2015 SEASON WRAPS UP IN STYLE

The 2015 Season came to a close with the Volleyball Dinner and the 2nd Annual Walk For the Cure  that raised approximately $6000 for Memorial Sloan Kettering for research into cancer treatment.

2015 - AWARDS

Captains - V/JV

Emani Miles

Angela Scott

Maddie Young 

Hilltopper Award V/JV

Angela Scott

Madison Young 

Most Improved Award V/JV

Casey Nardino 

Rau Soares

Natalie Schluter 

Most Valuable Player V/JV

Val Guzman

Taylor Thompson 

2015 MaxPreps Player of the Year 

Casey Nardino

HILLTOPPERS COME CLOSE TO KNOCKING OFF ROYALS

Summit was feeling very confident after the 3 set victory over Rahway 2 days earlier as they got ready to face off against the Oak Knoll Royals.  Summit had demonstrated how far they had come this season with their performances against #5 Union, #7 Roselle Catholic, #10 Kent Place, #11 Dayton and #14 Rahway in the final 2 weeks of the season.  SHS had been overwhelmed by Union but came back and dominated Roselle Catholic a few days later.  Kent Place survived versus the Hilltoppers in a match that saw Summit swing for the win at 25-24 but unable to close it out and a day later, Dayton's offense proved to be too much for a Hilltopper squad that played competitively but was unable to match Dayton's firepower.  Summit bounced back on the road against Rahway in a tight 3 set win and the team was looking to finish out the season on another road win at Oak Knoll.

Despite playing outstanding volleyball for the most of the match, the Hilltoppers were unable to maintain their amazing play from set 1 and fell to the Royals 25-21, 22-25 and 12-25.  The difference in the match was the Hilltopper offensive production as Summit got 14 kills with a .281 hitting % in set 1, dropped to 10 kills and a .024 in set 2 and a mere 5 kills with a .000 in set 3.

Summit was down 5-10 early in set 1 but 2 aces by Rau Soares and 2 kills by Val Guzman had the Hilltoppers within 1 at 9-10.  Angela Scott hit for a kill and Grace Galuppo nailed an ace a few points later which had SHS up for the first time in the set 12-11.  Oak Knoll reacted to this setback by going on a 6-3 run that had the Royals up late 17-15 but a Casey Nardino kill and a Royal hitting error had Summit knotted up at 17.  SHS allowed Oak Knoll to take control back at 20-18 and it looked like the Royals would finish off the Hilltoppers quickly enough.  A serving error by the Royals gave Summit the opening it needed and Jocelyn Mendez got a crucial dig/kill to tie up the score at 20.  But as had been the pattern all set long, the Royals didn't allow SHS to continue its momentum and after a free ball passing error by the Hilltoppers, Oak Knoll had its lead back at 21-20.  The Summit serving attack came to the rescue though as Galuppo served out the last 4 balls as Scott and Guzman hit for 3 kills to give Summit a 25-21 set win after a 5-1 run.

Summit scored a whopping 19 points in the set and hit for a .281 average led by Val Guzman who hit for a .455 with 5 kills and 0 errors.  Summit also had 5 aces spread out through 4 servers and had only 2 errors.  Most importantly, SHS gave up only 5 aces and out-killed Oak Knoll 14-6.

Set 2 was a microcosm of the entire Hilltopper season.  Summit was at times dominant in the set, to the point that the Royals did not look like they had an answer for anything Summit had to give.  At other times, Summit looked flawed and unsure of itself as the team got numerous opportunities to re-establish its dominance but could not convert when it mattered.  And on brief stretches, SHS did not look like it belonged on the court with the Royals.

Summit took a 6-0 lead behind Val Guzman's serving as the Royals were kept out of system and forced into numerous errors.  Once Oak Knoll broke serve though, Summit couldn't get its offense and passing in gear and the Royals took advantage, going on a 10-4 run that had both teams tied at 10 thanks to 3 hitting errors, 2 passing errors and a serving error by the Hilltoppers.  Summit reacted well to the setback though and went on a 9-4 run of its own fueled by 6 kills (3 by Nardino) and 1 ace by the Hilltoppers to give SHS a 19-14 lead that forced a time-out by the Royals and had Summit seemingly ready to win a 2nd match this season versus a top 10 opponent.

But the Hilltoppers could not close the deal as the team allowed the Royals to go on a 11-3 run that gave the set to Oak Knoll 25-22.  During this run, Oak Knoll hit for 4 kills and 0 errors with 2 aces.  Oak Knoll had only 1 error overall during this stretch.  In contrast, Summit had only 1 kill but added 4 hitting errors and 1 free ball passing error. Up until this point in the match, Summit had played nearly a perfect game but this last stretch ruined an otherwise outstanding effort.

The deciding set was not quite as exciting as the first 2 sets.  Summit trailed 8-1 early and never really got in gear as the Royals kept the pressure on throughout the set, getting the lead up to 14-5 and 20-10 before closing Summit out 25-12.  Oak Knoll out-killed SHS 12-5 in the set and out-aced the Hilltoppers 5-1, scoring a total of 19 points in the set versus Summit's 6.

A great effort versus the #6 team in the county which showed the growth in the team over the last 2 years.

SUMMIT TAKES RUBBER MATCH VS. RAHWAY IN HUGE ROAD WIN

In a much anticipated JV rematch with Rahway, Summit came into the game playing its best volleyball of the season having defeated Kent Place, Roselle Catholic and Dayton after their surprising loss to Rahway in the county tournament.  Rahway was also looking to prove that the earlier Summit win at SHS had been a fluke in this rubber match.

Summit played a good first set but lost late 24-26 despite getting 9 service points from Christina Gangi and Alisha McDonnell.  Summit's offense was effective but late serve receive errors cost the team the first set.

Coach Ross sent in the 9th graders in set 2 and the combination of some "veteran" JV players with the core of the 9th graders yielded great results as the squad in the 2nd set led 6-2 early and never really lost control of the set thanks to the serving of Taylor Thompson who came up with SHS holding a tenuous 9-8 lead and after a couple of aces had the team up 13-9, reestablishing the 4 point lead they had enjoyed early.  Summit maintained that lead as it entered the latter stages of set 2 (17-13) and Katie Samay blew the game open by hitting for an ace and forcing the Indians into numerous errors as her rotation increased the lead to 21-13, a lead they would never relinquish in route to a 25-16 set 2 win.

Set 3 saw the return of the most experienced JV players and the set did not start off as the coaching staff had hoped.  Despite the team opening up a 5-1 lead,  the Hilltoppers gave it all back in one rotation as the squad gave up 2 consecutive aces and saw Rahway tie the score at 5.  The inconsistent serve receive continued to be a problem for the Hilltoppers as the squad couldn't find any offensive consistency due to the poor passing.  Rahway took advantage, getting kills off easy free balls that saw the Indians take control of the deciding set 11-8 after 6 rotations.  Trailing 15-9, Christina Gangi stepped up and served 3 consecutive service points to get SHS within reach at 15-12.  Olivia Elko followed up after a service break with 2 service points of her own to get Summit to within 2 at 16-18.  The celebration was short lived though as Rahway served often and served tough in the next rotation to take a seemingly insurmountable lead at 22-17.

A fortuitous foot fault gave the ball back to Summit and Taylor Thompson trailing 22-18.  Thompson hit for 3 aces in a stretch of serves that had the Indians all out of system and gave Gangi 2 opportunities to kill the ball, which she did not miss.  Thompson had 7 straight service points as the Hilltopper defense and offense was flawless during the stretch.

JV's record stands at 14W-6L and should the team beat Oak Knoll, they will have sole possession of the record of wins and winning % in program history.

HILLTOPPERS AVENGE EARLIES LOSS TO RAHWAY WITH BIG ROAD WIN

Summit traveled to Rahway to take on the Indians to close out the divisional match-ups for the year.  Rahway had handled the Hilltoppers at Summit  earlier in October rather easily in a 25-21, 25-16 with Summit not being able to muster much offense, hitting for 11 kills but also tallying 14 errors.  The team had also only served at 83.3%.  The combined lack of serving accuracy with the lack of offense spelled the end for the Hilltoppers in game 1.   However, in the return match, Summit served at 94% and hit for 29 kills while only committing 19 errors.  The improved serving and offensive performance was the spark that fueled the 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 SHS victory.

In set 1, Summit won a tight 25-23 set in large part because of the 12 kills the team generated in the set while also hitting .193 for the set led by Val Guzman's 4 kills.  The team also served at an 92% clip with 3 aces and dug up 18 balls.

The set was close throughout with neither team being able to get more than a 4 point lead at any point in the set.  An Angela Scott kill had Summit knotted up at 9 but Rahway went won a 4-2 run fueled by 2 kills and 2 Summit errors.  A Rau Soares kill trimmed the lead to 12-14 and a Guzman kill had Summit tied at 14.  A 5-1 Indian run had Summit on its heels (19-15) but a service error gave the ball back to Summit to spark a 7-1 run in which the Hilltopper serving caused many hitting errors by Rahway.

Casey Nardino pounded a kill and Angela Scott hit another key ball after a long rally to get Summit to 23-21.  Scott followed up with an ace and a Soares attack got the Indians all out of system and led to a free ball error which gave the set win the the Hilltoppers 25-23.

Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers hit for only 7 kills - 4 by Nardino- and despite a 5 ace output with 0 serving errors, the squad just could not muster enough offense to overcome some poor passing in a few rotations.  Summit opened up set 2 much the same way set 1 ended.  A Rau Soares kill capped off a run that had Summit up 7-2.  Soares nailed an ace later on to get SHS up 10-7 after a brief Rahway run.  The good feeling lasted briefly as the Indians ran off 6 points before an Angela Scott kill stopped the damage.  Rahway hit for 3 aces in the stretch that saw Rahway jump to a 13-12 lead.

Two aces by Scott got Summit knotted again at 17 and SHS went up by 1 at 20-19 after a Rahway hitting error .  However, that was the last point scored by Summit as Rahway hit for 2 aces and 2 kills to spark a 6-0 run that closed out the set 25-20.

