END OF SEASON WRAP UP

The Lady Hilltoppers ended their season officially this past Wednesday with the end of the year banquet. The following is a list of highlights from the event.  It was a banner year for records!!!  Full record list can be found on : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NEgYaUnLBAkwIq6KE486Lm3mxxSK3IQ1bjahDVsGDTA/edit?usp=sharing

9TH GRADE TEAM "BEASTS"
Krista Ann Clapp
Abby Doyle
Sylvie Goudreau
Kyra Guenther

JUNIOR VARSITY
MVP
Camille Della Piazza
Olivia Elko

MIP
Cheryl Liu
Micaela Nardino

HILLTOPPER
Olivia Skrobola
Katie McPherson


VARSITY
MVP
Gabby Mejia

MIP
Amanda Fonseca
Grace Galuppo

HILLTOPPER
Val Guzman
Jocelyn Mendez
Casey Nardino


JUNIOR VARSITY SEASON RECORDS

SERVING
ACES	YEAR	#
#1 - OLIVIA ELKO	2016	70

KILLS	YEAR	#
#1 - *MADISON YOUNG	2015	78
#2 - KATE MCPHEARSON	2016	62

VARSITY SEASON RECORDS

SERVING
ACES	YEAR	#
NICOLE JONHSON	2010	67
RACHEL GOFF	2003	67
#3  - *VAL GUZMAN	2015	57
ACES/SET	YEAR	#
NICOLE JOHNSON	2010	1.24
#2 - *VAL GUZMAN	2015	1.1
RACHEL GOFF	2004	1.07
PASSING
DIGS	YEAR	#
JULI AVERY	2006	233
JENNY LY	2003	225
#3 - VAL GUZMAN	2016	174
DIGS/SET	YEAR	#
JULI AVERY	2006	4.31
#2 - VAL GUZMAN	2016	3.2
ABBY CLARK	2006	3.17
TOTAL RECEPTIONS	YEAR	#
#1 - JOCELYN MENDEZ	2016	324
#2 - VAL GUZMAN	2016	302
JULI AVERY	2006	301
RECEPTIONS/SET	YEAR	#
#1 - JOCELYN MENDEZ	2016	6
#2 - VAL GUZMAN	2016	5.5
JULI AVERY	2006	5.47

SETTING
ASSISTS	YEAR	#
ALI HOESLY	2011	422
#2 - GABBY MEJIA	2016	344
#3 - *G.MEJIA/G.GALUPPO	2015	288
ASSISTS/SET	YEAR	#
ALI HOESLY	2011	6.5
#2 - GABBY MEJIA	2016	6.25
#3 - *G.MEJIA/G.GALUPPO	2015	5.55

VARSITY CAREER RECORDS

SERVING
ACES	YEAR	#

#3 - CASEY NARDINO

2014-16

113

PASSING
DIGS	YEAR	#

#2 - VAL GUZMAN

2014-16

300

DIGS/SET

YEAR

#

#3 - VAL GUZMAN

2014-16

2.32

TOTAL RECEPTIONS

YEAR

#

#1 - VAL GUZMAN	2014-16	494
#2 - JOCELYN MENDEZ	2014-16	481

RECEPTIONS/SET

YEAR

#

#2 - JOCELYN MENDEZ	2014-16	4
#3 - VAL GUZMAN	2014-16	3.83

ATTACKING
KILLS	YEAR	#

#2 - CASEY NARDINO

2014-16

306

KILLS/SET

YEAR

#

#2 - CASEY NARDINO

2014-16

1.9

SETTING
ASSISTS	YEAR	#

#1 - GABBY MEJIA

2014-16

624

ASSISTS/SET

YEAR

#

#2 - GABBY MEJIA

2014-16

3.82

MAXPREPS PLAYER OF THE YEAR - SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL

Most Player of the Match in 2016 Season

Full Details on Team Wall:  

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/summit-hilltoppers-(summit,nj)/volleyball/home.htm

