SUMMIT LOSES HEARTBREAKER IN 3 AS LATE SET COLLAPSES CONTINUE

The Lady Hilltoppers took on New Providence in the second of a possible 3 matches this year as Summit looked to improve on the 25-13, 25-16 loss earlier this year in New Providence.  Summit started off well with a well contested 25-18 set 1 win but New Providence erased that advantage with a 25-13 set 2 win.  In the 3rd set that the Hilltoppers worked very hard to take a 4 point lead late, it was also the stage of yet another late set collapse that saw New Providence pull away late and win with a 25-21 set 3 win.

The start of the match showed the capacity of the Hilltoppers to play with one of the better teams in the county.  Summit went down 2-0 early but proceeded to rip off 6 straight points behind Casey Nardino's serving which forced New Providence into 4 hitting errors.  New Providence fought back to take a 10-8 lead but a couple of kills by Kathleen Morano had the Hilltoppers up 13-11.  Summit did not yield the lead but rather extended it with a couple of aces by Emani Miles that had SHS up by 5 at 17-12.

New Providence closed to within 3 at 20-17 but a couple of kills by Cassidy O'Malley helped put the set away at 25-18.  Kathy Morano led the Hilltopper offense with 3 kills. Julianne Smolyn dug up 5 balls and Emani Miles scored on 2 aces to lead SHS to the first set victory. After giving up 16 aces in match 1, Summit yielded only 2 aces to New Providence in the first set.

Set 2 was a radically different story unfortunately.  Summit couldn't find its passing game and was trailing 11-3 early on.  Summit was outscored 14-10 the rest of the way in a set that the Hilltoppers gave up 10 aces which sealed the team's fate.  The team still managed to hit for 7 kills and a match high .263 hitting % despite limited offensive opportunities.  Casey Nardino and Cassidy O'Malley led the way with 2 kills apiece.  Emani Miles led defensively with 4 digs.

Both teams had rough starts to set 3 with numerous errors being committed on both sides.  An ace by Julianne Smolyn had Summit 8-6 up but the lead was short-lived as New Providence quickly tied the score and both teams battled to a 10-10 tie.  Then the set seemed to break Summit's way as kills by Cassidy O'Malley and Casey Nardino and an ace by Nardino had the Hilltoppers up by 4 at 16-12.

A timeout by New Providence seemed to break Summit's momentum as the team gave up the next 9 points and trailed 21-16.  With the match seemingly lost, the Hilltoppers found their second life behind Angela Scott's serving which netted 1 ace and led to numerous errors by New Providence. Summit fought back to within 1 at 22-21 but the team ran out of time and answers on offense as New Providence took advantage of 2 passing errors and a hitting error to close out the set and match 25-21.

Nicole Bazalar and Cassidy O'Malley had 2 kills apiece to lead the Hilltopper offense. Gabbie Mejia and Julianne Smolyn had 3 digs apiece to lead the team defensively.

Jess Salter led the team for the match with 9 assists. Cassidy O'Malley hit for 6 kills to lead the team offensively.  Julianne Smolyn had 10 digs to lead the squad defensively.

The team will look to rebound tomorrow vs. Plainfield on the road.


JV SHOWS GROWTH

After a very inconsistent 1st set where the Hilltoppers had trouble generating any offense due to poor passing (25-7 loss), Summit came out 2nd set and really showed how far they had come as they passed and defended at a higher level to allow them to be competitive and challenge for the set win.  The squad lost 26-24 but showed dramatic improvement in the set in all phases of the game.

NEW PROV WILL BE TOUGH MATCHUP FOR HILLTOPPERS

Summit has had its troubles with Tuesday's opponent, New Providence, in recent history.  In 2010, SHS lost both very closely contested matches by 2-1 and 2-0 scores (25-27, 25-21, 21-25 and 22-25, 22-25). In 2011, Summit got 2 wins in its historic season by 2-0 scores (25-13, 25-8 and 25-10, 25-15).  The last couple of seasons however, New Providence re-established its dominance with a pair of 2-0 wins in 2012 and 2013 (25-20, 25-17 and 25-15, 25-15 in 2012 and 25-22, 25-11 and 25-15, 25-15 in 2013).