In the deciding set Summit hit for double digits in kills again (10) as 5 different players registered at least 1 kill.  Summit also hit for 2 aces and dug up 17 balls in a set which the Hilltoppers passed as a 2.05 as a team.

A Casey Nardino ace had the Hilltoppers up 8-4 early and Angela Scott kept the Hilltoppers on top 12-6 with 2 kills at the midpoint in the match.  Rahway kept pressuring the Hilltoppers but the squad responded each time preventing a run by Rahway.  Summit was enjoying a 16-9 lead after an Indian hitting error when Rahway called a time-out.

The time-out worked as Rahway fought for every point and forced the Hilltoppers into multiple hitting and passing errors that pushed Rahway to a 16-16 tie.  Nardino got a crucial kill to give SHS an 18-17 lead.  Although the Indians tied it back up, a hitting error and a key kill by Rau Soares had Summit up 20-18.  A Val Guzman kill got Summit closer to the win at 22-19 but a kill out of the middle by the Indians got them the ball back at 22-20.  A perfect serve receive by Emani Miles who played in her first match of the year today allowed SHS to run an offensive set to Guzman again who hit again to increase the lead to 23-20.  Both teams exchanged points and the Hilltoppers could taste the victory at 24-21.  But the match ended on the next point as Summit did what it had been doing all set, making good plays out of bad situations.  A less than perfect pass by Guzman forced Nardino to set the ball back to the middle where Scott placed a perfect ball to the sideline for the final kill of the match and the Summit win 25-21.

JV ROLLS ON WITH WINS OVER KENT PLACE AND DAYTON, RECORD WITHIN REACH

The JV Squad continued its late season run with dominant wins over the Kent Place Dragons and the Dayton Bulldogs to improve their record to 13W-6L.  With 2 more wins possible in the season, the team is poised to tie the program record in wins (15) and have the best record ever by winning % with a possible 15W-6L season finish in the horizon.

The Hilltoppers took on the Dragons on Thursday won a 2-0 decision, 25-13, 26-24 and followed it up on Friday with a decisive 25-18, 25-10 decision over the Bulldogs on Friday to cap off Senior Day.  Summit has been on a tear since the County Tournament loss to Rahway.  The squad has gone 3W-0L against Roselle Catholic, Kent Place and Dayton during that stretch.

The team has gotten contributions from many of its more "veteran" players but the emergence of the 9th graders has been the great bonus of the 3 wins as many of these athletes have seen significant playing time in meaningful matches.  Julianna Fiore and Lauren Trindell continue to be a factor out of the front row and Olivia Skrobola has continued to develop as a potential setter.  Cheryl Liu, Clara Sarkissian and Tessa Pulgar continue to show flashes of what they might become in the future out of the backrow and Caitlin Thompson has demonstrated at times how her athletic ability can impact a play as she continues her defensive development.  Eilis McFadden, Blakely McCann and Anna Makedonska have shown tremendous improvement over the season and have begun to contribute to the team in the limited opportunities they have been given to play.

Meanwhile, Madison Young has continued to lead the team from the service line and the front row with her offense as the team continues to rely on her steady performance to steady the team when it gets on roll of bad points.  Taylor Thompson continues to be a factor for the Hilltoppers from a setting and serving perspective and teammate Lharyssa Viana has settled down the team's serve receive and defense with timely and accurate passes.  Bella D'Ambrosi was one of the serving leaders and a mainstay out of the front row until the knee injury that has sidelined her for the rest of the season.  The Elko sisters, Vanessa and Olivia have continued to show at times the power and aggressiveness that make them dominant at the JV level from the front row and the service area. Natalie Schluter continues to show why she is a vital piece to the defensive and serve receive areas of the team as well as being one of the most trustworthy servers the squad has to field.  Teammate Camille Della Piazza has the trust of the coaching staff as well from the service line and has been relied on to set, defend and serve receive, a credit to her athleticism and development as a player.  Katie Samay has been a force in the front row and a dangerous serving option all season but has been instrumental in the last 3 matches in getting the Hilltoppers on top.  Against the Bulldogs, Katie blew open the game with a 10-0 run from the service line with 5 aces that put away Dayton early in set 2.  Christina Gangi has developed from a player that barely made the team last year to a major offensive force this year, hopefully a glimpse of what she might become for the team in the future. Last, but not least, Alisha McDonnell has surprised everyone in becoming one of the steadiest and most effective setter and defensive player SHS fields and has shown tremendous potential as a volleyball player.

The team will look to break the best season record by winning the last 2 matches next week.

DRAGONS AND BULLDOGS BREAK HILLTOPPER HEARTS ON BACK TO BACK HOME MATCHES

The Hilltoppers took on the Kent Place Dragons and the Dayton Bulldogs on consecutive home matches this past Thursday and Friday.  Summit was looking to beat the Dragons for the first time since 2011 and the team had faced Dayton most recently in 2014, a 2-1 loss away.  Summit lost a heartbreaker 25-8, 15-25, 27-25 decision to Kent Place and dropped a 25-13, 25-19 decision to Dayton on Senior Day to close out the last home match of the 2015 season.

In game 1, Summit opened up the first match against their cross-town rivals, the Kent Place Dragons. The match opened up perfectly for the Hilltoppers with a 25-8 dominance of the Dragons.  Val Guzman led the team with 5 points with a 10/10 serving performance and a team leading 3 aces and 4 digs.  Grace Galuppo and Gabby Mejia ran a balanced offense with 4 players hitting for 2 kills apiece.  Summit hit for a .438 hitting efficiency and passed at a 2.0 rating in set 1 and looked poised to upset the Dragons.

Set 2 was a different story for the Hilltoppers.  Summit passed for a 1.27 rating which led to few offensive opportunities.  SHS hit for only 4 kills and a .058 efficiency and served just over 70%, ingredients for a less than stellar performance.

Set 3 did not start much better and SHS was down 8-2 before the set was less than 5 minutes old. But this Hilltopper team has shown all year that despite the situation, their effort never wanes.  Summit went on a 10-2 run after a Kent Place attack error fueled by kills by Grace Galuppo and Angela Scott and an ace by Val Guzman.  The teams settled into a side-out battle for the remainder of this exciting decisive set.

SHS trailed 22-23 before the Hilltopper defense forced a middle attack error and followed that up with a Casey Nardino kill.  Serving for the match, Val Guzman put in play a tough serve that forced the Dragons to send the ball over on a free but SHS was unable to get the kill despite a great attack attempt by Nardino.  KP didn't miss the 2nd time, tying the score up at 24.  Down 24-25 and facing a match point, SHS got a break when the Dragons served the ball into the net but the Hilltoppers could not capitalize as the team saw the Dragons hit for a kill while Summit got a hitting error to close out the match 27-25.

Despite the close game, the difference in the match was the offensive output of the Hilltoppers from set 1 compared to set 2 and 3.  In set 1, SHS out-killed KP 8-5 and had 1 hitting error to KP's 6.  That was a 14-6 scoring advantage in that set alone.  In contrast, sets 2 and 3 saw SHS hit for only 8 kills and garnering 7 errors while KP hit for 22 kills while committing 18 errors.  That was a 29-26 advantage for the Dragons but more importantly, a 14 point advantage in offensive production by Kent Place.  In the decisive 3rd set, KP out-killed SHS by a 14-4 advantage.

Summit had little time to ponder their lost opportunity against the Dragons as Dayton came in on Friday, Senior Day, to take on SHS.  The Hilltoppers couldn't slow the Bulldog offense and had trouble getting their offense in gear as the team fell 25-13, 25-19 to Dayton.  Summit mustered only 9 kills in the match while Dayton hit for 14 but the major problem was the serve receive as the Bulldogs nailed Summit for 13 aces while Summit could only get 2 aces.  Dayton also served at a 90% rate while SHS was only 85%.  This was the difference in set 2 as the Bulldogs trailed late 19-18 after a Val Guzman kill but nailed 4 aces in the last stages of the set to blow open the set and close the set and match on a 7-0 run for the 25-19 win.  Summit players could only shake their heads as they had only given up 3 aces till that point of the match.

The day belonged to the seniors as Hannah Calabrese, Aila Poticano, Rau Soares, Sandra Bazalar, Mel Campos, Emani Miles and Angela Scott saw their 4 year career come to a close at home.  Happy tears were shed and emotional goodbyes were shared by the players as the girls celebrated their improvement and resiliency as a team this season through multiple injuries, heart-breaking losses and major upsets of teams in the county.

HILLTOPPERS CORRALED BY FARMERS

In the return match versus the Union Farmers, Summit looked to use their confidence and play coming off the victory over RC to help them defeat this divisional foe on their Senior Night. Unfortunately for SHS, the match played out eerily similar to their prior match with the Hilltoppers unable to muster any offense against a very tough defending and hitting team.

Summit was in the match early much like they were at home in set 2 of their 25-21 set loss but just like the prior match, a run in the middle of the set decided the set outcome early for the Farmers. Summit had the lead at 9-8 after a Rau Soares ace but Soares had a service error to knot up the score at 9.  Union then went on a 7-0 run that had the Farmers up 16-9 and on their way to a 25-15 set win.

The 2nd set mimicked set 1 at home in the prior match with SHS trailing early and just never being able to stop the Union offensive onslaught despite great receiving and transition defense.  Summit's offense was just not able to put the ball away and Union kept the pressure on with key kills that extended 3 lengthy runs to put the set and match away 25-8.  Summit trailed 10-3 after the first run, 17-6 after the 2nd barrage and lost the set on another 8-2 run.  Despite the lopsided score, SHS actually ran 1 more attack attempt than in set 1 (31-30) but had only 3 kills vs. 6 in set 1.

The standouts of the match were undoubtedly Val Guzman who led the team with 5 kills and was the only front row player with a positive hitting %. Val also led the team in serve receptions and gave up only 1 ace.  Jocelyn Mendez was incredible defensively, leading the team with 8 digs and passing at an impressive 2.44 rating, with most of her passes being perfect 3's.  

JV did not play due to Union playing in the UCIAC Semi-Finals.

Varsity drops to 7W-12L.

