VARSITY PERFORMANCE - SKILL EFFICIENCY REVIEW - 5 MATCH SEGMENTS (20% of SEASON)

***DATA ALSO USED IN COMPETITIVE CAULDRON SCORING***

SEGMENT 1

Kent Place / Cranford / Westfield / UC / Gov Liv (1w-4l)

VARSITY - MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 83.8 Team Ace % - 16.2

BEST SERVE RATING - Rachel 2.37, Nadia 2.22, Madison 2.11

MOST ACES - Rachel and Nadia 10, Madison 6

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Rylen and Alta 1.84, Madison 1.69

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Madison 18, Alta 13, Rylen 12

MOST KILLS - Madison 27, Claire 26, Lily 15

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .325, Rachel .238, Madison .145

BEST KILL % - Rachel 38.1, Lily 37.5, Madison 32.5

MOST DIGS - Claire 28, Nadia 25, Madison 22

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 6, Ava 4, Madison 2

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 81

SEGMENT 2

Kent Place / New Prov / Elizabeth / Chatham/ Cranford (1w-4l)

VARSITY - MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 87.5 Team Ace % - 12.1

BEST SERVE RATING - Ayina 2.17, Nadia 2.11, Claire 2.04

MOST ACES - Claire 9, Nadia 8, Rylen and Rachel 4

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Ayina 1.97, Rylen 1.93, Liv 1.91

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 25, Liv 14, Alta 13

MOST KILLS - Claire 28, Rachel 27, Lily and Ava 16

BEST EFFICIENCY - Rachel .323, Lily .204, Rose .160

BEST KILL % - Rachel 43.5, Rose 40, Nadia 30

MOST DIGS - Nadia 34, Rylen 33, Ayina 32

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 5, Ava and Rachel 3

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 103

SEGMENT 3

Linden / Westfield / UC / Gov Liv / Oak Knoll (1w-4l)

VARSITY - MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 88.5 Team Ace % - 16.4

BEST SERVE RATING - Rylen 2.21, Nadia and Claire 2.19

MOST ACES - Rylen 10, Rachel and Claire 7

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Rylen 1.93, Liv 1.75, Alta 1.65

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 41, Ayina 13, Alta 12

MOST KILLS - Claire 29, Rachel 24, Lily 18

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .273, Claire .140, Ava .073

BEST KILL % - Lily 32.7, Ava 31.7, Claire 31.2

MOST DIGS - Claire 28, Rylen 27, Nadia 21

MOST BLOCKS - Rose 8, Lily 7, Emma 4

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 82

SEGMENT 4

Roselle Park / Elizabeth / Rahway / Dayton / Rahway (County Game) (3w-2l)

VARSITY - MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 85.9 Team Ace % - 16.5

BEST SERVE RATING - Nadia 2.34, Rylen 2.28, Ava 2.12

MOST ACES - Nadia 15, Rachel and Madison 7

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Madison 2.00, Alta 1.98, Rylen 1.80

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 18, Alta 13, Ayina 10

MOST KILLS - Claire 37, Rachel and Madison 21

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .294, Claire .147, Nadia .105

BEST KILL % - Lily 37.3, Madison 35.0, Claire 33.9

MOST DIGS - Nadia 27, Rylen and Claire 24

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 13, Rose 8, Rachel and Nadia 2

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 117

SEGMENT 5 

New Prov / Westfield (County QF) / Oak Knoll / Woodbridge / Madison (2w-3l)

VARSITY - MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 85.6 Team Ace % - 15.7

BEST SERVE RATING - Madison 2.25, Nadia 2.19, Claire 2.06

MOST ACES - Madison 14, Nadia 9, Rylen and Ava and Claire 6

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Claire 2.21, Alta and Madison 1.81

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 15, Madison 14, Alta 8

MOST KILLS - Madison 41, Claire 31, Lily 20

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .400, Madison .218, Claire .074

BEST KILL % - Lily 44.4, Madison 37.3, Claire 25.4

MOST DIGS - Ayina 34, Alta and Rylen 26

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 9, Rose 6, Rachel and Nadia 4