VAL GUZMAN

9/9/2016     @Rahway

9/13/2016   @Linden

9/19/2016   @SPF

9/20/2016   @Plainfield

9/29/2016   vs. Rahway

10/5/2016   @Roselle Park

10/7/2016   @New Providence

10/18/2016 @Oak Knoll

10/24/2016 @Dayton

10/26/2016 @Chatham

HILLTOPPERS AVENGE LOSS TO COUGARS ON BOTH LEVELS WITH VICTORY OVER THE RAMS

Summit looked to its last match to earn its 8th victory and wrap up the school year on a 6W-2L run.  The Hilltoppers did not disappoint their fans and took the match in 2 games, 26-24, 25-22.

In typical fashion,  Summit let a team come back on them late but, much like the match vs. Oak Knoll,  the squad avoided a game 1 loss through key kills and magnificent pressured serving.  Summit scored 20 of its 26 points through 13 kills, 6 aces and 1 block but also yielded 10 hitting errors and 2 missed serves.  The Rams ended up scoring 11 points of their own and almost won game 1 despite the lopsided scoring advantage by Summit.

After Casey Nardino hit for 4 service points (2 aces) ,  the Rams called a time-out to settle the troops as the game was getting away from them at 17-12.  Wardlaw came off the time-out with a renewed sense of purpose and nearly erased the lead in the next rotation.  A Nardino kill gave the ball back to SHS leading 20-17 but the Rams found their offense as Summit couldn't get into a passing rhythm and after 11 rotations, Wardlaw-Hartridge led 22-20 as the Rams outscored Summit 10-3 during this stretch.  Summit fought back to 22-22 but a kill and a bad pass later, SHS was facing a 24-22 deficit.  A perfect pass by Jocelyn Mendez led to a quick middle attack that Nardino put down the get Gabby Mejia up at the service line.  Summit rattled off 3 consecutive points thanks to the offensive contributions of Nardino who nailed 7 kills in the game.

Game 2 saw the Hilltoppers jump out to a 5-0 lead early on but the Rams would, yet again, try to chip away at the lead but the Hilltoppers stayed in control and went on 2 separate 5-1 and 4-0 runs that blew the game open at 17-7.  The insurmountable lead was very nerve-wracking for the team as SHS saw its lead balloon to 23-13 after Alisha McDonnell ripped 3 service points but the lead proved not to be a lock as the Rams stormed back to to get within 3 at 23-20 after passing and hitting woes prevented Summit from closing out the match.  The team settled down though and used Grace Galuppo's serving to close out the match at 25-22.

Another 20 kill effort by the Hilltoppers as Casey Nardino pounded out 9 kills to lead the way as Wardlaw had no answers for the senior captain.  Summit served at 90% and hit for 11 aces led again by the 3 from Nardino.  Grace Galuppo and Jocelyn Mendez got 4 digs apiece to lead the way defensively.
The team passed at an incredible 2.00 rating led by Mendez and Val Guzman who combined for receiving 26 of the 40 serves sent by the Rams and did so for a combined 2.27 pass rating.

JV CLOSES OUT 2016 WITH STYLE

JV finished out its 2016 campaign with a 25-8, 25-15 dominant win over the Rams of Wardlaw-Hartridge.  Summit led 16-7 after 6 rotations after Camille Della Piazza and Cheryl Liu ripped 8 service points and the team was not really challenged from that point on.  Olivia Skrobala finished it with 8 service points (6 aces) to close out game 1.

Game 2 was more of the same as the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind Micaela Nardino's serving (4 aces).  Summit was never threatened again as the team was able to maintain that cushion  and expand on it.  By rotation 6, the Hilltoppers were up 19-12 and the lead was up to 22-15 by rotation 7.  Summit got the 3 points it needed in rotation 8 and the record setting 17th win was a done deal.

The 2016 season was banner year for the group considering they had many first year players in the starting lineup.  The 2016 squad will leave holding the Wins Record and the Best Winning % Record.