In 2014, in the first match up of the season, New Providence took advantage of Summit's passing inconsistency to control the match 25-12 and 25-16.  Summit's improved passing and serving will be put to the test this Tuesday as SHS will look to break New Providence's recent dominance.

SUMMIT LOSES 2-1 TO RAHWAY INDIANS IN A CLASSIC BATTLE

The Hilltoppers traveled to Rahway to take on the Indians in a divisional matchup and came up short 2-1 in a hard fought 24-26, 25-23, 22-25 defeat at the hands of the Indians. 

As the first set score of 24-26 would indicate, this was a hard fought battle between these two evenly matched sides.  Rahway took a small lead into the midpoint of the set at 8-5 but 2 aces  by Emani Miles had the Hilltoppers back tied at 8-8. 

A few point later, a kill by Margo Reigle had the team up by 3 at 12-9 and a block by Casey Nardino kept the team in the lead at 13-10.  Rahway then proceeded to go on a 5-0 run which had Summit reeling at 13-15. A service error by the Indians broke the momentum but Rahway kept the pressure on and got their lead up to 4 at 15-19 after the 3^rd of a series of free ball errors by SHS.

Yet again a service error by the Indians broke momentum but this time Summit responded with kills by Casey Nardino and Nicole Bazalar to knot the score at 19-19.

An outside kill and ace later, the Indians got their lead back to 2 at 22-20 but Summit’s offense came alive with kills from Reigle and Nardino to take a 1 point lead at 23-22. 

But the celebration was short-lived as 2 consecutive attack errors gave the Rahway squad a 24-23 lead and a set point that was promptly snuffed out by a hitting error. With the score at 24-24, A key service error by Summit opened the door for the Indians and an ace later closed out the set 24-26 for Rahway.

Five different players had kills in a 9 kill effort in the set led by Margo Reigle’s 3 kills.  Emani Miles hit for 2 aces and no misses from the service line in addition to being the team dig leader with Julianne Smolyn with 4 digs.

The 2^nd set started badly for Summit as they trailed early 1-5 but the team went on an 8-0 run fueled by Casey Nardino’s serving and Cassidy O’Malley’s offense (2 aces, 1 kill, respectively).  SHS kept that 3-4 point buffer most of the set until the Indians tied up the score at 16 in the latter stages of the match.  Rahway continued to mount the pressure as Summit was unable to convert their hitting opportunities and trailed 18-20 late.  Two kills by the Hilltoppers and a few Rahway errors had the team back even at 22-22 and a kill by Caitlin Osmulski and another ace by Nardino wrapped up the comeback 25-23.

Summit’s offense was stellar, hitting for 12 kills and a .409 hitting %.  Three different hitters had at least 3 kills in a balanced attack and the Summit serving yielded 2 aces.  Margo Reigle led the team with 4 kills in the set

 

The 3rd set saw the Hilltoppers fall behind early to 1-5 but kills by Casey Nardino, Cassidy O’Malley and an ace by Emani Miles had the Hilltoppers all tied up at 5.  After a couple of aces by Julianne Smolyn, the Hilltoppers had climbed back from a 9-10 hole to jump out to an 11-10 lead.

The set stayed pretty even through the latter stages as the teams battled to a 21-21 score after a Caitlin Osmulski kill.  At 22-22, SHS committed 2 free ball errors which swung the momentum of the set and match irreversibly to Rahway. A well placed ace by the Indians wrapped up a heartbreaking set and match loss for the Hilltoppers at 22-25.

Case Nardino’s 3 kills led the Summit offense but there was little support as the team mustered only 4 kills in the set.  Summit stayed in the set thanks to their serving which produced 5 aces (Angela Scott with 3 aces and Emani Miles with 2 aces) on 20/22 (91%) serving.  Defensively, the Hilltoppers did a great job with 14 total digs led by Smolyn’s 4.  The 3 point loss reflected each team’s production from the front line as Rahway received 7 kills from their front line and Summit only 4.