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 82

SEASON SUMMARY

25 Matches

VARSITY - MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 87.0 Team Ace % - 15.4

BEST SERVE RATING - Nadia 2.22, Madison 2.17, Rylen 2.11

MOST ACES - Nadia 48, Rachel 33, Claire 30

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Rylen 1.85, Alta 1.78, Madison 1.76

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 111, Alta 59, Ayina 46

MOST KILLS - Claire 150, Madison 89, Lily 88

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .294, Madison .166, Rachel .128

BEST KILL % - Lily 35.9, Madison 35.2, Rachel 32.8

MOST DIGS - Claire and Nadia 131, Rylen 123

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 40, Rose 22, Rachel 12

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 465

October 27th - 30th - SENIOR NIGHT AND LAST WEEK OF SEASON

 OPPONENTS FOR VARSITY: 

Oak Knoll / Woodbridge / Madison

Finishing out the season with the Royals for Senior Night and Woodbridge and Madison to mimic state level opponents, SHS was probably playing its best brand of vball and the Royals on Senior Night were the first step in a pseudo state run preparation.  SHS was on the gas the entire match and shut down any offensive opportunity Oak Knoll generated taking the match 25-12, 25-13.  

On the road to Woodbridge would pose a challenge for the Hilltoppers in the Barons Senior Night especially not having starting Libero Rylen due to illness.  SHS started off slow and dropped set 1 but came back in set 2 with a very efficient and lethal attack late in the set to force a deciding set 3.  In set 3 the team fell behind by 5 around the midpoint of the set and just couldn't recover as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Barons.

Last match of the season proved to be exactly what it was scheduled to be, a tight, competitive fight between two very equal sides in a 5 set classic.  The pre-season scrimmage saw Madison dominate set 1 early but the Top took over in set 2 just to see the Dodgers win a tight set 3.  SHS fought back to win set 4 and then, in set 5, down by 3 late (13-10), the squad beat Madison 15-13 to take a 3-2 decision.

In this last match,  Summit dropped set 1 25-23 but came back late to win set 2 25-17.  The Dodgers returned the favor 25-17 and SHS, down 23-19, fought off 5 match points to take set 4 29-27!  In the decisive set, SHS was actually up 8-5 but saw themselves facing match points late at 14-12 but yet again fought both off to tie the score at 14 but Madison rallied for the last 2 points to close out a classic match 16-14.  

RECORD- 8W-17L

OPPONENTS FOR JV: 

Oak Knoll / Madison

JV closed out the season with 2 solid wins versus the Royals and the Dodgers.  Oak Knoll pushed the Top but the Maroon and White used their late season consistency off the service line and receive game to control the match late and take the win 2-0!  Madison was a bow on a great late season run that saw the JV win 5 of the last 6 matches and beat the Visitors 2-0 in a very effective and complete match to continue their late season run.

RECORD- 9W-11L

VARSITY - 3 MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 86.6 Team Ace % - 14.7

BEST SERVE RATING - Ava 2.25, Madison 2.19, Nadia 2.13

MOST ACES - Madison 12, Ava 6, Claire and Nadia 4

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Rylen and Madison 1.84, Alta 1.67

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 12, Madison 11, Ayina 5

MOST KILLS - Madison 28, Claire 22, Lily 15

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .394, Rachel .176, Claire .169

BEST KILL % - Lily 45.5, Rachel 35.3, Madison 32.2

MOST DIGS - Ayina 30, Claire 23, Madison 16

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 7, Nadia 4, Rose 3

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 57

OCTOBER 20th - 23rd - PINK OUT WEEK AND UCIAC TOURNEY

 OPPONENTS FOR VARSITY: 

Dayton / Rahway (UCIAC 1st Rd.) / New Prov / Westfield (UCIAC QF)

Looking to garner some momentum for the county and state run, SHS looked to fend off a competitive Dayton squad who had been surprisingly tough to beat by the Mountain Division leader SPF and other Watchung Division teams.  The home side began very slowly, dropping the first set 25-16, flipped the script set 2 and won 25-16 but dropped set 3 after a slow start 17-25.  

