth to solidify the #3 seed in the Union County Tournament and to improve to 9W-5L!

The 9th graders continued their winning ways with 2-0 wins versus University HS,  Governor Livingston and Union Catholic even though the crew had kids sick,  injured and out of sorts but the team held together and got themselves 3 more wins that pushed them to a 13W-0L record for the season!

Varsity pushed the #2 team in NJ to a very uncomfortable place as the squad dropped a 25-20, 25-16 decision to UC but SHS was up late in set 1 and had been within a few points of the Vikings midway through set 2.  

Varsity really pushed their neighbors in GL to overtime but came up short 25-20, 28-26 as the squad nearly pulled off an upset against the #8 team in the state.

The team came back and got revenge over an earlier loss to Elizabeth with a 25-23, 25-17 score line which helped the Hilltoppers solidify the #5 seed in the Union County Tournament this week,  the highest seed since 2011! 

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 7, Ge 4

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry 2.58, Ge 2.35

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry 96.2%, Handal 95.2%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - A Feuerstake 1.88,  Henry 1.85

PERFECT PASSES - Ge and A Feuerstake 8

KILLS - Ge 18,  Deyonge 10

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Deyonge .263,  Ge .200 

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Deyonge 52.6%,  Ge 32.7%

DIGS - Henry 27,  Ge 26

BLOCKS - Herring, N Feuerstake, Deyonge, Welsh 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 44

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 22,  Deyonge 12,  N Feuerstake 11

SUMMIT SHOWS DRASTIC IMPROVEMENT IN RETURN BOUT VERSUS THE BLUE DEVILS

 Summit traveled to Westfield in their only match of the week to see if they could prove to themselves and the conference that they would be a team to be reckoned with at the county tournament and in states based on their performance against the #12 Blue Devils.  

SHS fell to Westfield 25-17, 25-10 in their first meeting as the Summit squad lost their serve receive in set 2 which led to the Blue Devils out-scoring the Top for the match 37-19 from a 23-15 kill lead and a 9-4 ace advantage and a 5-0 block advantage.  The silver lining was that the Hilltoppers were very close late in set 1 as the home team were only outscored by a 15-11 margin mainly because of a 4-1 ace advantage which was earned by the Blue Devils late in set 1.

Could the Summit squad do better the second time around and on the road?

An ace by Welsh and a dump kill by N Feuerstake had the Top up by 2 early and 2 rotations later,  the serving pressure of Henry led to a Nowicka kill and 2 Westfield errors to see the SHS side up 6-3.  Ge and Deyonge combined for a couple of kills a few rotations later and suddenly,  near the midway point of set 1,  SHS was up 9-7.  Westfield kept fighting back the entire set from 2 or 3 down to tie or get within one and after a Ge dump kill and an A Feuerstake back row attack hjad given the Top a 13-10 lead,  Summit allowed a 4-0 run by the Blue Devils (2 free ball errors, 1 hitting error SHS) that put the Westfield side up 14-13.  A serving error by the Westfield side knotted up the score at 14 and opened the door for Summit to make a move and with an ace by Ge,  the Top did just that.  Then Herring stuff blocked their OH and followed up with a kill that had the Hilltoppers up 17-15 which forced a Westfield TO.  But off the TO,  SHS suffered through a 7-0 run by the Blue Devils even after SHS called their own TO to trail 22-17.  The unfortunate thing was that the team gave away 3 points on hitting errors and one free ball return error in the midst of the run that could've been the difference to ending the home team's run.  

To the Hilltoppers' credit,  even when down 24-19,  the team kept fighting off match points with A Feuerstake getting a kill to pull SHS to within 3 at 24-21 but the next rally was unsuccessful by the Top and Westfield closed it out 25-21.

The set saw the Top out-score the Blue Devils 13-11 but the Westfield side had 3 less hitting errors and the Summit side got called on 4 faults to only one by the home side which,  at the end of the set,  were the difference in the result.

Set 2 was saw a 14-11 point lead by the Blue Devils but yet again,  SHS showed a massive competitive improvement from match day 1.  The set however,  started quite badly for the Top as the team had 2 consecutive hitting errors followed up by 2 serving errors and a free ball return error which gave Westfield a 9-5 lead.  Ge and Basaman led the Hilltoppers to a 3-0 run which had Summit down 9-8 but another 3-0 Westfield run had the Blue Devils up 12-8.  SHS continued to fight off Westfield's offensive sets and started to go point for point with the #12 squad but SHS was going to need a run if they were to win the second set.  Trailing 17-13 late things did not look good,  especially when the home side got a late 5-1 run that had Summit on the ropes 22-14.  Ge again found a way to score and stopped the run but WF reestablished control and had a 24-15 lead and 9 match points in the next rotation.  Herring kept SHS alive with another huge block and Ge followed it up with an ace but the Summit ladies ran out of points and saw a 25-17 set 2 loss that was both a silver lining and a frustrating result as the Top had gotten very close to knocking off the #12 team if not for some unforced errors.