SUMMIT LOOKS TO BUCK LOSING TREND TO RAHWAY

Since 2007, Rahway and Summit have met on the court a total of 10 times with Summit winning only 3 wins during the stretch, the last ones in 2011.  The last 2 years, Summit has been outscored by a 220-146 margin.  The following is a performance history versus Rahway since 2007:

2007  22-25, 23-25

2009  25-23, 18-25, 13-25

2010  12-25, 12-25 and 25-13, 25-12

2011  23-25, 25-17, 25-17 and  25-20,25-19

2012  12-25, 10-25 and 20-25, 13-25

2013  25-20, 23-25, 21-25 and 13-25, 9-25

Summit will attempt to beat the historical odds tomorrow in the 11th meeting in the last 8 years between these schools.

MORRISTOWN BEARD TOURNAMENT - HILLTOPPERS REACH SEMIS

Summit participated in the Morristown Beard Tournament which featured 2 pools of 5 teams from the local area.  In Summit's group there was Kent Place, North 13th Tech, Lacordaire Academy and Morristown Beard.  The group had Pope John, Oak Knoll, Columbia, Morris County Tech and Wardlaw-Hartridge.

Summit had a slow start to pool play, splitting the first 2 sets with Lacordaire Academy (15-18 and 13-9) and then dropping the next 2 to rival Kent Place (14-18 and 9-14).  The Hilltoppers played a more consistent match with North 13th Tech but still managed only 1 win after a split of the 2 sets (13-18 and 18-14).  Host Morristown Beard was the last opponent in pool play and by far, this was the best match of pool play as the two evenly matched teams battled it out.  Summit took both sets by a 22-20 and 8-7 scores.

SHS was seeded 4th into the single elimination 1 set playoffs and faced the 5th seed Morris Tech in the Quarterfinal Round.  The Hilltoppers trailed early after a right side kill by MT 4-1 but after a service error gave the ball back to Summit, the Hilltoppers went on a 7-2 run fueled by aces from Casey Nardino and Val Guzman that gave them the lead at 8-6.

Although an Emani Miles' ace gave the Hilltoppers a 10-7 lead, Morris Tech went on a 4-0 run that saw Summit trail by 1 at 10-11.  A fortuitous service error by MT knotted up the score and gave Summit the momentum it was looking for as the Hilltoppers serving and defense forced MT into 3 attack errors that gave the team a 14-11 lead.

Just as the Hilltoppers were feeling like they had regained control of the set, Morris Tech fought back again with a 5-0 run to jump out front 15-14.  Luckily for Summit, Morris Tech yet again hit a serve out of bounds and that error sparked the Hilltoppers to a 4-0 run fueled by 2 aces by Casey Nardino which sealed the win 18-15 and gave Summit an entrance to the semis against Oak Knoll.

The difference in the match was the Summit service and defense as the Hilltoppers hit for 4 aces to only 1 error out of 18 attempts and had 10 digs to earn their way to victory.

The Semi-Finals against Oak Knoll was a tight match early.  Summit fell behind 4-1 early but SHS rallied back and a Cassidy O'Malley kill drew the Hilltoppers even at 5.  But then the steady play of SHS disappeared and uncharacteristic errors began to show themselves as the team started to lose control of the match.  Oak Knoll went on a 8-0 run (13-5) which saw Summit commit 5 unforced passing errors and effectively ended Summit's bid to get to the finals.  The last 10 points had the teams even at 5 points apiece and ended with the final score of 18-10.

Summit ended the day at 5W-5L and 3rd place overall.  Congrats to the girls for their outstanding effort.

Highlight Players of the Tournament:

Casey Nardino led the team with 13 kills and a .382 kill% and scored 22 points on the day, 27% of the team's total
Cassidy O'Malley was the most efficient hitter at .267, led the team with 5 blocks and was second on the team with 10 kills
Gabby Mejia was the assist leader with 20 and led the team in serving points & with a 97% serving %
Val Guzman and Casey Nardino led the team with 8 aces apiece
Val Guzman had the highest ace% with 36%
Jess Salter was the team's dig leader with 14 digs.
Julianne Smolyn had a 1.80 pass rating on 42 passing attempts and Jess Salter had a 1.80 on 20 passing attempts to lead the team.