It was not the momentum needed for the first round matchup versus Rahway, a team that had defeated the Hilltoppers a mere week prior.  But Summit did not only bounce back, they dominated Rahway 25-14, 25-15 to move on to the Quarter-Finals of the County Tourney.

Next up was New Providence for Pink Out.  New Prov had dropped set 1 at home 26-24 after leading 24-20 and then saw SHS take over set 2 early and build a 9 point lead to take a 2-0 victory on the road.  But New Prov had other plans taking set 1 25-16.  But the Top found their "pink" sea legs in set 2 and pulled away late for a 25-17 win and followed up with a more dominant victory in set 3 (25-16) for their 2nd victory in a row.  

The SHS squad finished off the week against Westfield, the #4 team in the state and played their best match against the Blue Devils with a 25-15, 25-13 loss but much improved as the Top generated a lot of offensive opportunities and created difficult situations for the Blue Devils with their serving attack but just could not convert enough points in the 2nd time around the rotation.

RECORD- 7W-15L

OPPONENTS FOR JV: 

Dayton / Scotch Plains-Fanwood (UCIAC 1st Rd.) / New Prov 

JV also had a much improved and successful week with a workman like performance in a 2-0 victory Dayton and were competitive but not consistent enough from a service and receive perspective against the SPF squad in Round 1 of counties dropping a 2-0 decision.  But the team bounced back nicely against New Prov who had been dominant at home over the Hilltoppers in a lopsided match.  At home, SHS took control late in each set and used a lethal serving attack, a near error free offense and a very consistent serve receive to win 25-16, 25-15.  

RECORD- 7W-11L

OPPONENTS FOR 9th: 

New Prov 

The 9th Graders had a hard fought 3 set win on the road in New Prov and the pattern repeated itself on a very "pink day" with the young GOATS taking a 25-17, 19-25 and 25-16 decision to guarantee themselves a winning season!!!!! CONGRATS YOUNG GOATS!!!

RECORD 8W-7L

VARSITY - 4 MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 83.7 Team Ace % - 21.2

BEST SERVE RATING - Nadia 2.30, Madison 2.29, Rylen 2.28

MOST ACES - Nadia 14, Rachel 9, Rylen 6

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Alta 1.92, Ayina 1.79, Madison 1.79

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Alta 10, Rylen 10, Madison 7

MOST KILLS - Madison 22, Claire 19, Lily 10

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .333, Madison .189, Ava .087

BEST KILL % - Madison 41.5, Lily 37.0, Ava 30.4

MOST DIGS - Nadia 24, Rylen 23, Alta 20

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 8, Rose 5, Rachel 2

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 63

OCTOBER 14th - 15th RECAP

 OPPONENTS FOR ALL 3 LEVELS: 

Elizabeth and Rahway - HOME

Varsity came off the weekend with new confidence and starting to feed off the improved blocking defense generating more 2nd chance opportunities on offense and serving the best and most consistently all season.  The test would be this week with an Elizabeth team who had dominated late at home and took care of the Top 2-0 in all levels earlier in the season.  Rahway came in on fire, in 2nd in the Mountain Division and very much looking to continue their dominance over Summit which spanned to last year when they had beaten the Maroon and White in 7 consecutive sets for a 3W-0L record in 2025.

Elizabeth pulled off the same type of late set winning volleyball they had at home in set 1 and won 25-21 but it was the Hilltopper squad which flipped the script with a come from behind late heroic effort in set 2 to win 25-23 and held off the Minutewomen throughout set 3 for a 25-23 win, earning a split of the season series. 

Looking for their 4th win in a row, SHS took on Rahway but despite having 3 set points in set 1, it was the Visitors who survived with a 29-27 set 1 win that carried momentum into the 2nd set for a 25-20 win over the Top.

