Summit walked, literally, across the street to take on town foes Kent Place in a division rematch of a game that the Hilltoppers lost in 3 at home earlier this season. SHS started off slow against the Dragons and dropped the first set 17-25 but came back and played a wonderful 2nd set, bowing out after a hard-fought 26-28 loss.
In set 1, Summit stayed with the Dragons early with Casey Nardino getting a key kill along the way. The Dragons used their serving to pull away on a 5-1 run that gave KP a 9-4 lead and featured 2 aces by the Dragons. Although Summit managed to get the serve back, KP kept the pressure on with their serving and offense and soon had the lead up to 21-8. Summit settled down and outscored the Dragons 9-4 the rest of the way but ran out of time in the 25-17 loss.
Summit's lack of passing accuracy cost them dearly in the set and it stymied the offense as the team managed only 4 kills. The team also struggled serving with a 13/17 (77%) and only 1 ace.
The second set started off fast for the Hilltoppers with the team jumping out to a 5-1 lead after an ace by Gabbie Mejia and 3 kills by Margo Reigle. Summit kept the Dragons at bay near the midpoint of the match as an ace by Angela Scott and kills by Kathleen Morano and Cassidy O'Malley gave Summit an 11-6 lead.
Kent Place kept fighting back though and got to within 3 at 16-14. Despite kills by Cassidy O'Malley and Casey Nardino, KP got to within 1 late at 19-18. Summit looked poised to take the set though as a a block and hitting error by the Dragons gave Summit a 22-19 lead. Kills by Kathleen Morano and Cassidy O'Malley had Summit at the verge of a second set win at 24-21 but a crucial service error by Summit gave KP the opening it needed as SHS could not get the key point and the Dragons tied the score at 24. A service error by KP gave Summit another set point, the 5th of the set, but another attack error by Summit snuffed out that chance. Kent Place jumped ahead 26-25 and served for the set but Margo Reigle put down a key kill to knot the score at 26. Kent Place did not yield though and hit for a kill and an ace to close out the set 28-26.
Margo Reigle and Cassidy O'Malley hit 5 kills apiece to lead the Hilltopper offense. Jess Salter and Gabbie Mejia dished out 11 assists and Julianne Smolyn led the team defensively with 6 digs.
JV EARNS TOUGH 3 SET WIN FOR 5TH VICTORY OF THE YEAR
The JV Squad had another great match versus a county opponent as they looked to avenge an earlier loss at home to the Dragons. Set 1 looked to be more of a repeat of the previous meeting as the team could not manage the Dragon serving attack and with no consistent offense to speak of, the Hilltoppers fell to the Dragons 14-25.
The 2nd set was quite different however as the Hilltoppers overwhelmed the Dragons with their serving attack hitting for 8 aces and added 4 kills to run away with the set 25-10.
Both teams started off nervously as serving and hitting errors kept both teams tied early 4-4. Although Summit had trouble getting their serving game on track, the team hit for 5 aces in the last 9 points to pull away late and beat their town rivals 25-22.
This is the 5th victory for the team in the 2014 campaign, Wardlaw-Hartridge in 3 sets, Linden in 2 sets, Scotch-Plains Fanwood in 2, Plainfield in 2 sets and Kent Place in 3 sets.
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