SUMMIT'S BID TO KNOCK OFF THE DRAGONS FALLS SHORT

Summit took on divisional and town foe Kent Place in an attempt to earn their 3rd win of the season and 3rd win in division.  Despite a great set 1 win by a 25-23 score, the Hilltoppers fell to the Dragons 15-25 and 22-25 in the last 2 sets.

In set 1, the teams traded points throughout the early to midpoint of the set but with the score 12-11 Summit, the Hilltoppers went on a 4-0 run that swung the momentum irreversibly Summit's way after a Margo Reigle kill.

Despite a few brief runs by Kent Place, the Hilltoppers held on to their 3-4 point cushion until late in the match when Kent Place went on a 5-1 run to tie the score at 23.  A key service error by Kent Place and a Casey Nardino kill later, Summit had the 1st set win at 25-23.

Summit generated 5 kills (Kathleen Morano and Margo Reigle with 2 kills apiece) and served 20/24 serves to pace the serving offense.  The team had 15 digs, led by Gabriela Mejia's 5 digs.

The 2nd set was more of the same as both teams were deadlocked at 6 early on in the set.  Although the Dragons went on a brief 4-0 run, the Hilltoppers cut the lead down to 1 at 9-10 after 3 straight errors forced by Hilltopper pressure. Unfortunately Kent Place responded with 9-2 run that featured the defensive passing and hitting prowess of the Dragons.  

Summit did not fold at 20-11 and ran off 3 straight points to pull to within 6 at 20-14 but a 5-1 closing run by the Dragons sealed the set for Kent Place.  Summit hit for 4 kills (2 by Cassidy O'Malley) and again served fairly well -15/16 from the service line- but got no aces and managed only 6 digs. Summit's inability to put the ball away hurt their effort in this set.  Kent Place out-killed the Hilltoppers 17-4 in the set.

The 3rd set took on a similar look yet again as both teams dueled to an 8-8 tie early on but 2 straight passing errors by the Hilltoppers opened a 2 point lead by the Dragons that seemed to be enough to put Kent Place at ease.  

The Dragons held their 2 point advantage through the midpoint of the set at 13-11 when an ace by Casey Nardino and a couple of forced errors by KP had Summit up by 1 at 14-13. The teams traded points until the latter part of the set with neither side being able to gain control.  After an ace by Emani Miles put Summit up by 1 at 19-18, the Hilltoppers looked like they were going to repeat the Union finish of the past match.  Kent Place put a kill away from the right side to end the run and turn the game around.  

Two aces and free ball error later, SHS had their backs against the wall at 19-22 when Coach Martins called a time out.  The team responded and forced a hitting error out of the Dragons and got a crucial kill by Casey Nardino to get within 1 at 21-22.  Summit had KP on the ropes as the team forced the Dragons to free ball the next play over but a key passing mistake at that junction gave the ball to the Dragons and the lead at 23-21. 

Summit could not convert on their attack but KP did and followed it up with their 6th ace of the set to close out the set and match 25-22.

Summit's errors were the key to the set as the team managed only 4 kills to 4 errors on offense.  SHS served well again (19/21 with 2 aces) but the errors occurred at the latter stages of the match which proved to be significant.  The team dug up 11 balls led by Jocelyn Mendes' 4 digs and Julianne Smolyn finished the set with a perfect 9/9 in serve receptions (19/19 in the match).  Summit was out-gunned 8-4 from the front row and 6-2 from the service line which turned out to be the key to the set. 

The Hilltoppers gave up more aces in this set (6) than in the other 2 combined (3 in set 1, 2 in set 2).

The Hilltoppers will participate in the Morristown-Beard Tournament this upcoming Saturday and will resume the regular season on Monday, on the road, versus division and county rival Rahway.

JV WINS FIRST SET AND FALTERS DOWN THE STRETCH VS. DRAGONS

The JV Squad started off well versus KP as the team jumped out to a 14-6 lead they would never relinquish.  Although the Dragons made a 5-0 run late to keep the score respectable at (24-19) a kill by Clara Mussalam closed the set out at 25-19.  This late run though was a harbinger of things to come however.