HILLTOPPERS SWEEP RC LIONS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2011

The Summit Hilltoppers hosted the Roselle Catholic Lions yesterday and took both the Varsity and JV matches for the first time since 2011.  RC was ranked as the #7 team in the county on the Varsity level but was just coming off a mild upset loss to Kent Place earlier in the week.

Summit felt pretty good about their performance against Westfield and their ability to be competitive against the best in the county.  Taking that confidence in this match, Summit jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind 2 aces by Valerie Guzman and a kill by Angela Scott. Two aces and 2 kills by Casey Nardino,  2 kills by Val Guzman and a kill apiece by Rau Soares and Angela Scott had SHS up 17-4 in a 10-0 run that saw the best of Hilltopper volleyball on display.  Despite Roselle Catholic outscoring Summit 11-8 the rest of the way, Summit was never threatned in the set and won 25-15.

Nardino and Scott combined for 7 of Summit's 11 kills and hit a combined .461 to lead the Hilltopper offense.  Nardino also led the team defensively with 6 digs and was a perfect 10/10 from the serving line with 2 aces.   The team hammered down 11 kills with a .250 efficiency while serving at 86%.

Set 2 had a different feel as the set was tight through the early stages.  Although SHS held a 7-5 lead early thanks to an Angela Scott kill, the Lions came roaring back to take the lead at 8-7 fueled by 2 Summit hitting errors.  Summit kept finding Nardino on offense and the junior kept the Lions at bay with key kills during the set such as the one that got SHS tied at 9-9.  But it was the reemergence of Valerie Guzman on the outside that sparked the Hilltoppers on another dominant run as Summit went on an 11-4 run to jump out to a 20-13 lead that saw Nardino and Tabatha Meneses hit for 2 aces and Guzman nail 3 kills.  Although RC crawled back to within 4 at 21-17,  Nardino hit for a crucial kill after she passed up a perfect pass and dug another ball in transition to stop the Lion momentum cold at 22-17.  Guzman and Scott kills wrapped up the set and match 25-19 for the first Summit win over a top 10 opponent since 2011.

Summit hit for 13 kills in the set at a .275 efficiency and added  6 aces to run away with the set by scoring 19 of the 25 points in the set.  Val Guzman scored 7 points in the set with 5 kills and 2 aces and was the team leader in the set in kills, aces and digs.

For the match, Casey Nardino and Val Guzman led the way with 7 kills apiece and they both hit for 4 aces although Nardino was a perfect 18/18 from the service line.  Summit gave up only 4 aces in the match and Gabby Mejia and Grace Galuppo ran a lethal offense with 22 assists combined.

Varsity is now 7W-11L.

JV Routs RC

For the second year in a row, the Hilltoppers took on the higher seeded Lions and came away with the win on the JV side.  The squad rebounded back from their tough loss to Rahway by fixing the service and passing errors that plagued them versus the Indians.  Summit won 25-12, 25-16 in a match that was a total team game and sam many players on the court.  JV is now 11W-7L and 4 wins away from the program record of 15W-10L.

COUNTY RUNS FOR JV AND VARSITY COME TO END

The JV Squad, #8 in the county, was hosting the Rahway Indians and hoping to make it 2 wins in a row over Rahway in a repeat performance of the match a few weeks ago where the Hilltopper serving and passing were impeccable in a dominant 2-0 win.

On this day though, the team could not repeat its performance as repeated serving and passing miscues gave the Indians ample opportunities to dominate Summit.  The silver lining of the match was Captain Maddie Young's serving which brought the team pack from enormous deficits (19-10 and 20-12) to tie or within 1 at each set.  The Hilltoppers, however, were not able to convert their opportunities at that juncture and fell to Rahway in the latter stages rather easily. 

Meanwhile, the Varsity squad was facing a daunting task as the team traveled to #2 Westfield to take on the Blue Devils.  Summit, a clear underdog, was looking to shock the county aby relying on their serving and passing to stay competitive with Westfield.

Set 1 started off rather ominously as a great Valerie Guzman serve led to a less than potent Blue Devil attack that was dug up by the Hilltoppers but yielded nothing other than a hitting error.  On the next ball, Casey Nardino hammered a kill to even up the score but a quick service error gave the ball right back to Westfield and their serving offense went to work, creating poor attacking opportunities for SHS and running the score to 8-1 before it was done.  Westfield maintained tha 6-7 point cushion throughout the majority of the set, leading 9-3 and 13-6, with Summit not being able to create a run of their own.  At 15-7, the Blue Devils pushed their final run, a 10-3 run that closed out the score 25-10.

Although the score didn't indicate it, there were a lot of long rallies and transition defensive opportunities for Summit during the set.  It was, in many respects, a good set by the Hilltoppers but the team struggled in closing out points.  The team hit for only 4 kills and had 0 aces in the set.

The 2nd set was much more exemplary of the play of the Hilltoppers.  Although the quad was down 0-2 early, an Angela Scott kill and a Guzman ace had SHS knotted up at 2 rather quickly.  A Nardino kill and a Rau Soares kill had the team up 8-6 and Summit started to force Westfield into hitting errors as their block and transition defense were coming alive.  But the Blue Devils had forced Summit into passing errors due to their outstanding serving attack and that facet of the game started to become a factor as the set wore on.  Westfield jumped out to a 12-8 lead after a series of passing miscues and only a Soares kill broke the momentum briefly at 9-12.  Westfield went back on serve and SHS was on the negative side of an 8-0 run that had Westfield up 20-9.  SHS did not give in though, and outscored the Blue Devils 7-5 the rest of the way but the damage was done and the team fell to the #2 seed 25-10, 25-16.  

Summit hit for 6 kills and a .211 hitting efficiency in the set and also hit for 2 aces.  

Casey Nardino led the offense with 3 kills and Val Guzman and Gabby Mejia led the defensively with 4 digs apiece.  Jocelyn Mendez passed for an astounding 2.3 pass rating giving up only 1 ace in the entire match and receiving the most amount of serves from the Blue Devils.

JV IMPROVES TO 10W-6L WITH 3 SET WIN VS. ROSELLE

The JV Squad had a great battle versus the Roselle Rams to earn their 10th victory of the season.  Summit won the first set 25-9, lost the second 22-25 and took the third set in a come from behind fashion 15-11.

The team hit for 10 aces in set 1 as the Rams were never able to run much offense and the Summit serving power was on full display as Summit scattered 10 aces to dominate the first set 25-9.

In set 2, Coach Ross played a great majority of the 9th graders and despite their best efforts, the squad came up a little short and dropped set 2 25-22.  Missed serves were the story of this set as the team missed 6 serves to open up the door for the Rams to win the set.

The missed serves continued in the third set as Summit trailed 5-1 and 8-3 before Taylor Thompson led a charge from the service line that got Summit knotted up at 9 after hitting for 2 aces.  The Rams took the lead at 10-9 but a change of serve later saw Katie Samay lead another ace barrage (2 aces) to give the lead to the Hilltoppers that they would not relinquish (14-10).  Although the Rams got the ball back, a serving error ended the match 15-11 and gave the Hilltoppers the win as they head into their first round matchup versus the Rahway Indians tomorrow, October 21, at 4pm at home.

HILLTOPPERS SWEEP SEASON SERIES OVER THE RAMS FOR 6TH WIN

The Hilltoppers tied the number of wins they had earned last year with a 2-0 victory over the Roselle Rams yesterday.  Summit won 25-20, 25-15 and improved their road record to 3W-5L for the year. The team has now earned 12 wins thus far in the past 2 seasons, 4 wins more than the prior 2 seasons,

The squad started off with a bang as Angela Scott passed a perfect ball to Gabby Mejia who set her up for the match's first kill and the 1-0 SHS lead. SHS got up 2-0 after a Valerie Guzman ace and the 2 point lead was par for the course through the early stages of this set as service errors and hitting errors prevented the Hilltoppers from extending the lead.

Grace Galuppo hit for an ace near the midpoint of the match and Casey Nardino slammed a kill to open up a 13-7 lead, the largest of the set.  The lead was, however, short lived.  The Rams came charging back with 2 aces and with the help of 3 consecutive passing errors by Summit, Roselle had tied up the score at 14.  But Roselle wouldn't go away and actually took the lead 18-19 on an ace but a hitting error knotted things up at 19 again.  Rau Soares stepped up and got the set under control as she served the next 5 points, including 2 aces, to give SHS an insurmountable lead at 24-19.  Summit wasn't able to close it out until a few points later but the set was well in hand at 25-20.

Nardino, Scott and Gartenberg all hit for 2 kills in a balanced Summit attack and the team hit for 7 aces as Guzman, Soares and Galuppo all hit for 2 aces apiece.

Set 2 started rather nicely for the Hilltoppers as the team opened up a 4-1 lead behind Tabatha Meneses who hit for an ace and was then followed by a Casey Nardino kill.  Roselle used 3 consecutive aces to get a 6-5 lead but SHS responded with an Alana Gartenberg kill,  2 straight aces by Nardino and 2 kills by Sterling Sidebottom to open up a 12-6 lead.  After a switch of serve had the score flip to 13-7, Sandra Bazalar ripped the set open with 6 straight service points, hitting for 2 aces and allowing the Hilltoppers to convert easy free ball opportunities as Angela Scott  nailed 2 kills to extend the lead to 19-9.  Although the Rams were able to break serve, the celebration was short-lived as Summit got the lead back up to 22-10 after 2 Grace Galuppo aces.  The writing was on the wall and the last few points were academic.  Gartenberg and Nardino added kills in the tail end of the match to seal the deal as SHS took the set and match 25-15.

Summit hit for 9 kills in the set at a .286 efficiency and added 7 aces while serving at 88% and only giving up 3 aces.  Amanda Fonseca and Gabby Mejia chipped in with 6 of SHS's 13 digs in the set to pace the defense.

Alana Gartenberg paced the offense for the match at 5 kills and Grace Galuppo led the ace barrage with 4 aces.  Summit only served at 85% for the match but hit for 14 aces, a tremendous ace % of 29%.  Casey Nardino led all scorers with 7 points (4k, 3ace).

Summit will take on #2 Westfield 5:30 tomorrow, Wednesday 10/21, in the first round of counties.