                KILLS                    ACES                    BLOCKS                TOTAL POINTS

SHS            18                            3                                3                                    24

WF             19                            5                                1                                     25

Lesson:  Summit is good enough to go against some of the heavyweights in the county (Kent Place,  Westfield) but the squad needs to get better at not hurting themselves in key moments,  such as service errors or hitting errors or net/ball handling faults in tight game situations.  

Westfield had only a combined 7 hitting and fault errors.... SHS tallied 14... add in WF's only 1 free ball return error and SHS's 5 and it adds up to 8 points from the Blue Devils and 19 from Summit.  

Summit was close but not clean enough yet to knock off a top 15 team.  #progressionnotperfection

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Ge 2,  Welsh 1

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 2.00,  A Feuerstake 1.86

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Basaman 100%,  Ge 89.9%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Ge and A Feuerstake 1.89

PERFECT PASSES - Henry, Ge and A Feuerstake 3

KILLS - Ge 9,  Nowicka 2

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge .368,  Nowicka .000 

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge 47.4%,  Nowicka 22.2%

DIGS - Henry 9,  Ge 8

BLOCKS - Herring 3,  N Feuerstake 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 16

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 11,  Herring 5,  N Feuerstake 4

2024 HEALING THE CHILDREN TOURNAMENT

2022 - SUMMIT LOSES TO SPF IN FINALS, COMES BACK WEEK LATER AND DEFEATS SPF IN REGULAR SEASON MATCHUP 25-23, 25-23

2023- SUMMIT VS SPF AGAIN IN FINALS,  SUMMIT SWEEPS SPF IN POOL PLAY AND LOSES 26-24 IN FINALS

2024

The Hilltoppers opened Pool Play with Roselle Park and beat the Panthers 2-0 comfortable.

Next for the Hilltoppers were the Rahway Indians and again the SHS crew continued its dominance from the service line,  sweeping the RHS side 2-0

After a short break,  the Top took on the SPF Raiders and this year, the Hilltoppers had too many weapons for the opponents and the Top slowly broke down the Blue and White side to take the 2 sets somewhat comfortably

In the last 2 sets of Pool Play,  SHS took on the Mother Seton Setters,  a team who is always a tough opponent for the Top.  Last time these 2 teams met in Summer League,  MSR and SHS split the sets while in 2023,  MSR swept both sets in tight affairs.  This year,  the result was quite different as the Top took the 2 sets but not without a fight as MSR was up late in set #2 before SHS was able to break down the MSR serve receive.

SEMI-FINALS (Opponent - Rahway)

The rematch of one set was to start at 0-0 and go to 25 for a berth into the finals.  The team was confident but very tired at this point.  Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers,  Rahway was HIGHLY motivated to upend the Summit Squad.  Rahway took a lead early and hung with the Hilltoppers most of the match until late in set one when the Top finally took control with a couple of service runs that gave the team a 24-21 lead.  SHS again missed a serve on set point and saw RHS get to within 1 point but the Indians missed the next serve and the team surviced to the finals versus upset minded Roselle Park!

FINALS (Opponent - Roselle Park)

The Panthers of Roselle Park had made it to the finals by upsetting the MSR Setters in the Semis and the Top had just survived Rahway so the matchup was intriguing.  Summit was in charge of the set from the onset but the Panthers were within striking distance the entire set.  It wasn't until late in the set when Summit finally broke the game open thanks to error free serving, hitting and the wall called Deyonge.  

A BAD LOSS, A GOOD LOSS, A DOMINANT WIN - AN INFLECTION POINT IN THE SEASON

ELIZABETH SURPRISES SUMMIT 

Varsity was looking at a tricky match versus Elizabeth,  a highly anticipated rematch with Kent Place and an important rematch with a dangerous Rahway to close out the week before embarking on another run in the Healing the Children Tournament on Saturday.