COUGARS SLASH HILLTOPPERS HOPE FOR A WIN

The Summit Hilltoppers came into the non-conference match with the Cougars of Chatham looking to extend their winning streak and get their 8th win of the season.  Chatham proved to be a bit more than the Summit squad could handle as the Cougars dispatched of the Hilltoppers on Varsity 25-21. 25-16.

Summit trailed quickly 9-2 and just never recovered as the serve receive and the offense could not stay in sync.  Val Guzman was the only bright spot in the game as she hit for 4 kills (.333 efficiency) and nailed 3 aces which helped keep Summit in the game as Guzman scored 1/2 of the Hilltopper points in the game.

Game 2 was a different game for a stretch as the Hilltoppers were always in the match until the latter half of game 2 when the serve receive fell apart and allowed a 14-12 Cougar lead to blow up into a 20-14 lead.  Casey Nardino was the only bright spot offensively as she led the team with 3 kills.

The Hilltoppers hit for 15 kills (.204 hitting efficiency), hit for 5 aces on 36/38 serving and added 2 blocks to round out the team's scoring.

The Hilltooppers will host the Walrdlaw-Hartridge Rams on Thursday to close out the regular season.

JV NO MATCH FOR COUGAR ATTACK 

The Hilltopper squad could not solve the Cougar serve and was out of the match early in each game in a lackluster 25-15, 25-13 loss to Chatham.

Game 1 saw the Hilltoppers down 14-9 in a game where the Maroon and White could not generate any kills (only managed 3 in the game) and fell late in the game 25-15.  Game 2 was resolved early as the team dropped a 25-13 decision thanks in part to an early 10 point Cougar run that had the Hilltopper squad down 14-4, a deficit they could not overcome.

Tessa Pulgar dug up 3 balls and Olivia Elko nailed 2 serves and dug up 1 ball to keep SHS alive.

SUMMIT COMES FROM BEHIND TO EARN 7TH VICTORY, 5TH IN LAST 6 MATCHES

Summit took the short trip to Springfield to take on the Bulldogs of Dayton looking for and finding their 7th win of the season -their 5th out of the last 6 matches- by a 25-15, 25-27, 27-25 result.

The 10 point victory in game 1 was reflective of the way the Hilltoppers dominated in all 3 phases of the game.  From an offensive perspective,  SHS pounded out 11 kills (kill % 55%,  .400 efficiency)  and hit for 4 aces going 22/24 from the service line.  The team also dug up 13 balls and had a block earning 16 points in the game.  

Game 1 was fairly even through 6 rotations as the squad led by only 2 at 13-11 at the conclusion of rotation 6.  Casey Nardino led rotation 9 with an ace and added 3 more points to blow the game open at 19-14.  Grace Galuppo followed up with 5 service points of her own as the team rallied around her serving as the Hilltoppers outscored the Bulldogs 10-2 in these 2 rotations to put the game out of reach.

Katie Samay led the Hilltoppers in game 1 with 4 kills,  Val Guzman led with 2 aces and Jocelyn Mendez anchored a solid defense with 4 digs and a near perfect pass rating of 2.42. 

Game 2 was not as stellar for the Hilltoppers as the team hit for only 7 kills, 1 ace and 1 block for a mere 9 points.  Summit was the recipient of multiple errors from the Bulldogs which gave the team a false sense of security as the squad led through a good part of game 2.  Gabby Mejia had the team up 11-8 by rotation 7 after 4 straight service points and the team looked like it had the game in control as Amanda Fonseca served Summit into a 4 point lead in rotation 11, 17-13.  

But the Bulldogs mustered a strong comeback, outscoring the Hilltoppers 14-8 the rest of game 2 to seal the game 2 win despite the fact that SHS had the ball in hand and a match point at 24-23 in rotation 18.

Taylor Thompson was inserted into the match in game 3 and much like her teammate Katie Samay in game 1,  Thompson hit for a game leading 4 kills which gave an otherwise stagnant offense a boost.  Summit hit for 8 kills and 3 aces for 11 earned points.  