SERVING, THE DIFFERENCE IN HILLTOPPER COUNTY WIN V. CRUSADERS

For the 2nd year in a row, Summit hosted a county game, the first time that has occurred since the 2010-2011 seasons.  Last year, SHS outlasted the Roselle Park Panthers in a 3 set battle, 25-13, 24-26, 25-8). The Crusaders of Governor Livingston were the 2015 Squad's opponent and SHS did not disappoint a season record crowd of nearly 60 fans in dispatching of GL in a 2-0 victory, 25-16, 25-18.

Summit opened its 2015 county run with Val Guzman hitting a blistering serve that created a free ball opportunity for Angela Scott to put away.  GL was able to dig the ball up but the subsequent pass was off target and SHS started with a 1-0 lead.  Two consecutive aces by Angela Scott had the team up 7-2 and the Hilltoppers were sensing they could pressure the Crusaders with their serving attack.

The team continued pressuring the Crusaders from the service line and Alana Gartenberg found the open court for a kill as Summit had a 10-4 lead nearing the midpoint of the set.  Casey Nardino then ripped 2 straight aces to give the Hilltoppers an insurmountable 13-4 lead and the set seemed to be in control.  The Crusaders went on a 7-1 run though that brought the premature celebration to a halt as only a GL error gave the ball back to SHS to extend the lead once again to 15-11. Scott settled things down with a kill that pushed the lead back up by 5 and 1 more GL error had the Hilltoppers cruising again at  17-11.

GL cut the lead down to 5 at 18-13 but Guzman's serving forced an ace and 2 hitting errors by the Crusaders which had Summit in the driver's seat at 21-13.  Sandra Bazalar stepped in for Scott  and she put the nail in set 1 as she hit for an ace and Rau Soares ripped a kill to close out the set 25-16.

Summit scattered 6 kills (2 by Gartenberg) as the team hit for a .136 but the damage was done from the service line as the Hilltoppers nailed 7 aces (ace% - 35%) while serving at an 88% clip.  Combine that with only giving up 1 ace and the Hilltoppers were feeling pretty good about their set 2 prospects.

Set 2 couldn't have started off more poorly for the Hilltoppers and memories of the Linden breakdown in set 3 came flooding back to the team as 3 hitting errors and a passing error by the Hilltoppers set up the stage for a 5-0 GL lead.  Only an attack error by the Crusaders halted the bad start and Val Guzman got the team settled again with her serving as she hit for an ace and forced a hitting error to get SHS right back at 3-5.  Casey Nardino then nailed a kill and Angela Scott followed up with 2 consecutive aces to even things up at 6 and the match took on a different tone.

Down 11-9, GL committed a service error which brought Nardino to serve and as the outside hitter has been doing for the last 5 matches, she broke the game open with 3 aces and 2 serves which forced 2 hitting errors to extend the Summit lead to 16-9.  Rau Soares had the Hilltoppers had the team up 17-11 after a great right side kill but to the Crusader's credit, their team refused to give up and ran off 5 straight points to get GL to within 1 at 17-16.  Unlike the prior match vs. Linden though, the team found the key kill and Scott provided it.  Grace Galuppo followed it up with an ace and a few points later, Alana Gartenberg got another kill to get SHS to a 20-17 lead.  A Scott kill and 2 more Nardino kills later, the team had finally dispatched of the Crusaders, 25-18.

Summit hit for 7 kills but it also had 7 errors led by Nardino's 3 kills and .333 hitting %.  SHS won yet again the battle of the service line, scoring 7 aces (29%-ace%) -Nardino yet again leading the way with 3 aces- and a 92% serving %.  Summit gave up no aces in the set and the squad walked away knowing that the 2 utmost goals for the match, win the ace battle and the serve reception error battle, had resulted in the 2 set win.

Summit improved to 5W-10L but most importantly has started to improve its home record (3W-5L) after a 3W-1L record over the last 4 matches at home. The Hilltoppers have a minimum of 8 matches remaining in the 2015 season, 3 at home and 5 on the road.  The team will look to finish the year over .500 at home and improve their current 2W-5L record on the road.

ARE THE HILLTOPPERS FINDING THEIR WAY IN OCTOBER?

Despite the Varsity's 5W-10L record the team has earned, the team finds itself in a situation where the end of the season could provide a great close to 2015.  After opening up 2W-8L, the Hilltoppers have now gone 3W-2L in the last 5 matches with the opposition being, among other teams, #1 team in their division and #3 team in the county.

Summit won again a round in the county tournament -this year versus the Crusaders of GL- and will face #2 Westfield next Tuesday.  The squad earned wins versus Plainfield (season sweep), GL and Roselle (4 wins over last 5 meetings) in the last 5 matches. This is the first time the team won back to back county matches since the 2010-11 seasons.  In addition, SHS will be looking to get to double digits in wins for only the 6th time in program history and first time since the 2011 season.

In the last 5 matches, the fortunes of the team have ridden on the serving and hitting of Casey Nardino who has led the team in scoring in the last 3 matches.  As Nardino's scoring has improved, so has the performance of the Hilltoppers. In the last 5 matches, Nardino hit for 24 kills and a 32.12 kill % while her hitting efficiency was .156 and hit for 2.1 kills/set during this stretch.  The last 2 matches Nardino had season highs in efficiency (.263 v. Linden and .333 v. GL) and a .298 efficiency over the last 2 matches.

Nardino has also shone from the service line over the last 5 matches, serving at an outstanding ace % of 35.98 with 17 aces (1.46 aces/set) and an 87.48 Serving %. Nardino has led the Hilltopper squad with 6.8 points/match over the last 5 matches and it is not a coincidence that the team has earned more wins in the last 5 matches than in the prior 10.

Of equal significance is the serve receive prowess of the team in the last 5 matches.  Val Guzman is one of the primary receivers and has only suffered 4 aces in the last 5 matches but only 1 in the 3 victories. Guzman hit for 16 of her 42 aces in the season during this 5 match stretch with a 29.66 ace %.

Captain Angela Scott is also one of the primary receivers and she only gave up 8 aces in the last 5 matches but gave up only 1 in the 3 wins.  Scott has also improved her serving % from 61% prior to the last 5 matches to 71% in the last 5 matches (76.7% in the 3 wins).  Scott has also hit 16 of her 29 aces in the season in the last 5 matches, 15 in the 3 wins, with an ace % of 36.34%.

Gabby Mejia has been the quarterback of the offense, leading the team with 99 assists and a 2.9 asst/set rate while also being the team leader in ace% with an amazing 99.1% (1 missed serve out of 110 attempts) and #3 on the team in service points with 54.

The team will rely on the consistent performances of these individuals to accomplish their goals for the 2015 season but will need the role players who have stepped in to contribute in the last 5 matches to continue performing at a high level.  With a minimum of 8 matches in the next 3 weeks -and possibly 10 matches in 3 weeks- the Hilltoppers are hoping to get a consistent effort and performance that will carry them to a season of double digit wins.

JV SQUAD ROLLS ON VS. #5 IN COUNTY, DOMINATE LINDEN FOR 9TH WIN

The JV Squad were trying to avenge an earlier 2-0 loss to Linden and to get a win on a higher seed in preparation for the UCIAC Tournament next week.  Summit stunned the Tigers with an easy 2-0 win (25-10, 25-15) over Linden in a match that had little to highlight as SHS pressured Linden both from the service line and from the attacking side of the ball creating a quick match without many sustained rallies in the dominant win by Summit.

HILLTOPPERS PUSH LINDEN TO THE BRINK BUT CAN'T CLOSE

Summit was looking to sweep the Linden Tigers for the first time since 2011 but although the Hilltoppers came roaring back in the match in game 2, SHS failed to capitalize on the opportunity and fell to Linden by 23-25, 25-18, 16-25 scores.

Summit did not start game 1 in the most positive way.  SHS gave up 2 aces quickly and it wasn't until a Gabby Mejia tip kill to bring Summit to within 4 at 7-3 that the Hilltoppers got any life in the game.  A Rau Soares block and a Casey Nardino kill brought SHS to a 7-7 tie but a 4-0 run by the Tigers got Linden back in control at 11-7.  The game's quality degenerated into a mere serving exercise with both teams missing multiple serves and unable to generate any momentum.  Nardino got a kill with SHS down 17-18 to knot up the score and then hit an ace to put Summit in front for the first time all game.  A ball handling error by Summit had the score tied up again and a hitting error by Summit with another right-side kill by Linden gave the visitors a 21-19 lead.  Rau Soares then hit for a crucial kill to get Summit the ball back down by 1 and a Linden hitting error had Summit tied again at 21.  With the game knotted at 22, Alana Gartenberg hit a kill that seemed to put the Hilltoppers in control at 23-22 but a key kill out of the middle by the Tigers tied the score again at 23.  Unfortunately, the tough mistakes that have cost the Hilltoppers matches this year popped up again as Summit hit a crucial error and failed to capitalize on the last attack as the Tigers roared back to a 25-23 game 1 win.

In game 1, the difference was the service game of the Hilltoppers as Summit hit for 1 ace to 4 serving errors, serving at an 82% clip.  Meanwhile, Linden served at 80% but hit for 4 aces. The difference in the ace total proved to be the a factor as was the kill numbers (5 - SHS, 8 - Linden)

Game 2 saw a very different Hilltopper squad.  Nardino hit for 2 kills in a row to tie up the score at 3 and the Hilltoppers were off and running.  Summit went on a 6-1 run fueled by 2 Nardino kills and a Gartenberg kill to push Summit to a 9-4 lead.  Nardino hit for a couple of aces moments later and SHS had the Tigers on the ropes with a 12-7 lead.  Summit did not let up despite a service error as Angela Scott got 2 consecutive kills to get Summit to a 17-11 lead.  Nardino and Soares nailed another couple of kills and Sandra Bazalar hit for an ace that pretty much sealed the game as SHS ballooned to 21-13.  Linden got as close as 15-21 but the Hilltoppers closed out game 2 after an amazing rally punctuated by a Jocelyn Mendez back row kill to finish the Tigers off 25-18.

