HILLTOPPERS GO DEEP INTO STATE RUN - REACH SECTIONAL SEMIS

 The state run brings an opportunity for a program to stand out and "arrive" and the Hilltoppers,  historically,  have very little experience at this level but recently,  the team has consistently been a staple at the Quarter-Final or Semi-Final level.  Could this be another deep state run for the Top and perhaps a Finals run?!

ROUND 1 - #3 SHS VS #14 RAHWAY 

The Rahway Indians are a constant,  difficult opponent as the rivalry stems back to the early 2010s and the teams are extremely familiar with each other.  Last season the Hilltoppers suffered only 2 losses during the regular season in conference and neither one of those losses were to the Indians yet Rahway and the Hilltoppers finished tied for the Conference Title.  

This season,  the Indians struggled in the Watchung Division and the Hilltoppers seemed to hold their own, especially out of conference where SHS was 16W-1L for the year.  This did not matter however in the opening match versus Rahway on the road this year as the Indians pushed Summit to 3 but the Top seemed to find their way in the return match at SHS when the Hilltoppers took an easy 2-0 victory.  But this was Round 1 of states and the Hilltoppers were the hunted now as Rahway had nothing to lose.  

SET 1

The set begun auspiciously enough for the Top as the team was down 5-0 (gave up an ace and a kill and 3 hitting errors) before a Rahway serving error got the ball back into the Hilltoppers' hands.  A Herring kill and a Rahway hitting error had Summit back to within 2 at 5-3 but a quick 2-0 run had the visitors back up by 7-3.  But another service error stalled the Rahway momentum and allowed Henry to take advantage with 2 aces and a Devaney kill out of the middle had SHS tied at 7-7.  

The teams slugged it out over the next 2 rotations with aces (A. Feuerstake) and errors giving each team a lead and taking it away.  A Devaney kill and a Ge tip had the Top up 13-10 midway in the match and 2 rotations later the home side still held a 2 point cushion but then Nowicka and Ge put down 2 kills to give SHS a 16-12 lead which forced a Rahway TO.  Coming off the TO Rahway got the lead down to 2 again but Summit continued to ride the hot hand of Nowicka to keep hold of the set at 18-15.  But then a long rally ensued that triggered a 4-0 Rahway run that had SHS on their heels and forced Coach Martins to call a TO down 19-18 but it mattered not as the Indians ripped an ace coming out of the TO to take a 20-18 lead to put the home side on their heels.  

Despite  Devaney and Nowicka kills,  Summit was still on the ropes down 23-20.  But a key pass by Handal led to a Ge attack attempt which,  despite not a kill,  led to a very manageable dig by Henry who put the ball on a platter for Welsh who faked the entire gym out by dumping the ball for a kill.  This led to the junior setter to go to the service line and Welsh served up a bullet that forced an overpass that led to a Rahway error and a 22-23 deficit.  But that was as close as the Summit squad would get as Rahway got a kill and a fault error point to close out set 1 25-22.

Summit had out-scored Rahway 16-10 but it was not enough to overcome the combined 12 hitting and service errors the team had also had in the set.

SET 2

Yet again the Top found themselves down 5-1 before long but this time the TO came early to try to settle the team down.  But such was not the case as the Indians had found new life and purpose and would not allow the Hilltoppers any breathing room and that had Rahway up 8-1 and dreaming od a monumental upset.  But just when things looked bleak,  a Herring block sparked a 4-0 run (2 Indian hitting errors and a Henry ace) to bring SHS life at 8-5.

A service error by Summit a few rotations later had the team down 11-7 but a Rahway hitting error and a Ge kill got SHS back to within 2 at 11-9.  Summit could feel the Indians start to doubt themselves and could see the body language change quite drastically on the other side of the net.  Within the next few rotations,  Ge hit for another kill,  Devaney struck for 2, N. Feuerstake dropped 1 kill in and Deyonge stuff blocked a Rahway attack to complete the turnaround as SHS had suddenly erased a 7 point deficit to lead 15-14.  But Rahway did not go away,  quite the contrary,  after a TO,  the visitors fought back to tie the match at 19 but a service error and a ball handling fault gave SHS a 2 point cushion at 21-19.  Unfortunately,  Summit suffered another service error which opened the door to a 3-0 run which forced Summit's final TO down 21-22 and looking at 3 points away from the end of the season.  

Coming off the TO,  Ge passed up a perfect receive which Welsh set up on a tee to Devaney who crushed it to give SHS the tie at 22.  But this time an unforced hitting error led to a 23-22 deficit for the Top which was quickly erased by a Rahway service error!  Summit took full advantage and saved their season temporarily with a Welsh dig off a Rahway tip attack which Henry set up to N. Feeuerstake who delivered in the clutch to give Summit a set point.  Rahway TO but to no avail as Henry aced it out for the set win at 25-23!

Summit yet again out-scored Rahway 17-9 but yet again 6 service errors by Summit and a total of 11 unforced errors had Rahway within 2 points of ending the Summit season.  Could the home team handle their nerves in set 3?