Summit was up early 6-3 and after Thompson served in rotation 5, an ace and 4 service points later, SHS seemed like they had righted the ship as they led 11-5.  But the Hilltoppers could not keep the lead in the next 6 rotations as the Bulldogs had eradicated their deficit and actually led 18-17 by rotation 12.  Mendez regained the team's lead after 3 good service attempts at 20-18.  Reminiscent of earlier 3 game matches most of the season, the team lost its effectiveness on serve receive and it led to a late time-out by Coach Martins who saw the Hilltoppers fall behind 21-20.  Val Guzman ripped a key kill with SHS trailing 22-20 to get Summit back in the match but the Maroon and White could not take advantage as a Dayton side-out and a free ball error later had the Bulldogs in possession of 2 match points at 24-21.  

The unwavering characteristic of the Hilltoppers in 2016 is their mental and emotional fortitude as the team's energy and enthusiasm has never waivered throughout the year despite numerous setbacks.  This match proved to be another example of this team characteristic.  Summit ran a perfect serve receive by Jocelyn Mendez that was set perfectly to Casey Nardino who put the game saving kill down to give Val Guzman the ball on serve down 24-22.  The senior captain hit for an ace and forced Dayton into a hitting error as the Bulldogs could not get into system off her serves.  Tied at 24-24, the Hilltoppers had stolen all the momentum and when Taylor Thompson put down her 4th kill of the game, Summit regained full control with a 25-24 score.  Despite a side-out by the Bulldogs, Summit was yet again able to side-out immediately and Casey Nardino forced an out of system attack by Dayton that fell harmlessly into the net as Summit collected its 5th win in the last 6 matches and 7th overall in the campaign.

Casey Nardino spearheaded the Summit offense with 8 kills and was the top point scorer for the team with 11 points (8 kills- 1 ace- 2 blocks).  The two-headed outside hitter tandem of Taylor Thompson and Katie Samay hit for 8 kills as the juniors sparked the Summit offense in each of the games they played.  Jocelyn Mendez was outstanding on serve receive, the Libero passing at a 2.09 rating giving up only 1 ace in 3 games passing 22 of the team's 53 reception attempts. Gabby Mejia facilitated 24 kills from the setter position and again led the team with 7 service points going 15/16 from the service line with 1 ace.  

But the player of the match was Val Guzman who was again the best all-around player on the floor, hitting for 6 kills (2nd on team), scoring a team leading 3 aces, 7 service points while going 13/14 from the service line including 4/4 when the team was facing 2 match points.  Guzman was also a defensive stalwart, leading the Hilltopper defense with 14 digs.

The team tied a season best with 26 kills and a hitting efficiency of .177, 3rd best this season.  Summit also had the 3rd highest number of service points with 34 despite not hitting double digits in aces.  Summit had the highest number of digs though in 2016 with 44 as the team defense was the key to the win especially as the offense sputtered.  Summit will take on Chatham on Wednesday on the road in their last regular season match of the year.

HILLTOPPERS TAME LIONS FOR 6TH WIN, JV DOMINATES FROM SERVICE LINE TO TIE WINS RECORD

Summit has had a difficult competitive week.  The match-ups were not favorable considering the team's performance all season against higher ranked opponents.  Summit had been exceptionally competitive with all teams but always managed to find a way to lose those tight 3 game matches.

And so began the week against #1 in Union County, Union Catholic.  Despite a 25-16, 25-15 loss, SHS played very competitively and hung in the match until the latter phases of each game.  Tuesday,  the Hilltoppers took the short bus ride to Oak Knoll as the squad attempted to win against the Royals,  #6 in Union County,  for only the first time in 6 years.  Losing the first game late 25-21 was not a great sign for the Maroon and White and the hope that the Hilltoppers could right the ship faded quickly as the Royals jumped out to a 13-6 lead and,  after Summit tied the score at 13,  Oak Knoll opened a seemingly insurmountable 18-13 lead.  But the Hilltoppers have never quit all season and not only did the squad come back and win 25-23,  SHS fought off 2 match points and won game 3 28-26.