Summit hit for 12 kills led by Nardino's 5 kills and the squad had only 2 errors for a season best .455 hitting efficiency.  Summit nailed 6 aces but also had 7 service errors and served only at 72%, the only blemish in an otherwise great game.  Summit scored 18 points and passed at a 1.81 rating with Scott leading the way with 9 reception attempts at a 2.22 pass rating.

Summit was flying high and ready to fight through game 3 but after passing at an incredible rate in game 2, Summit passed at a paltry 1.21 in the deciding game which cost them the match.  Summit's offense still managed 6 kills and the team served at a 94% with 4 aces to keep the Hilltoppers in the match early but the passing was the difference as the team gave up 1/2 of Linden's aces in this set.

Summit trailed early 6-3 after the Tigers found their middle attack again but a kill by Soares got the team back within 2.  Mejia served up an ace to pull Summit within 1 at 6-5. Nardino hit for 3 aces and and a Scott kill had the Hilltoppers up by 4 at 11-7 and the team and its fans could see the finish line.  But Linden went on an 11-2 run to jump all over SHS 18-14 and never relinquish command of the game.  That run saw Linden hit for 2 aces, 2 kills and SHS commit 3 errors.  Scott tried to rally the Hilltoppers with a timely kill that had Summit within 4 at 14-18 but 3 more unforced errors, a Tiger kill and 2 aces had Linden in control at 24-14. Nardino got a kill to get Summit to within 8 at 16-24 but, appropriately enough, a blocking error ended the match.

Linden outscored Summit 16-10 thanks to 6 aces by the Tigers.  The end of game 3 was stunning for the Hilltoppers as they got outscored 18-5 after leading 11-7 and seemingly in control. Summit gave up all 6 aces during that stretch which proved to be the deciding factor in the game.

Summit hit for 23 kills as did Linden.  Summit was a better offense hitting at .203 while the Tigers were only .134.  Summit served at an 82% and an ace % of 17%.  Linden meanwhile served at 88% with an ace % of 19%.  But the biggest variable was the passing, especially late in the 3rd game, which sealed the Hilltoppers' fate.

Casey Nardino was a single woman wrecking crew, scoring 16 points in the match with 9 kills and 7 aces.  Gabby Mejia was the best server, hitting for the most service points, a perfect 100% and hitting for 1 ace.  Grace Galuppo led the team with 11 assists.  Ray Soares also had a phenomenal match with a 5 kill performance at a .333 hitting % to help balance the Hilltopper attack.

STATE HOPES ARE ON THE LINE FOR HILLTOPPERS AS UCIAC TOURNEY STARTS

The Varsity Squad will take on the Linden Tigers on Thursday at home in a regular season match-up and will follow that match up with the Preliminary Round of the UCIAC Tourney vs. the Crusaders of Governor Livingston in a second consecutive year where the Hilltoppers host a match in the tourney.  Last year, Summit beat Roselle Park at home by a 2-1 margin and then lost to Cranford 2-0 in the next round.  Should Summit be victorious on Friday, the team will travel to Westfield to take on the Blue Devils on the 20th.

The matches versus the Tigers and the Crusaders are the last matches that count for power points in the state rankings although the state cutoff won't be until the 21st of this month.

The JV Squad earned an 8th seed in the JV County Tourney (HIGHEST SEED IN PROGRAM HISTORY) and will take on Rahway on the 21st at 4pm at home.  Should the team win that matchup, they will travel to Westfield later in the week to take on the Westfield Blue Devils.

Good Luck to both Squads!

DESPITE VALIANT EFFORT ON JV AND V, COUGARS BEST HILLTOPPERS

The Hilltoppers traveled to Cranford to take on one of the best teams in the county (#3) as the squad prepares for the start of the Union County Tournament later on this week.  Although the squad played well, a lack of offensive punch did the Hilltoppers in as the team fell to the Cougars 25-12, 25-18.

SHS trailed early in game 1 5-0 despite passing the ball well but a Casey Nardino kill started a 2-0 run capped by an Angela Scott ace that had Summit only down by 3 at 5-2.  Cranford responded with a 6-2 run of their own to open up an 11-4 lead.  Despite kills by Nardino and Alana Gartenberg, Summit found themselves down 15-7 and unable to eat into the Cougar lead.  Cranford closed out the game with another 10-5 run that sealed the deal at 25-12. Summit only hit for 3 kills but served exceptionally well going 12/13 with 1 ace.  The team also added 11 digs led by Gabby Mejia's 3 digs and gave up only 4 aces.  Val Guzman, Scott and Rau Soares anchored a very effective serve receive with a team 1.95 rating for game 1 as these 3 ladies passed for a 2.04 combined (Guzman 2.37).

SHS reacted well off the loss as missed offensive and defensive opportunities were a factor in the lopsided score.  Guzman started Summit off right with a tough serving performance that sparked a 6-0 run to open up game 2.  Summit got 2 kills during the run by Nardino to fuel the offense.  After a Cranford time-out, the Cougars were able to side-out and proceeded to erase the Hilltopper lead with an 8-0 run that was halted after a Scott and Nardino block off a right side attack.  Trailing 7-8, Summit won the next 7 points 4-3 to see themselves tied at 11 nearly halfway through the game.

Gartenberg stalled another Cougar run that had pushed Cranford to 15-11 lead with a kill of her own but Cranford used a mixture of attacks and aces to go on a 5-2 run that had the Cougars up 20-13.  Summit reacted well though to the setback and got another block from Nardino and Scott and an ace from Guzman to cut the lead to 4 at 16-20.  An unfortunate service error from SHS was the start of another Cranford run, this time 4-2, that had the Hilltoppers out of the game and match 25-18.
Nardino led the way in the game with 2 kills but Summit only got 1 ace in a game where they went 15/18 from the line.  SHS again only gave up 4 aces but were only able to dig up 8 balls.  The 2 blocks were a season high in a game but the passing was not as effective as game 1 as the team passed only at a 1.57.

JV was also seeing this match as an opportunity to measure up against one of the best JV teams in the county and the athletes faired really well.  Despite the height advantage the Cougars enjoyed over the Hilltoppers, Summit faired well, losing 2 tough games 25-17, 25-18.  The Cougar offensive game was the key to the loss as Summit was unable to match the kill numbers of the Cranford squad.

Summit's record dropped to 8W-5L.

JV SQUAD ROLLS ON TO 8TH WIN

Summit was looking to improve to 8 wins by dispatching the Rams at home and much like the prior match versus Plainfield, SHS took control of the match from the service line and made quick work of the Rams.

Game 1s 25-7 score was indicative of how well the team served and attacked in game 1.  With the score 17-7, Katie Samay stepped up and served up 8 service points to seal the game 25-7.

Game 2 was more of the same as Summit jumped out to a 12-5 lead and extended it to 19-8 2 rotations later.  But credit to the Roselle squad, they kept fighting the inevitable and struck for 5 points to pull within 6 at 19-13.  Summit outscored Roselle 6-5 the rest of the way to close out the game and match 25-18.

HILLTOPPERS EARN 4TH WIN AND 2ND IN A ROW WITH SOLID OUTING VERSUS RAMS

The Summit Hilltoppers took on the Roselle Rams at home looking to get their second win in a row and continue their quest to try to reach states.

SHS hit for a .216 efficiency and had a 16-11 ace to error ratio to take care of the Roselle Rams in 2, 25-10, 25-18.  This is the 2nd straight match where the Hilltoppers hit for a positive number (.122 vs. Plainfield) and a good ace to error ratio (15-6 vs. Plainfield). In total, the last 2 matches that were wins 3 and 4 for SHS, the squad had a .167 hitting % and nearly a 2-1 ratio aces to errors (31-17).  In comparison, in the losses to Chatham and New Providence, SHS hit for a -.54 and had only a 10-10 ace to error number.  In the win versus Linden, Summit hit for a .181 and had a 12-8 ace to error ratio. It seems that if the team is to be successful in the future, these 2 numbers will be the determining factors of that success.

SHS had a dominant performance from the service line to set the tone for game 1.  Val Guzman ripped off 2 quick aces to get the Hilltoppers off to a 2-0 lead and after Casey Nardino got a kill to get the ball back for Summit, Captain Angela Scott got 4 aces out of the next 5 serves to give SHS an 8-1 lead.  Roselle couldn't muster any momentum off their serve and the Hilltoppers kept the pressure up, going on runs of 5-1 and 5-2 over the next 3 servers (Nardino, Gabby Mejia and Rau Soares) to shut the door on the Rams. Kills by Angela Scott and Casey Nardino along with a block by Sterling Sidebottom set up Casey Nardino to close out the game at 22-10.  Nardino got back to back to back aces to close out the game 25-10.

Summit got 5 kills in the set but the damage was done from the service line as SHS hit for 11 aces and suffered only 4 errors.  Nardino, Scott and Guzman combined for 10 aces to lead the Hilltopper barrage.

Game 2 started a bit auspiciously for the Hilltoppers.  Roselle jumped out to a 3-0 lead but a service error relieved the pressure off the Hilltoppers and Val Guzman proceeded to hammer out 3 consecutive aces to give Summit the lead at 4-3. The game was fairly even at that point as both teams failed to garner any momentum, Summit due to service and hitting errors and Roselle due to a lack of terminating kills.  Rau Soares hit an ace to knot the score at 11 after the Hilltoppers had fallen behind 9-11.  Despite losing serve after the tie, the turning point of the game came to fruition when Val Guzman nailed 3 kills around a Ram hitting error to pull Summit ahead 17-12.  A rotation later, Angela Scott pounded out a kill and served up an ace to get SHS a 22-15 lead.  Sterling Sidebottom finished the late Ram run with a kill that had SHS 24-18 up and a Roselle hitting error later finished the game and match 25-18.

Summit had only 5 aces in the game but served up 7 errors.  However, the team got 8 kills to only 2 errors led by Val Guzman's 4 kills. SHS gave up only 1 ace in a passing performance that was simply the best of the year with a 2.09 rating.

Next up for the Hilltoppers will be the Linden Tigers at home, next Thursday, October 15th.