KP came out on fire in set 2 and quickly established control of the set with their serving and offense.  Summit couldn't break momentum and fell 25-9 to the Dragons.  

Summit and Kent Place were locked in a battle in set 3 but a 5-0 run near the midpoint of the set gave the Dragons a quick 14-9 lead.  Summit would fight back to get within 1 at 16-17 but a missed free attack opportunity at the net gave the Dragons the lead they needed to break the Hilltoppers' momentum.  KP outscored Summit 7-0 down the stretch thanks in large part to 5 serving errors in the last 8 serving rotations by Summit.  Summit bows out in 3 sets 25-19, 9-25, 17-25.

SUMMIT STORMS BACK TO BEAT UNION 2-1

The Hilltoppers took on county foe Union, a team they had not beaten since 2011. Summit came from behind in the 3rd set to beat the Farmers 2-1 and improve their overall record to 2W-5L (2W-2L in division, 2W-2L in county)

The match was tight early with both teams trading errors and kills but a kill from Margo Reigle and an ace from Angela Scott had the Hilltoppers up 7-4 and seemed to be in control.  A quick 3-0 run by Union quickly dispelled that thought but a key attack error by the Farmers sparked a 6-0 run by Summit led by 2 aces from Jess Salter that put SHS up 13-7.

Although the Farmers got the ball back after a free ball error by Summit, the Hilltoppers went on another long run (12-4) led by Margo Reigle with 2 kills and Casey Nardino and Gabby Mejia with 1 kill apiece.

Summit hit for 8 kills (.222 hit %) and Casey Nardino and Margo Reigle led the way with 5 kills combined.  Summit also tallied 5 aces and gave up only 1 ace in the set.

The second set was another tight battle early but Summit once again started to lead near the midpoint of the set at 9-7 before Union made another run and flipped the score on the Hilltoppers after a middle attack gave the Farmers a 10-12 lead.  Summit rallied and tied the set at 12 but it was Union's turn to generate a great run to put them over the top.  Union went on an 8-3 run which gave them enough cushion at 20-15 to finish out the set a few points later at 25-17.

Summit hit for only 4 kills and hit a -.062 for the set.  The team did hit for 3 aces but gave up 4 aces as well. Kathleen Morano led the Hilltoppers with 2 kills and Casey Nardino paced SHS from the service line with 2 aces.

The deciding set saw a much more spirited and aggressive Union team which put the Hilltoppers on the defensive right away.  Down 4-2, the Hilltoppers went on a 3-0 run sparked by Margo Reigle's 2 kills to give SHS the brief lead at 5-4.

With the score knotted at 6-6, Union went on a 3-0 run fueled by an ace and 2 Summit errors that gave the Farmers a 9-6 lead.  SHS got the ball back after a service error but they gave it right back with one of their own.  Down 8-12 after yet another service error, things looked worriesome for the Hilltoppers but Margo Reigle hit for 2 kills and Gabby Mejia added an ace to pull Summit to within 1 at 12-11.

Down 15-12, the Hilltoppers kept the pressure on the Farmers with precise serving and error free offense. Union was not able to match this and saw Summit jump out to a 17-15 lead, completely erasing the lead they had accrued at the midpoint of the match.  Union got to within 1 at 17-16 but 3 straight Farmer errors and a Jess Salter ace had Summit poised to win at 21-15.

Union got to within 4 at 23-19 but 2 aces by Emani Miles sealed the win to complete the comeback.

Margo Reigle led the Hilltopper offense with 4 of the team's 6 kills for the set.  Summit hit for 5 aces and gave up only 2 aces of their own in this crucial set thanks to the passing efforts of Emani Miles, Julianne Smolyn and Rau Soares who combined for a 2.27 pass rating for the set.

Margo Reigle and Julianne Smolyn were keys to the win as Julianne had only 1 passing error for the match and had a team leading 6 digs while Margo carried the team's offense, hitting for 8 of the team's 18 kills and tallying a team high .333 hitting %. Gabby Mejia and Jess Salter combined for 29/31 serving (94%) with 6 aces to lead the serving attack.

