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.
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