HILLTOPPERS GET 1ST HOME WIN AND SNAP LOSING STREAK IN 2-0 WIN VS. PLAINFIELD

The Hilltoppers were looking to get the sweep of the Cardinals and break their losing streak and snap their home winless streak.  SHS was able to accomplish both in a comfortable 25-13, 25-16 over Plainfield.

Val Guzman led off the match with a 9 service point run that included 6 aces to give the Hilltoppers a cushion the team would not give up.  After the Cardinals cut the lead to 9-2, a Casey Nardino got the ball back to Summit up 10-2.  Angela Scott stepped up and hammered 3 aces to extend the lead to 13-2 and the rout was on.  Summit outscored Plainfield 12-11 the rest of the way as the Cardinals settled down and began to match Summit's offensive output but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the deficit.  SHS took game one 25-13 led by Casey Nardino's 3 kills and 1 ace and Guzman's and Scott's combined 9 aces.  Summit served at 88% and gave up only 2 aces in the game 1 win.

Game two was a bit more competitive early as an early service error broke the Hilltoppers' momentum from game one but Angela Scott hit another 2 aces and Gabby Mejia ripped a rare ace to keep SHS ahead 8-4.  Hannah Calabrese, making her setting debut, had 2 quick kills off overpasses that had Summit well in control at 14-5.

Plainfield did not give up though and after a few Hilltopper miscues, the Cardinals hit for a couple of aces and had Summit looking at the scoreboard as the lead had dwindled to 19-15 after a Cardinal 10-5 run.  Two straight Plainfield hitting errors stalled the run and Rau Soares nailed a kill to get SHS a comfortable 22-15 lead.  Casey Nardino ripped an ace and had another service point to close out the game and match 25-16.

Calabrese led the team with 2 kills in the game but the 5 aces to only 3 errors was the best news as the team served again at 88% and only gave up 3 aces.

Summit will look to continue its winning ways at home tomorrow versus the Roselle Rams.

HILLTOPPERS OUTSERVE THE CARDINALS FOR JV'S 7TH WIN

The JV Squad looked to improve to 7W-4L by beating the Cardinals of Plainfield and sweep the season series.  SHS did not disappoint its fans as the team beat Plainfield 2-1 by scores of 25-8, 24-26, 15-1.

The match was decided from the service line and the Hilltoppers dominated Plainfield in that respect.  Maddie Young hit for 5 aces to start game 1 and the team never looked back.  Nat Schluter, Alisha McDonnell, Bella D'Ambrosi, Katie Samay and Taylor Thompson combined for another 6 aces to lead SHS past the Cardinals 25-8.

Coach Ross shook up his lineup for game 2 and although the team played a very competitive game, the Hilltoppers only hit for 3 kills which was the the difference in a game that saw SHS hit for another 10 aces, 4 from Thompson, 3 from Vanessa Elko and 3 from Katie Samay.

In the deciding game, Taylor Thompson ended her amazing day with a 14 service point performance (9 aces) that gave the Hilltoppers a 14-0 lead. This was the longest run of service points ever achieved by a JV player.  The 14 total aces is also the most ever in the JV program.  Congratulations to Taylor Thompson and the Hilltoppers for their outstanding win, the 7th in the 2015 season.

Summit is now just 7 wins away from tying the record for wins in the JV Program and is within striking distance from the best record ever -14W-7L- in the program.

JV GET 6TH WIN IN A DOGFIGHT WITH PIONEERS IN COME BACK WIN

The JV squad was looking to improve its record to 6 wins by taking the 2nd match from New Providence this season.  The match turned out to be a far more difficult match than the Hilltoppers had in match 1 versus the Pioneers and the 25-19, 25-23 scores reflected how tight the match was on the Pioneer home court.

The Pioneers opened up a 3-0 lead early and maintained it through the early stages at 7-4 but then Bella D'Ambrosi stepped up to the service line and after an ace, D'Ambrosi got the Hilltoppers up 8-7. Unlike match 1 though, the Pioneer serve receive would not let the Hilltoppers extend the lead and New Providence finished rotation 6 up 10-9.  Taylor Thompson saw SHS go down 13-9 but led the team back to within 1 at 13-12 before the Pioneers broke serve. Madison Young took over then and got the Hilltoppers up 15-13 and SHS held on to that lead through rotation 12 19-18.

After a missed Pioneer serve got Summit the ball leading 21-19, Captain Young rattled off 4 service points to close out the game 25-19.  The Summit offense and defense were stellar in the game and helped carry the inconsistent serving game through the win.

In game 2, SHS saw a much more spirited and motivated Pioneer team.  Summit's serve receive and offense couldn't get on track and the team found themselves down 11-4 before a Young kill got the ball back to the Hilltoppers.  Thompson got SHS back to within 3 at 10-13 after 4 service points but New Providence had the lead back to 16-11 after a few more rotations as the offense could not get kills during this stretch.  After the teams traded points and each team was stopping the other from getting on a run, SHS was down yet again by 3 at 16-19.  Katie Samay served at that point and found her serve after struggling most of the game to bring the Hilltoppers to within 1 at 18-19.  After Summit broke the Pioneer serve with a kill, Thompson turned the match with 3 point run to get Summit in the lead for the first time in the game at 21-20.

New Providence managed to tie the score at 21 and after an exchange of serves, the Pioneers got back ahead 23-22 but a key kill by Christina Gangi got Summit to the serving line and Natalie Schluter did not disappoint, hitting 1 ace and 3 service points to seal the game and match 25-23 in comeback fashion.

The player of the match was clearly Captain Madison Young who led the Hilltoppers with a team best 2 aces and team best 8 kills, scoring 10 of the team's points.  Alisha McDonnell was outstanding defensively getting a team leading 7 digs, adding 3 assists and 1 kill to the win.

CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT HILLTOPPERS GO DOWN TO PIONEERS

The Hilltoppers took the short trip to New Providence to take on the Pioneers feeling very good about their prospects after their performance versus the Chatham Cougars.  But as it has been the case most of the season, the team couldn't sustain its play and fell to the Pioneers 25-9, 25-17.

Game 1 opened up terribly for the Hilltoppers with numerous passing and hitting miscues that buried their chances early.  In addition, the team missed missed 2 of its first 4 serves.  Summit was down 7-0 after giving up 4 kills and providing 3 hitting errors.  It was clear early that the team could not put a ball away easily and the pressure on each pass and serve was palpable.

After Summit broke serve, a hitting error off a free ball opportunity gave the ball right back to the Pioneers. New Providence stretched their lead to 10-1 before Casey Nardino got a kill to stall their momentum. However a serving error returned the ball to New Providence and the Pioneers made the Hilltoppers pay for that mistake going on an 8-4 run with another SHS serving error fueling the run.  Summit just couldn't get on track the entire game and lost convincingly 25-9 after another serving error sparked a 4-0 run to close out game 1.

Summit had only 3 kills despite 30 attack attempts and missed 4 of 9 serves.  SHS only gave up 2 aces in the game and had 13 digs which was the only silver lining in the game.

Game 2 was a far different contest.  Although Summit fell behind 3-0, the Hilltoppers went on a 9-3 run that had SHS up 9-6 thanks to the entrance of Alana Gartenberg who pounded out 4 of the 6 kills in the run for Summit.  The Pioneers then went on 6-0 run to get New Providence up 12-9 as the Summit offense sputtered yielding no kills and hitting for 3 errors.  Summit responded after a free ball error by New Providence with an Angela Scott kill and a Rau Soares attack that forced the Pioneers to send a free ball astray and get the score tied up at 12.

But then the hitting cooled off yet again as the Hilltoppers were only able to muster 3 kills to 7 errors in the latter part of the match to set up New Providence for a 25-17 game 2 and match win.  Summit pounded out 11 kills in the set but also has 12 errors.  SHS hit only 1 ace but had only 1 error.  The Hilltoppers yielded only 4 aces in the game.  Summit out-killed New Providence 11-5 in the set and outscored the Pioneers 12-11 but Summit had a combined 14 errors while New Providence had only 5.

Summit's inconsistency from the service line and hitting area continues to be the obstacle that prevents the team from picking up its 3rd win.

Alana Gartenberg, in only 1 set of work, was the team's leading kill producer with 5 and Angela Scott led the way defensively with 10 digs, had the most receptions with 14 and passed at a 2.07 rating.

JV PICKS UP 5TH WIN BY TAMING THE COUGARS

The Hilltoppers took on a Chatham team that historically has dominated the series on the JV level versus SHS.  Today was not part of that history as Summit led early and led big in a 25-12, 25-10 drubbing of the Cougars.

Nat Schluter kicked the Summit serving offense into gear with 4 service points to get SHS a 5-3 lead.  Katie Samay served 3 rotations later and had Summit up 12-8 after a few aces.  Meanwhile, the SHS offense was nearly error free, with Bella D'Ambrosi, Samay and Madison Young ketting key kills at key junctures of the game and not committing errors.

Taylor Thompson blew the game open with 7 service points (3 aces) to get Summit a 19-9 lead that was insurmountable for the Cougars.  Summit closed out game 1 with a 6-3 run driven by Schluter adding another 5 service points (9 for the game).

Game 2 was much of the same with Schluter tacking on another 8 service points (2 aces) to give the Hilltoppers a 10-2 lead.  This run was fueled by SHS's defense who produced numerous digs and transition points.  Samay made the Cougars pay for service errors by adding 5 more service points to her tally, leading Summit to a 19-5 lead.  Captain Maddie Young got Summit to within 1 point of the game and match with 3 service points and Nat Schluter closed it out as the Hilltoppers won this 2 game match in 8 rotations, utterly dominating the Cougars from the serving line and out of the front row.

JV will try to pick up their 6th win versus New Providence tomorrow.

HILLTOPPERS COMPETE BUT FAIL TO CLOSE OUT SETS

Summit opened the week against Chatham looking to break their 4 game losing streak and finally win at home.  The Hilltoppers played well but key errors late in each set cost the Summit squad their first home win in a 25-16, 25-23 loss to Chatham.