Margo Reigle was chosen as MaxPreps Player of the Match (see our MaxPreps site, link on team webpage).



JV Hilltoppers can't stop Union's power

The JV team's record fell to 2W-5L as the squad couldn't deal with Union's power serving or offensive prowess.  Summit bows out in 2-0 loss by 25-12, 25-12 scores.

HILLTOPPERS NO MATCH FOR RIDGE

Summit took on Ridge in an out of conference matchup at home today and the heavily favored Ridge squashed any hope for Summit to stay in the game early as the Hilltoppers could only muster 15 total points in a 25-8, 25-7 2 set defeat.  Casey Nardino led the Hilltoppers with 3 kills in defeat.

The JV Squad did not fair much better as Ridge dispatched Summit in a 2-0 loss for the Hilltoppers.

The Hilltoppers will try to right the ship versus Union, tomorrow, at home, 4pm. 

SCOTCH PLAINS FANWOOD TOURNEY WRAPUP

The Hilltoppers played in the Scotch Plains Invitational today and came away with a solid day of work that saw every Hilltopper on the court for multiple games as the team continues to develop its game.

The scores of the day were:

SHS     v Hillsboro (5-21)

            v Mount Saint Dominick (8-21)

            v Oak Knoll (16-21)

            v Piscataway (10-21)

            v Union City (9-21)

            v Scotch Plains Fanwood (18-21)

            v Roselle (21-15)

TOP KILL PRODUCER: Margo Reigle with 9 kills

MOST EFFICIENT HITTER: Casey Nardino with a .412 hitting % (8k-1 err-17 att)

MOST ACES: Angela Scott with 2 aces

MOST EFFICIENT SERVER: Gabby Mejia 20/21 serves with 1 ace (95%)

BEST PASSER: Margo Reigle 1.72 pass rating

BEST PASSING %:   Jocelyn Mendez 81%

BEST DEFENDER:  Gabby Mejia 10 Digs

HIGHEST TEAM SCORER: Margo Reigle 10 pts. (9k, 1 ace)

HILLTOPPERS LATE SURGE NOT ENOUGH TO OVERCOME LINDEN

Summit took on the Linden Tigers in a divisional match yesterday and came away with a 25-11, 25-22 defeat despite a great effort by the offense on the second set.

Summit was locked up in a tight battle early on in the first set when the serve receive failed again and allowed Linden to go on a 8-0 run to open up a 13-4 lead.  Although the team rallied back  and played fairly even from that point on (8-7 run to an 11-20 deficit) a late serving push by Linden sealed the set at 20-11.

Margo Reigle and Cassidy O’Malley clicked for 4 kills and no errors and Angela Scott  led the team with 3 digs in a set that didn’t yield many positives for the Hilltoppers.

The 2^nd set was a completely different set.  Summit’s passing was steady and the Hilltoppers displayed a much more potent offense.

After trailing 1-5 early, a kill by Casy Nardino sparked a 4-0 run that saw the Hilltoppers knot up the score at 5.  The teams traded shots in the next few points and with the score 8-10 Linden, a service error by the Tigers and another kill by Nardino had Summit tied up again.

A kill by Nardino and Kathleen Morano had the Hilltoppers for the first time at 13-12 and Gabby Mejia hit for an ace that had the team up by 2.  Linden made a quick 2-0 run to knot up the score at 14 but Angela Scott pounded out an ace to give Summit a lead at 16-14. 

After a few points, an attack error by the Linden had Summit up 20-19 but the Summit serve faltered and couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity.  Down 21-22,  Summit’s captain Julianne Smolyn got a crucial kill to even the score at 22. An attack and ball handling error later however, Linden closed out the set 25-22.

7 players combined for 10 kills led by Casey Nardino’s 3 kills out of the middle.  Julianne Smolyn notched 2 aces in the defeat. 

For the match, Cassidy O’Malley led the squad with 4 kills as the team hit for a season high 15 kills.  Gabby Mejia distributed 6 aces and Emani Miles dug up 4 balls in the losing effort.