And thus, Senior Night arrived today after that emotional win over Oak Knoll.  Last year,  the Hilltoppers beat the Roselle Catholic Lions for only the first time in 5 years and in 2016, on paper, the #10 team in the county had seemingly an advantage over the Maroon and White.  It's a good thing matches aren't decided on paper though as the Hilltoppers handled the Lions on this day 25-12, 25-18 playing perhaps their most complete game of the season and featuring all the seniors in the match.

Game 1 was decided on rotation 4 and 5 as the Hilltoppers struck for 10 points against only 3 to take a 16-7 lead that the team would never relinquish.  Summit ran a balanced offense with 4 hitters getting at least 2 kills.  Summit had 12 kills (led by Taylor Thompson's 4) and hit a season high .242.  SHS also hit for 5 aces (Thompson for 3),  scoring 17 points in the game 1 victory. The Hilltoppers dug up 15 balls defensively in the game led by Grace Galuppo's 6.  The team yielded 0 aces, a testament to their outstanding serve receive.

Game 2 was a more difficult matchup as early serving errors and some key kills allowed the Lions to stay close through 8 rotations at 13-14.  But then Nardino stepped up and did what she has been doing all season long and ripped 3 straight aces to give the Hilltoppers some breathing room at 18-13.  Despite a break in serve,  Summit got a kill by Maddie Young as the team got back on serve and Galuppo struck for an ace and 2 more service points to extend the Hilltopper lead to 22-15.

Summit could sense victory was there for the taking and the team on the floor, 6 seniors, for the first time all year,  played like a team who believed they were supposed to win and after Jocelyn Mendez served the final ball, the Hilltoppers had done just that, beating another higher ranked opponent in an upset 25-18.

Summit only scored 14 points in game 2 but still hit for 9 kills led by Nardino and Val Guzman with 3 kills apiece.  The Hilltoppers struck for 5 aces again and dug up 12 more balls with 3 players notching 3 digs apiece (Mendez,  Guzman and Galuppo)  which reflected the quality of the team defense  exhibited by the Maroon and White.

For the match,  Galuppo led the way on defense with 9 digs.  Guzman and Nardino led offensively with 6 kills apiece.  Taylor Thompson nailed 4 aces and Nardino added 3 to lead the team's 10 ace effort.
Summit hit at an impressive .203 and had 36% kill %.  Summit served at 86% and clicked for a 20% ace %. Nardino was nearly unstoppable with a .455 efficiency rating and a kill % of 55%.  Guzman was equally impressive from the outside with a .267 efficiency and a kill % of 40%.  Nardino was again the top point scorer with 9 total points but Taylor Thompson was also impressive, especially in game 1, with 8 total points. Gabby Mejia conducted her offense brilliantly, getting all players involved and making all the right decisions in a 17 assist night.

JV TIES WINS RECORD WITH 15TH WIN OVER THE LIONS

Summit played its last match of the week against a Lions team that it had beaten for the last 2 consecutive years.  Summit JV did not disappoint on Senior Night and took care of Roselle Catholic 25-12, 25-23 for their 15th win of the season to tie the wins record the team set last year.

Summit came off a tremendous offensive performance versus Linden in the UCIAC Tournament but could not find its offensive rhythm in game 1 as the squad hit for only 6 kills.  But the serving was phenomenal as the team scored on 8 aces to pace the win.  The Hilltoppers were led by Olivia Elko and Cheryl Liu who stunned RC for 5 aces (3 and 2 respectively).

The offense got back on track in game 2 as the serving errors began to creep in and Summit struck for 10 kills with 5 players notching at least 1 kill.  Juliane Fiore led the way from the service line with 2 of the team's 5 aces while Camille Della Piazza and Emily Ramirez dug up 3 balls each to pace the defense.

Next up for the Hilltoppers is Westfield in a 2 vs. 7 matchup in the next round of the UCIAC Tournament.  Summit will meet Westfield on Saturday at 1pm on the road.