The Top lost the battle of points by a 25-24 margin against Elizabeth.  Elizabeth matched the Top with 19 kills but out-aced the Hilltoppers 6-3.  But the real problem was that the Minutewomen were just a bit better on receive (2.11 -1.98) and it allowed what generally is an inconsistent offense to be much more effective and match the Hilltopper offensive output.

The start of the match though,  looked incredibly promising for the Summit squad.  SHS had gotten kills from 4 different players and had kept Elizabeth to 2 points as SHS forced an Elizabeth TO down 9-2.  Nothing much changed after the TO as the Top continued to lead 12-4 a few rotations later but then 3 hitting errors and a net fault by the SHS crew had the lead down to 13-8.  Then an ace and a kill by EHS around another hitting error saw the home squad get closer at 13-11.  But the Top settled into the game and hit on 5 consecutive offensive sets that negated EHS's serving attack and late in the set,  Elizabeth called its final TO as the Top has pulled away to a 19-15 lead.  Unfortunately,  a hitting error off the TO gave the ball back to EHS but yet again, all seemed well after another Ge kill gave the Top a 20-16 lead.  

But then the Hilltoppers began to feel the pressure of the Elizabeth "D" despite the lead.  

Kill EHS, Ace EHS, Hitting error SHS... 20-19... Hitting error EHS, 21-19, a sigh of relief... 

Kill EHS, Kill EHS, Ace EHS... 21-22... Block Deyonge, 22-22...

Attack error SHS... 22-23... Ball Handling error EHS, 23-23...Long Rally which saw the Summit D notch 4 digs and a block that was retrieved by the EHS defense and ended in a free ball return error by the Top gave EHS a 24-23 lead and a set point... Next play saw the Hilltoppers get 2 rips at the set tying point that were handled by EHS until the SHS side was unable to keep a free ball in play on set point to give EHS the set 1 win.

Set 2 saw a much more even match with EHS leading Summit 14-10 but then SHS got an ace by N Feuerstake on a serving rotation that got the Top back to within one at 14-13.  Elizabeth got the serve back at 15-13 but an A Feuerstake kill and a Deyonge kill had the visitors back to a tie at 15 and looking like they were about to take control.  The Minutewomen coaching staff saw the same after a Ge kill had Summit chomping at their heels at 16-17 and the TO seemed to do the trick as the Summit team gave up the next few points and trailed 19-17 a rotation later.  Summit kept fighting but Elizabeth refused to allow a run and at 22-20 it seemed that the next few points would be vital to the Hilltoppers' chances to take set 2.  EHS thought the same and the home squad not only won the next point,  it won the next 3 with SHS giving up 2 aces late which gave the Elizabeth squad the victory.

KENT PLACE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY TO RIGHT THE SHIP

The Hilltoppers reset themselves at practice and walked to Kent Place looking to redeem their loss by a 26-24 score in set 3 in their first meeting of 2024.  The task this time would be a bit more difficult as Kent Place had their best hitter back from injury and were a far more dangerous team than the version that the Hilltoppers faced in their first match.  

Summit was in for a big challenge and the squad rose to the challenge in a big way.  Despite the perceived offensive advantage for the Dragons,  SHS only lost the kill battle 26-28... Summit won the block battle 5-2 and barely lost the ace battle 11-10 for a total point output of 41-41 for both teams!  The squad had far exceeded expectations but came up a little short of the win as Summit dropped set 1 26-24, won the 2nd 25-21,  and lost the 3rd 25-21.

Set 1 was a slugfest and the final tally of 14-13 point scoring edge by KP reflected the tightness of the final set score.  The only major difference between the 2 teams were the 3 faults the Hilltoppers were called on versus none for the Dragons.  The teams were locked in a sideout battle most of the set with no team up by more than 2 at any given point until the score read 19-17 SHS.  Then the Dragons got a service error gift from SHS and that began a 4-0 run by the home side that had Summit down 22-19 forcing a Martins TO.  Off the TO the Dragons missed the serve which put Captain Henry on the line and she delivered 3 consecutive aces to force a KP TO and give the Hilltoppers the edge at 23-22.  Off the time-out,  Summit forced a Dragon hitting error and just like that,  SHS was up 24-22 and held 2 set points.  Unfortunately,  the Dragons regained serve and forced the Top into a couple of bad passes which the Dragons took full advantage of to close out the set 26-24.