Summit opened game 1 with a slightly different serving order and it didn't seem to make much of a difference early as the team trailed 10-6 after an ace by the Cougars.  Sandra Bazalar cut the lead to 1 after an ace had the Hilltoppers down only 10-9.  But the Cougars responded with a 5-0 burst fueled by 3 aces that had Summit on the ropes.  Casey Nardino ripped a kill to stall the momentum and Angela Scott pulled SHS within 2 after an ace at 15-13.  But the Cougars went on another 5-0 run after a Summit service error and only a Chatham hitting error stopped the damage at 20-14.  Summit gave up a few more aces in a game loss of 25-16 that saw no kills by SHS in the last 7 points.

Summit got out-aced 8-3 and out-killed 7-3 in the game which was the main difference in game 1.

Summit couldn't have reacted any better than they did in game 2 after a disappointing close to game 1.  Val Guzman and Angela Scott combined to serve SHS into an 11-3 lead with 5 aces mixed in with a Scott and a Nardino kill.  Later in the game, Nardino hammered down another kill and Chatham had a serving error and SHS looked like it had the game locked up with a 17-9 lead.  But a hitting error opened the door for the Cougars to start climbing back into the game.  A few aces had Chatham down by only 5 at 17-12.  The Cougars had a service error that seemed to give Summit some breathing room but SHS had a serving error which opened the door yet again for the Cougars at 18-13.  Chatham had 2 kills that pulled them to within 2 at 18-16.  Val Guzman had a huge kill to get Summit a 3 point lead at 19-16 but the second consecutive missed serve by SHS again kept the door open for Chatham.  Nardino got a kill to push Summit to a 20-18 lead and Scott hit for an ace to get Summit close to a win at 22-19.  But the Chatham hit for 2 aces and 2 kills to get to a 24-22 lead.  The Hilltoppers were stunned but took a hitting error from the right-side Cougar hitter as a good sign as SHS saw life only down 24-23.  But Summit gave it all back with a service error (3rd in 5 rotations) to close out game 2 25-23.

The 3 service errors late in the game were the only service errors SHS had the entire game as the team had hit for 6 aces and no errors up to that point.  Chatham had 7 kills to Summit's 5 and added 1 block and both teams hit for 6 aces and 3 errors.

Despite the late serving miscues, SHS served for 88% and had a 22.5% serving %. Summit hit 9 kills and had 9 errors and although Chatham had 14 kills, they also had 13 errors.  The difference in the match was the Cougar's 14 aces to SHS's 9.

JV GETS TO .500 WITH WIN OVER RAHWAY

The JV Squad took the court trying to get back to .500 against the Indians of Rahway, a team they failed to defeat last year.  The Hilltoppers were dominant in a 25-17, 25-19 win over the Indians where the SHS serving and offense were the difference in the match.

Summit started game 1 with a flurry of offense behind Christina Gangi's hitting, earning an 8-4 lead after Bella D'Ambrosi served in rotation 4. After Rahway tied the game at 8, Katie Samay used a 5-0 serving run fueled by 3 aces to get Summit ahead for good 15-8. Rahway closed to within 3 at 20-17 but Samay stepped up again, burying the Indians with a 4-0 run, hitting 2 more aces, to close out game 1 25-17.

Game 2 started with Taylor Thompson giving Summit a 3-0 lead with 1 ace on her part and SHS was able to maintain that lead through the first 6 rotations (9-6). Thompson stepped up again and delivered another 4-0 run with 2 more aces that increased the lead to 14-6.  After a change of serve had the Indians only down by 3 at 14-11, Captain Madison Young delivered another blow that Rahway could not recover from with a 4-0 service run with 1 ace to propel Summit to a 19-11 lead. Despite inconsistent hitting from the Hilltoppers, Rahway could not get on track from the service line and failed to take advantage of SHS's attacking errors and the match ended with the Indians out-scoring the Hilltoppers 8-6, but not nearly enough to derail the 4th win for SHS.

Summit improves to 4W-4L and now faces a critical week as the team has 4 matches next week.

HILLTOPPERS FAIL TO GET FIRST HOME WIN

The Summit Lady Hilltoppers knew the match versus the Rahway Indians was going to be a tough one since both teams have similar talent but with the team's serve receive in question and new serve receive formations being unveiled, there was a sense of uncertainty in this matchup.  The 2-0 loss to the Indians by 25-21, 25-16 scores though were a surprise in the manner by which they occurred.  With the team passing at a 1.84 rating for the match and only giving up 5 aces while also getting 27 digs in just 2 sets, a committed fan would have thought SHS would've won.  However, the squad's 6 serving errors and 14 hitting errors were enough to derail an otherwise outstanding passing day.

Game one's 25-21 loss was a huge red flag and set up what was to be the end result of another home loss for the Hilltoppers. SHS passed at a season high 2.15 rating, gave up only 3 aces and dug 9 balls in the set.  The Hilltopper Achilles heel were the 5 serving errors that stopped the Summit squad's momentum at every turn.  The team missed their serve once every 4 serving attempts and saw their efforts to come back in the game thwarted three times late due to missed serves.  The team hit for 7 kills but had 8 hitting errors as well which sealed their hopes for a game 1 win.  Summit out killed Rahway 7-6 and were only outscored by 1 (9-8) in the game but SHS served at 73% for the game while Rahway had 79%, the factor which decided the game.  The team's disappointment was palpable in between games as the Hilltoppers could only blame their own miscues for the loss.

Game 2 started much like the first with the score close through the first 4 rotations (8-8) but then a rash of hitting errors and less than perfect passing opened a gap in the scoring that the team could not overcome (15-9 score) in rotation 5.  Summit had no offensive answer to Rahway despite digging 18 balls and only giving up 3 aces.  The Hilltopper offense could only muster 4 kills while suffering 6 errors.  The squad did fix its serving woes going 15/16 with 2 aces but the lack of offense undid the team in the game and the match.

The Hilltoppers have an exceptionally important week coming up with 4 matches in 5 days.  Summit will take on Chatham on Monday, New Providence on Tuesday, Plainfield on Thursday and Roselle on Friday.  With only 2 wins in the ledger, Summit will take every match as a "must" win as the team will look to find the consistent effort in all three phases of the game that pushed them to a win over Linden earlier in the year.

JV EARNS 3RD VICTORY VS. KP

The JV Squad took the floor with their more experienced players for set 1 and it quickly became apparent that the change by Coach Ross made a big difference.  Taylor Thompson opened up game 1 with a 9-0 burst -4 aces- that got the Hilltoppers in a commanding position right from the onset.  Summit kept the pressure on with error free passing and offense and the team maintained that 10 pt. gap throughout as Kent Place was unable to muster any sustained momentum.  SHS took game 1 25-11 after Thompson hit for another couple of aces in a 5-0 run that closed out game 1.

Coach Ross switched the lineup to feature the 9th graders in game 2 and the squad was competitive but inexperience and a lack of passing and serving consistency ultimately did the team in in game 2.  SHS trailed early 5-2 and couldn't seem to break through that 3 point gap (10-7, 12-9, 15-12, 19-16) as key service errors kept Summit from achieving any sustained pressure. Down 19-16, Summit suffered yet again another service error which gave the ball to KP and the Dragons took advantage, going on a 4-0 run that pushed the lead to 23-16.  Summit finished the game with a service error, a telling moment of a 25-17 game 2 loss.

The experienced crew was back out for game 3 and yet again Thompson got the Hilltoppers out to a good start with a 5-0 run (2 aces).  A couple of rotations later, Summit had extended the lead to 9-3 behind a couple of kills by Christina Gangi and Katie Samay.  The Hilltoppers kept that cushion through the mid-point of the match at 14-9 as Thompson could not expand the lead on her serve due to a key kill by Kent Place.  Summit broke serve and broke the game wide open at that point with the serving of Nat Schluter who stepped up and served 7 straight points, including 2 aces, to close out the game and match 25-12.

The team is now 3W-4L.

SUMMIT STUMBLES AT SERVICE LINE, FALLS TO DRAGONS IN 2

The SHS Hilltoppers walked over, literally, to Kent Place to take on the Dragons in hopes to turn around their winless week.  The matchup is always a tough one for the Hilltoppers as the team has only defeated the Dragons once since 2010 (1W-7L) and KP was one of the early losses for the amazing 2011 team who went 21W-3L.

Summit fell short 25-16, 25-19 in a match that was fraught with wasted opportunities by the Hilltoppers.  In game 1, Val Guzman opened up a quick 2-0 lead through some tough serving but the Dragons broke serve after a hitting error and the match settled into a back and forth affair thanks to the missed serves and hitting errors of Summit.  Looking at a 10-8 deficit, the team was left to wonder how it could have been down since SHS had seemed to control the tempo of the match early on.  One blocking error, 1 attack error and 4 service errors had done their damage to the Summit start and it came back to haunt the team as KP rattled off 5 straight points at this juncture to take the lead 14-8.  A Casey Nardino kill broke the momentum but another service error gave the ball back to KP at 15-10.

The Hilltoppers crawled to within 2 at 14-16 behind a Rau Soares kill but yet another service error killed the momentum and the deflation of emotion continued with SHS hitting for an attack error, a blocking error and a free ball error to give KP a 20-14 lead they would never relinquish.  The game closed a few minutes later at 25-16.

Rau Soares and Casey Nardino led the way with 2 kills apiece in game 1 and Val Guzman scored the only ace in a set that saw the Hilltoppers serve only 11/17 balls in (65%) which was the main culprit for the loss.

Game 2 provided a better start as Val Guzman hit for a kill and then pounded 2 aces in a row to get Summit on top 6-2.  After a Nardino kill extended the lead to 7-4, KP used numerous SHS's attack errors to tie the score at 10-10.  Although Summit opened the serving attack well in game 2, the hitting did not and Summit squandered the early lead with 4 hitting errors in the first 10 points of the match.

A kill by Gabby Mejia and Nardino had the Hilltoppers up by 1 at 14-13 but a service error changed Summit's fortunes again as KP went on a 6-2 run that had the Dragons up 20-16 before a back row attack error forced by a Nardino swing stopped the run at 20-17.  A few points later, Nardino came through again with a kill to get Summit to within 3 at 22-19.  But SHS could not capitalize on the momentum as yet another service error killed Summit's chances as the missed serve sparked a 3-0 run that ended the game and match 25-19.