JV MOVES ON IN UCIAC TOURNEY WITH 2 GAME SWEEP OVER LINDEN

The Hilltopper JV Squad looked dominant in a 2 game sweep over Linden yesterday as Summit dismantled the Linden serve receive for a 25-19, 25-13 sweep of the Tigers.

This is the team's 3rd win over Linden this year but by far the easiest of the 3 as Coach Ross played a new lineup that featured some key changes in both the serving order and offensive options.
In game 1, Summit used 8 aces (Liu 4, Eloko 3, Viana 1) and a potent offensive outburst (9 kills) to overcome a late Tiger burst and win game 1 going away 25-19.  Micaela Nardino was unstoppable with 6 kills and a perfect 6/6 attack efficiency.

Game 2 was far less surprising of a result although it did not begin that way with the Hilltoppers missing 3 of the first 4 serves and trailing 4-3 at the onset.  But then the Hilltoppers corrected their serving woes and proceeded to go on a 21-9 run fueled by 7 aces by Olivia Elko who blew the game open.

For the match, the stat leaders were:

Olivia Skrobala distributed 7 assists,  Cheryl Liu had 4 digs,  Olivia Elko scored 10 aces and Micaela Nardino nailed 7 kills.

This was the team's 14th win and their record stands ar 14W-4L, 1 win shy of the record set last year and currently hold the best winning % in program history.  Next up  for the Hilltoppers is Roselle Catholic.

SUMMIT PROVES TO BE A ROYAL PAIN - JV LOSES 2ND TIME THIS YEAR VS. OAK KNOLL

Summit came off their loss to the best team in the county with a new found attitude and belief.  The squad felt it could play with the best and be competitive and it needed to prove it against the #6 seed Oak Knoll.

SHS hadn't beaten the Royals since 2011 so it was not an easy task, especially on the road.  The team's heart and resilience that have been on display all season long despite tough losses was seriously put to the test as the Royals took game 1 25-21 and pushed the Hilltoppers to the brink of a loss in game 2 before Summit closed it at 25-23 to force a game 3.  The Hilltoppers faced 2 match points, fought them off, and won on their 2nd opportunity to close out game 3 at 28-26 for one of the best victories the squad has had in the past 3 seasons.

Game 1 was the tight battle it seemed to be on paper.  By rotation 6 it was clear that the team that could sustain any run would probably win the game as Summit trailed 9-8.  Summit erased that minor deficit and led 15-14 late but a late mini 5-3 run by Oak Knoll had the Hilltoppers trailing again 19-16 after 12 rotations.  Summit got as close as 21-22 but allowed the Royals to close out the game on a 3-0 run that settled things at 25-21.

Ahead 5-2 in game 2 after a quick start, Summit looked to regain the momentum of the match but the Royals pressured the Hilltopper serve receive and did not allow the Hilltoppers to get the ball back in rotation 4 as the team found itself down 9-5 before the run was over.  Summit was in dire need of a spark by rotation 6 as the Royals had extended the lead to 13-7 and the match was quickly slipping away.  But then 2 things occurred that changed the momentum of the game.  Coach Martins inserted Taylor Thompson into the lineup as an OH in hopes of generating offense and break the Royal's momentum.  The move payed off as Thompson got a quick kill to give the ball back to Summit down only 5, 13-8.  Lastly, that switch in rotation allowed Jocelyn Mendez to serve and the captain proceeded to run off 3 consecutive points (1 ace) to bring the Maroon and White to within 3 at 13-10.

The Hilltoppers and their fans felt the momentum shift and the team could sense there was an opening if they could execute their offense.  But the Royals responded yet again and pushed the lead back to 8 at 18-10 and seemed to be in total control despite a Gabby Mejia serving run that had Summit within 5 at 18-13.  By rotation 10, SHS had cut the lead down to 3 at 21-18 as Thompson continued to generate pressure out of the OH spot.  Serving specialist Sammy Auerbach nailed an ace and added another service point that got the Hilltoppers to within 2 at 22-20 but the Royals got the ball back with the lead at 23-20 and everyone knew the next point would be monumental.   Val Guzman got the key kill that turned the game on its head and gave the ball back to Summit and Jocelyn Mendez.  Mendez ran off 4 of her 7 service points (2 aces) to bring the team back from certain defeat and extended the match with a 25-23 game 2 win.