RECORD- 5W-12L

JV couldn't muster much in terms of serve receive versus Elizabeth in set 1 and had Elizabeth on the ropes in set 2 but couldn't finish and dropped a 25-10, 25-23 decision to the Visitors.  Rahway came out swinging versus the Hilltoppers, dropping the Home side 25-18 in set 1 but the SHS side rebounded and took care of the Indians 25-22 and 25-14 to win at home.

RECORD- 5W-10L

The 9th Graders were handled pretty easily early in the season by Elizabeth but the squad showed its vast improvement with a hard fought 24-26, 21-25 loss to Elizabeth in the 2nd go-around.  Against Rahway, the SHS serving attack was the key in a 25-15, 25-17 sweep of the Visitors.

RECORD 7W-7L

VARSITY - 2 MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 82.2 Team Ace % - 12.7

BEST SERVE RATING - Madison 2.27, Rylen 2.25, Nadia 2.15

MOST ACES - Madison 5, Nadia 3, Liv, Claire and Rylen 2

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Alta 2.07, Rylen and Claire 1.79

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Ayina and Alta 6, Liv, Rylen and Claire 4

MOST KILLS - Claire 19, Madison 12, Lily 7

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .316, Madison .200, Claire .189

BEST KILL % - Madison 40.0, Lily 36.8, Claire 35.8

MOST DIGS - Claire 16, Rylen 10, Ayina 7

MOST BLOCKS - Rachel and Nadia 2, Rose, Emma and Lily 1

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 48

OCTOBER 5TH - 10TH - A RECAP

 OPPONENTS FOR ALL 3 LEVELS: 

Westfield / Union Catholic / Gov Liv / Oak Knoll / Roselle Park

Varsity dropped all 3 meetings, Westfield the first of two matchups at home for the week, dropping a 2-0 decision to the Blue Devils,  traveling to the Vikings for a 2-0 loss and dropping a tough 3 set match vs. Governor Livingston at home.  Coming off that outstanding effort vs. GL, the crew went on the road Saturday for a tri-match vs. Oak Knoll and Roselle Park at Roselle Park.  SHS was still down Madison as she was just getting back from injury and missing some players due to illness which saw Rose step up from the JV Squad and take over the OPP.   Facing a top 3 team in the Mountain Division in Oak Knoll and a contender for the top spot in the Valley in Roselle Park would be a challenge but the Top took down the Royals 2-0 and despite a slow start to the match versus the Panthers, SHS fought back to win 2-1 to close out a gauntlet of a week that had Summit go 2W-3L.   

RECORD- 4W-12L

Meanwhile, JV dropped a tough 2 setter to Westfield and lost to UC and GL by 2-0 tallies as well. 

RECORD- 4W-9L

Ninth Graders dropped a tough 3 set battle vs. Westfield,  dropped a straight set loss in a lackluster match versus Union Catholic but came up with a huge win versus the GL squad  with a 28-26 last set win!

RECORD- 6W-6L

VARSITY - 5 MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 91 Team Ace % - 13.7

BEST SERVE RATING - Nadia 2.35,  Claire 2.30, Rylen 2.06

MOST ACES - Claire 8, Nadia 7, Rylen and Rachel 6

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Rylen 1.85, Rachel 1.71, Alta 1.60

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 32, Ayina 8, Alta 7

MOST KILLS - Claire and Rachel 28, Lily 18

BEST EFFICIENCY - Lily .264, Rachel .122, Claire .087

BEST KILL % - Rachel 34.1, Lily 34.0,  Claire 30.4

MOST DIGS - Rylen 28, Nadia 25, Claire 21

MOST BLOCKS - Rose and Lily 12, Emma 4

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 86

CONSISTENCY IS THE ELUSIVE GOAL FOR LAST WEEK'S MATCHES

Summit Varsity is not struggling to demonstrate competitive ability; it is struggling to sustain it. The serving attack remains dangerous, the offense has multiple efficient options, and the team has shown it can win sets decisively. The immediate challenge is turning isolated stretches of excellent volleyball into complete-match performance.