Casey Nardino led the way with 5 kills and Val Guzman paced a faulty serving offense with 4 aces.  Angela Scott was again the best passer of the day with a 1.88 rating.

 

SHS, DIFFERENT SCRIPT, SAME RESULT, KEY ERRORS FUEL LOSS

Summit traveled to Parsippany to take on the Red Hawks in an attempt to even out their record to 3W-3L after yesterday's tough loss to the Crusaders of ALJ.  Although the team passed at a rating higher than any match of the season, key serving and attacking errors cost the team dearly as SHS dropped a 2-0 decision (14-25, 23-25) to Parsippany.

In game 1, both teams looked pretty evenly matched as no one could gain any momentum and both sides just traded points.  At 7-7, Casey Nardino struck for an ace that ignited the Hilltopper team but Parsippany rattled off 3 points to take the lead 7-10.  A service error returned the ball to SHS and Rau Soares scored 3 aces and Val Guzman  added a kill to get SHS a 12-10 lead.  The Red Hawks reacted and went on a 15-2 run punctuated by many long rallies that SHS just could never win at the moment of truth.  The Hilltoppers changed sides after dropping a 25-14 decision and the team pointed to not finishing 5 straight long rallies as a point of emphasis to game 2.
Parsippany out-aced the Hilltoppers 6-4, out-killed SHS 9-5 and outscored the team 15-9 in the set win.

SHS couldn't have started any worse in a must win situation, falling behind 7-1 before a Red Hawk error gave the ball back to Summit.  Casey Nardino scored a kill and then went to the service line where she added an ace to pull within 4 at 9-5.  Parsippany responded with a couple of kills and had the Hilltoppers on the ropes at 18-10.  Summit then forced a few Parsippany errors, had Val Guzman add another kill and rotated around to see Casey Nardino hit for 3 aces as the Red Hawks were barely hanging on to a 22-20 lead.  But then, a key service error by the Hilltoppers ended the run.  With a 23-20 lead, Parsippany then had trouble dealing with a Guzman attack and saw SHS get 21-23.  But another attack error destroyed the Hilltoppers' comeback even though Gabby Mejia surprised the Red Hawks for a kill (22-24) and Angela Scott hit for an ace (23-24).  Summit would not get any closer as Summit missed another serve and ended the game there at 23-25.

Angela Scott led the team with 5 kills and 6 points while Casey Nardino did her damage from the service area with 4 aces and chipped in 2 kills. Val Guzman led the way defensively with 7 digs.

The team will take on city rival Kent Place on Thursday.

JV, meanwhile, was trying to fix the serve receive and serving miscues that had plagued them since last week.  Although the team showed some signs of improvement, the overriding problem still remained and the team could not get on track versus Parsippany.

Early on, Summit trailed but was hanging tough against a much harder hitting squad.  With the score 13-10, SHS missed another serve and the Red Hawks struck for an ace and had the Hilltoppers on the ropes at 15-10.  Summit then rattled off a few aces of their own to cut into the lead at 16-14.  Parsippany extended the lead back up to 19-16 and after another switch of serve, the Parsippany hit for 3 aces in a 9-2 run that finished off the Hilltoppers 25-16.

In game 2, SHS's 9th graders centered a squad that rattled off the first 2 points before Parsippany could react.  After a break of serve, the Red Hawks went on a 6-0 run (2 aces) that gave them a cushion they'd never relinquish.  Parsippany kept pressuring SHS with consistent and difficult serving and within 10 minutes the team trailed 21-11.  The squad fought hard but serving errors stalled any momentum the team had garnered and Parsippany closed out the set and match with a 25-12 score.

KEY ERRORS COST JV VS CRUSADERS

After closing out last week on a 2 game loss to Union, Summit looked to rebound versus the Crusaders of ALJ by focusing on minimizing serving errors and serve receive missteps.  SHS looked like they had done just that until the late stages of each game when the service errors and passing errors proved to be the difference in the match in a 2 game loss to ALJ 25-19, 25-18.

In game 1, both teams were locked in a good battle with neither team committing many errors and the score reflecting the parity of the teams (13-12 SHS) after Bella D'Ambrosi hit for an ace and then saw ALJ get a kill on the next serve.  ALJ took a 15-13 lead but a Maddie Young kill got the ball back to Summit who promptly took the lead at 16-15 behind Katie Samay's serving.  A service error proved to be the end of the run and the beginning of the end for SHS as the next ALJ server rattled off 7 service points (4 aces) to push the Crusaders to a 23-16 lead they would just not relinquish.  Summit lost a few points later 25-19.

In game 2, found themselves up 7-3 early behind Samay's serving (2 aces) but another rotation by ALJ that saw them hit for 3 aces knotted up the score at 8.  Consecutive missed serves by Summit allowed ALJ to open up a lead midway through the match (13-10) when the usually reliable Taylor Thompson stepped up to serve. Unfortunately, Thompson couldn't convert her service attempt and the Crusaders took full advantage, nailing 2 aces in the next service rotation to push their lead to 17-12.
The teams played fairly even the rest of the way (6 points SHS vs. 8 points ALJ) but the combination of missed serves and pass errors at the midpoint of the match was the difference in this match as in each case, a missed serve led to a switch of serve and a rash of passing errors that were the difference in each game.  ALJ took the second game and closed out the match 25-18.

JV is also 2W-3L.

HILLTOPPERS WASTE OPPORTUNITY VS. CRUSADERS

The Hilltoppers traveled to Clark to take on the A.L. Johnson Crusaders hoping to get back to their winning ways on the road.  Summit had reason to be hopeful as the team has earned both their wins on the road by 2-1 scores.

Summit was in a dog fight in game 1 never being able to pull away from ALJ but always maintaining a 2-3 point cushion through the midpoint of the match.  When Grace Galuppo nailed an ace to put Summit up 10-7, the team looked like it was poised for a run.  The Crusaders won a big point in a very long rally and the score was tied at 12 moments later after a Casey Nardino attack led to a free ball error by ALJ.  The Crusaders then went on a 5-0 run that finally ended on a Rau Soares kill. SHS got 4 aces from Nardino to pull ahead 20-18 and the Hilltoppers were poised to take the game.  Although Johnson took back control of the game and jumped ahead 23-22, a kill by Angela Scott and errors resulting from Val Guzman's serving sealed the comeback win with a 25-23 score by Summit.

Game 2 started well for the Hilltoppers as the team jumped out to a 5-2 lead after a Gabby Mejia kill. The Crusaders then took advantage of a Hilltopper missed serve to go on a 9-0 run fueled by 3 aces to take control of the game at 11-5.  Scott got a kill to break the run but the damage was done.  ALJ maintained a a point cushion until late in the game (16-11) but Summit got 4 straight aces by Grace Galuppo to get back into the game and get to within 1 point at 15-16.  Another ace by Guzman and a kill by Nardino had the Hilltoppers knotted up at 19 but the celebration was short-lived as the team gave up 3 points to trail again 22-19. Although SHS got back to within 1,  ALJ never gave up control of the game and closed it out 25-21.

The 3rd and decisive game was a dream for the Hilltoppers.  Summit had an 11-3 lead behind Guzman's serving but a serving error turned the run around and gave the Crusaders an opening they would take with a vengeance. ALJ would go on a 11-4 run that had Summit on the ropes.  The Hilltoppers committed 7 errors in the Crusader run that finally ended with a Gabby Mejia kill and had SHS down by 1 at 17-18.  Summit fought back to a 20-20 tie after 3 attack errors by ALJ but the writing was on the wall as SHS was scoring only off Johnson errors while the Crusaders were always forcing the attack. A kill by Nardino had the Hilltoppers up by 1 at 21-21 but the Crusaders closed out the match with a 4-0 run hitting for 2 kills out of the middle and an ace that sealed the loss for Summit.

Casey Nardino led all Hilltoppers with 14 points (9 kills and 5 aces) and led the team in kills and Rau Soares chipped in with 6 kills.  Grace Galuppo led the team with 6 aces and Val Guzman added 3 of her own.  Defensively, Angela Scott led the team with 12 digs and Guzman added 7 to lead the team defensively.

SHS drops to 2W-3L.

UNION FARMERS SHOCK THE HILLTOPPERS AT HOME, SWEEP VARSITY AND JV

Coming off the stunning upset of the Linden Tigers, Summit looked to continue the momentum by winning their first match at home against the Farmers of Union.  Union came out firing and SHS just was not able to reach the level of play they attained in Linden and lost 25-8, 25-21.

In game 1, Summit allowed 5 straight aces and was down 5-0 within minutes.  A kill by Casey Nardino stopped the slow start but a break of serve and 3 more aces later, Summit found themselves down 9-1 down and could never dig themselves out of the ditch.  Union rolled to a 25-8 first game win.

In game 2, Summit shook off some of the first game feeling and had the score tied at 3 behind an Angela Scott block and kill.  The Hilltoppers led 9-6 after a Farmer error and looked like they were on the right track but then the serve receive failed the team again.  Union went on a 6-0 run fueled by numerous Hilltopper errors and took control at 12-10.  Summit got 2 aces from Rau Soares and got the game knootted up at 12 to stem the Farmer surge. A Val Guzman kill had the Hilltoppers tied at 16 when the Farmers surged again with a 4-0 run to take a commanding 20-16 lead.  SHS got as close as 21-23 after a Val Guzman kill but a service error killed the last bit of Hilltopper hope as Union took full advantage and scored the final point to close out the game and match 25-21 and drop the Hilltoppers to a 2W-2L record.


Meanwhile, the JV squad looked to avenge the lopsided defeats of 2014 at the hands of the Farmers and looked to be in a position to do so in game 1 but 3 crucial service errors late erased a 19-15 lead and saw the Farmers pull ahead 22-20.  Union seemed to gain confidence from the run and pressured the Summit defense relentlessly in closing the game 25-22.

In game 2, Union took the momentum gained from game 1 and rolled on the Hilltoppers who could not find an answer for the Farmer serving and hitting attack. Summit found themselves down 19-5 and could not get any run going, finishing the game 25-10.

JV is now 2W-2L.