Summit celebrated the game 2 win but a lot of work needed to be done.  Game 3 mimicked game 1 in so far as neither team could generate much sustained pressure.  Through 6 rotations the Royals held a slim 11-9 lead.  By rotation 10, Grace Galuppo had the Hilltoppers up 19-17 after her serving rotation.  But again,  the Royals responded and SHS was only up by 1 at 21-20 after 12 rotations.  Summit missed another serve and had a couple of hitting errors on a brief 3-0 run that put Oak Knoll up 23-22.  Coach Martins was forced to take a time-out and exhort his team to execute the offense.  Summit knotted up the score with another Thompson kill but Oak Knoll sided-out to get the ball and their first match point at 24-23.  Summit forced a hitting error to knot up the score at 24 and Casey Nardino forced an Oak Knoll passing error which gave SHS a match point but a service error after an Oak Knoll time-out stalled the team's momentum.  Tied at 25, the Hilltoppers got blocked to get the Royals another match point but another amazing out of system play by Summit kept the ball alive and forced a Royal hitting error that gave Summit new life at 26-26.  Grace Galuppo was perfect from the service line and the Summit defense got up a couple of balls that led to quick kills, the last one, fittingly enough, by Taylor Thompson through the Royal block to give Summit one of its best victories in the past 4 seasons.

The OHs led the 3rd game as Val Guzman and Taylor Thompson combined for 7 kills - 3 errors - 24 attempts (.166 efficiency, 29.1 kill %) out of the team's 11 total kills.  The squad served at an 89% rate with an 11% ace rate.  Jocelyn Mendez, Grace Galuppo and Val Guzman combined for 18 of the team's 26 serve receptions and passed at a combined 2.01 pass rating to allow the offense to get in gear.  Guzman was a defensive machine, digging up 9 point saving balls of the team's 19 total digs.

For the match, Guzman dug up a team leading 13 balls and Mendez 11.  Mendez (2.05), Galuppo (2.00) and Guzman (2.10) combined for a 2.05 pass rating and handled 48 of the team's 66 serve receptions.  Guzman and Nardino led the team with 6 kills apiece and Thompson got 4 crucial kills and Lauren Trindell chipped in with 3 to round out most of the offensive output.  Gabby Mejia ran an effective offense, distributing 21 balls and keeping the Royals off-balance with her offensive choices.  From a serving perspective, the team served at a 93% clip with a 15% ace rate.  Mendez was a perfect 12/12 with 3 aces,  Guzman 16/16 with 2 aces and Galuppo 12/12 with 2 aces to lead the Summit serving attack.

JV POSES LITTLE THREAT TO ROYALS IN TUNE-UP UCIAC MATCH

The JV Squad was looking to avenge 1 of its 3 losses versus the Royals but fell in 2 games 25-22, 25-13.  After 7 rotations, game 1 looked all but over as Oak Knoll held a 22-14 lead.  Olivia Skrobala, back from illness, ripped off 6 consecutive service points (1 ace) to give Summit a chance trailing only 22-21.  But like much of the game, the Royals serving got another ace and the Summit serving couldn generate much as SHS dropped the last few points to lose 25-22.

Game 2 was over early as the passing gave the Hilltoppers many offensive opportunities but the players couldn't execute the attacks that led to a 6-0, 11-1 and 19-2 Royal leads that SHS could not overcome despite outscoring Oak Knoll 11-6 the remainder of the match.

Summit drops to 13W-4L.  The Hilltoppers will host Linden at SHS Wednesday, 10/19 at 4pm in the first round of the UCIAC JV Tourney.