SET 3 

The deciding set was a bit different.  SHS was down 3-2 early but then went on a 7-2 run (Handal ace,  A. Feuerstake ace and kill, Ge kill) which forced the Indians to take their first TO at 9-5.  Again the TO seemed to work as Rahway ran off 3 quick points to get to within 1 at 9-8 but SHS won 5 of the next 7 points to extend the lead 14-10.  Rahway kept chipping away at the lead and got as close as 16-14 but then Summit exploded for a 3 point run (Devaney kill,  A. Feuerstake ace and kill) to force Rahway's 2nd  TO down 19-14.  But it was to no avail as the Top rolled to another 6-0 run (Welsh kill,  A. Feuerstake 3 aces, Devaney kill)  to close out the set on a 9-0 run and earn a Quarter-Final berth in State Sectionals and a meeting with Colonia HS,  the team that knocked out the Hilltoppers from Semis a few years back.  

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry and A Feuerstake 6

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry 2.50

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

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 2.13

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 8

KILLS - Devaney, Ge and Nowicka 8

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .211

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 42.1%

DIGS - Welsh 13

BLOCKS - Herring,  Deyonge and N. Feuerstake 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 28

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

Ge 9

QUARTER-FINAL ROUND - #3 SHS VS #11 COLONIA

Colonia was picked to push the Hilltoppers based on their victory over N. Plainfield and Summit's struggles with Rahway but had the home side gained in confidence after their first round survival?

SET 1

It seemed early on that the Top was going to have another barn burner as Colonia seemed to take advantage of every SHS error from the service line and hitting effort to fashion a 6-3 lead after a 5-1 run.  Leading 7-5,  the Patriots seemed poised to extend the lead but a tip error by the visitors opened the door for SHS and A. Feuerstake took advantage with an ace which was subsequently followed by a Devaney and Ge kills and a Heary ace which turned the score on its head and saw the home side up 12-8 after a 6-1 run.   The Patriots got as close as 12-11 and 14-12 but SHS but N. Feuerstake got a kill that led to a Ge ace to give Summit a 17-12 lead they did not relinquish despite a Patriot TO.  

SHS kept control of the set,  extending the lead to 22-15 before a late Patriot run got Colonia as close as 22-18 before a Ge kill destroyed any hope Colonia might have had to come back.  Final score,  25-18.

SHS out-scored Colonia 17-8 but yet again,  Summit service errors kept the Patriots in the match more than was necessary but the Top was so efficient on attack that it allowed the team to retain control of the match.

SET 2

Summit did not waste time to take control of the set opening a 6-1 lead.  Colonia fought back to 6-4 but SHS ripped another 3-0 run to move to 9-4 lead before the Patriots stopped the mini run with a kill to get the scoreboard to 9-5.  Summit then went through another 6-0 run (Ge kill, A Feuerstake 2 kills and a block, Deyonge block, Welsh kill) to blow the deciding set open at 15-5 forcing a Colonia TO.  The TO settled Colonia to an extent as the teams played fairly even volleyball afterwards with SHS leading 21-9 late after a Summit service error.  But the Hilltoppers didn't waiver and ripped a 4-0 run to close out the set and match with a Ge ace getting the 25th point to push the Summit record to 19-10 and sending the Hilltoppers to another historic Semi-Final berth in State Sectionals.

SHS out-cored the Patriots 19-2 in the set to close out the Quarter-Final matchup.  Onto Allandale and N. Hunterdon for Semis!

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Ge 4

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 2.75

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

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 2.31

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 6

KILLS - Ge 8

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge .636

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge 72.7%

DIGS - Henry 7

BLOCKS - Deyonge 2

ASSISTS - Welsh 20

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

Ge 12

SEMI-FINAL ROUND - #3 SHS VS #2 N. HUNTERDON

With the match being so fresh and video posted,  there is no need to summarize but the numbers do tell a story.

SHS was out-killed 26-18 for the match but the Hilltoppers committed only 4 hitting errors to N. Hunterdon's 14 to have a net +14 to +12 advantage on offense.  Both sides had only 1 block apiece but the advantage N Hunterdon had which proved to be the difference was the ace production as the home side earned an 8-0 ace score with a net score advantage of +2 to -7 (a 9 point swing) which explained the difference in the teams' 25-21, 25-18 scoreline.  

MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - N/A

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - N. Feuerstake 2.0

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

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Ge 2.06

PERFECT PASSES - Ge 4

KILLS - Devaney and Ge 5

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .556

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 55.6%

DIGS - Henry 10

BLOCKS - Deyonge and Ge 1

ASSISTS - Welsh 15

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

Ge 6

ALL 3 STATE PLAYOFF MATCHUPS

BEASTS BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - A Feuerstake 9 / Henry 8

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Henry and Ge 2.13

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 93.3% / Heary 85.7%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 2.07 / Ge 1.77

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 17 / Ge 7

KILLS - Ge 21 / Devaney 17

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .406 / Ge .286

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 53.1% / Ge 42.9%

DIGS - Henry 29 / Welsh 23 

BLOCKS - Deyonge 4

ASSISTS - Welsh 63

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

Ge 27 / Devaney 17 / A Feuerstake 14

BIG GAMES BIG PERFORMANCES - UCIAC AND N2G3 TOURNAMENTS

BEASTS BY THE NUMBERS:

ACE - Henry 16 / Welsh 13 

SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 2.20 / Henry 2.16

SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Ge 93.7% / Heary 87.2%

PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 1.99 / Ge 1.76

PERFECT PASSES - Henry 31 / Ge 13

KILLS - Devaney 35 / Ge 33

EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney .426 / N Feuerstake .216

KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Devaney 57.4% / Ge 36.7%

DIGS - Henry 48 / Ge 37 

BLOCKS - Herring 5 / Deyonge and Welsh 4

ASSISTS - Welsh 115

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

Ge 45 / Devaney 35 / Welsh 28

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.