Set 2 was another carbon copy as both teams made some incredible plays and ran some effective defense so it was no surprise that the score read 14-14 midway through the match.  Summit clawed to a lead of 16-14 and 17-15 but both times the team missed a serve to open the door for the Dragons but the home side could not take advantage as it was the Kent Place side which committed the next few errors to give Summit a slight lead but after Basaman nailed the home side with an ace to give SHS a 21-17 lead,  the Dragons were forced to call a TO.  KP got the next 3 of 5 points thanks to 2 consecutive service errors by the SHS crew and it seemed that the same old story of missed serves at the wrong time would be the Top's undoing.  But at 23-20,  Summit just needed a few plays to flip the script and they got just that from Herring and Welsh despite another SHS service error to win the set 25-21.

Set 3 was, yes, yet again, another carbon copy of the first 2 sets as the Summit crew jumped out to a 9-4 lead just to see the Dragons come back and tie it at 10.  KP took a 14-10 lead with an ace and a kill to set that up but the Top had cut that to 14-15 after a Herring block and a N Feuerstake kill.  Henry even got into it with a deliberate free ball dump to zone 1 and suddenly, Summit was only down 15-16.  But a quick 3-0 run by KP off 2 KP kills and 1 SHS attack error forced a SHS TO at 19-15 KP.  

But the TO seemed to do the trick and the Summit side responded with a Ge kill and forced a Dragon hitting error to get within 2 at 19-17 but KP responded with a 5-0 run (4 kills 1 ace) to get itself a 24-17 lead and the comfortable win... until KP served into the net.  18-24 KP...

Basaman went up to serve and facing 6 match points, the junior went to work.  A tough serve still led to a KP attack which A Feuerstake dug up and it set up a huge Ge kill.  The Kent Place side saw the rise of emotion and quickly called a TO despite a 24-19 lead.  But it was to no avail... Basaman rattled off 2 straight aces to cut the lead to 21-24 and the place was deafening.   Another huge serve led to a KP attack up the middle and even though the team saved that one,  it was not enough to generate an attack and the squad finally gave up that 25th point.  

A disappointing loss,  no doubt,  but a tremendous improvement and an incredible effort against a team that would defeat the #9 team in the state the very next match.  

RAHWAY OVERWHELMED BY MORE EFFICIENT SUMMIT EFFORT

The Rahway Indians looked to finish the job they started at home earlier in September when they pushed the Hilltoppers to 3 sets and it took a very effective serving performance in set 3 for the Top to come away with the victory.  Based on the week,  which team would show up?  The Elizabeth squad or the Kent Place team?  

Well... Summit out-scored Rahway 35-6,  limiting Rahway to 2 kills and 4 aces for the 2 set match in a dominant 25-10, 25-15 win.  

With the score 11-5 Summit,  it was clear Rahway was in for a long afternoon as the 5 points the team had scored came from SHS hitting and service errors and 0 came from any RHS efforts.  After a 3-0 run fueled by a Herring and Ge kills and a Welsh ace,  Rahway took a TO with a 14-6 deficit.  The visitors had to do it again after a N Feuerstake kill and 3 consecutive Henry aces brough SHS to a 19-8 lead.  RHS managed to get to 10 points and then Summit ran another 4-0 run fueled by an A Feuerstake ace and a Deyonge kill to finish off the set 25-10.

Set 2 was more competitive but SHS still held control as Summit team responded to being down 2-0 early with 9 consecutive points (kills by Feuerstake sisters, ace Ge, Herring kill) to take a 9-2 lead forcing a TO.  RHS came off the TO and got a gift in the form of a Summit hitting error and that sparked a 4-0 run that had SHS only ahead 9-6.  The Indians stuck to the Hilltoppers midway through with SHS holding a 14-10 lead but a Rahway service error opened the door for a Basaman service run that saw the Junior strike for 3 aces to get the Top to a 19-10 lead which soon became 21-10 after a Ge kill.  

The rest was merely academic as the RHS side just could not cut into the lead and trailed 23-13 late which soon became 25-15 as both teams traded points.  

A week of growth as the team has seemed to figure out what it needs to do to be successful.

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 8,  Basaman 6

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - N Feuerstake 2.33,  Henry 2.29

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - A Feuerstake 96.3,  N Feuerstake 91.7

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Heary 1.95,  Henry 1.85

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 12, Ge 10

KILLS - Ge 18, N Feuerstake 12

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - N Feuerstake .219, Welsh .200 

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - N Feuerstake 37.5,  Deyonge 31.0

DIGS - Henry 37,  Ge 26

BLOCKS - Deyonge 4,  Herring and Welsh 3

ASSISTS - Welsh 61

***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)

Ge 20,  N Feuerstake 17,  Welsh 14