It is clear that the SHS serving attack is the program's strongest and most consistent weapon, no more evident than the 20 aces Summit scored on Linden (4 per set). There is enough offensive production to win as two players are hitting above .260 efficiency and 4 other players have significant contributions although one of the 4 is currently unavailable.

Sustaining performance is now the central issue. Summit has shown it can dominate individual sets, but the level drops after successful sets or during key rotations. The Linden match is the clearest example: Summit scored more total points than Linden but lost three of five sets. Summit actually outscored Linden 104–100 across the match but lost 3–2.

That happened because Summit won Sets 1 and 3 by eight points each, then lost Sets 2 and 4 by five and the deciding set by two. This was not a match in which Summit lacked the ability to score—it was a match in which the team could not carry successful play into the following set.

Summit’s ceiling is competitive,  plenty of examples as to how competitive already this season with SHS taking 3 of 5 sets from KP, getting a match point vs Governor Livingston,  being in the lead or tied in 2 matches versus Cranford in the later stages of the opening sets,  dominating the 2nd set versus Chatham and beating a hot New Providence team but its performance fluctuates too dramatically between sets and even specific rotations.

3 MATCH STATS 

Team Serving % - 88.1  Team Ace % - 14.4

BEST SERVE RATING - Rylen 2.46,  Ava K 2.23, Rachel and Nadia 2.09

MOST ACES - Rylen 8, Ava 7, Liv 4

BEST RECEIVE RATING- Rylen 2.11, Liv 2.02, Ayina 1.96

MOST PERFECT PASSES - Rylen 31, Alta 14, Liv and Ayina 11

MOST KILLS - Claire and Rachel 19, Ava 17

BEST EFFICIENCY - Rachel .292,  Lily .238,  Claire .109

BEST KILL % - Rachel 39.6, Rose 37.5,  Lily 33.3

MOST DIGS - Rylen 25, Alta 24, Nadia 19

MOST BLOCKS - Lily 4, Ava 3, Rose and Rachel 1

MOST ASSISTS - Nadia 72                       

Meanwhile, JV is finding that consistency that evades Varsity with a 2-1 week,  coming back from an opening competitive loss to the Chatham Cougars to a win versus the Cranford Cougars with a 27-25 2nd set win coming from behind in the set before ending with a game Linden who dominated Set 1 by a 25-9 score just to see the Hilltoppers fight back numerous times in set 2 to win 30-28 and finish off the Tigers 15-6 in the decisive set 3.  Mel was key in that set 2 and especially in set 3 out of the middle and got help from Sarah and Lily who stepped up big from the service line.

DA FROSH also went 2-1 for the week with a 2-1 win over Chatham but came back the next match against Cranford and were not as consistent from the service line and on defense as the young GOATS dropped a 2-0 decision to Cranford.  But the final match of the week for the Top saw SHS come out with the fewest available players for a match yet dominate by 25-17, 25-12 despite missing key players at key positions such as Setter.  Rana kept the Tigers on the ropes with numerous kills down the line and giving up very few errors on offense while Natalia stepped up big for the team again, taking on a new role and playing a consistent and effective serving game especially her effective serving attack .

MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON - NUMBERS FOR THE SEASON THUS FAR

Claire is 25 kills away from 200

Madison is 46 kills away from 100

Lily is 46 kills away from 100

Nadia is 42 aces away from 100 (2 from 50), 74 digs away from 200 and has eclipsed 500 assists and is 465 away from 1000 (27.3 assists per match average)

Rylen is 17 digs away from 100

Rachel is 47 kills from 100

SUMMIT SCORING 

KILLS - 8.3 per set

ACES - 3.0 per set

BLOCKS - 0.7 per set

TOTAL PTS AVG. 12 pts. per set 

SUMMIT ERRORS 

ATTACK - 4.5 per set

SERVING - 2.4 per set

BLOCK - 1.06 per set 

ACES - 4.55 per set

TOTAL PTS AVG. - 12.55 per set

SUMMIT DEFENSE

DIGS - 12.4 per set

DIG % - 66 

SAFE RECEPTION % - 73