After the heartbreaking loss to the Crusaders of ALJ on Monday, Summit had barely enough time to ponder its misfortune as SHS traveled to Linden High School to take on the Tigers on Tuesday. SHS fell to the Tigers 20-25, 14-25 in a match that the Hilltoppers just had no answer for Linden's middle offense.
Summit upset Linden on the road last year in a 3 game thriller but it was not to be as Linden kept the Hilltoppers off balance in this match-up with their middle attack. Summit was in the match through the first 6 rotations, down by only 4 at 12-8 and, after Gabby Mejia completed her service rotation, the Hilltoppers were within 2 at 10-12. Linden responded with a 4-0 run to extend the lead to 16-10 behind a few kills out of the middle. This turned out to be the turning point of game 1 as SHS out-scored Linden 10-9 the rest of the way but did not allow SHS to get on any extended run to close the gap.
Summit managed 6 kills and 2 aces in the set, Val Guzman scoring 4 of the teams 8 points. Linden outscored SHS 18-6 in the game, a warning sign of what was to come in game 2.
Linden came out flying in the 2nd game, taking a 7-2 lead through 2 rotations and 13-3 after 3 rotations. The Hilltoppers were generating opportunities but couldn't finish points off which gave Linden and its offense multiple attacks at the Summit defense. Unfortunately for the Maroon and White, the Tigers were much more effective in transition than SHS. Yet again, despite the game getting fairly even after this point (12-11 Linden), the Hilltoppers just could not get into any run to cut into the deficit they faced.
Summit scored 10 points in the game off a balanced attack that saw 5 players get at least 1 kill but the team only hit .087, a credit to the Linden defense that prevented easy points by the Hilltoppers. Linden outscored Summit 16-10 in game 2.
Despite the result, the team was highly competitive and bounced back emotionally rather well from the ALJ match, a trait that will be highly tested as the team looks to overcome a 0W-4L start. The Hilltoppers will take on the Pioneers of New Providence at home this Friday after the JV match, approximately at 5:30pm.
JV Wins Tough Match For 3rd Win
The JV Squad pulled out an unlikely win at Linden for its 3rd win and first on the road 27-25, 25-23. Olivia Elko's serving was key in game 1 as Elko hit for 9 service points total (3 aces) and Kate McPhearson hit for 4 kills to pace the Hilltoppers in the win. However, the game was far from simple as SHS had an 11-4 lead after 3 rotations (Elko serving) and 17-9 after Blakely McCann was through in rotation 5 which included 2 aces. Despite the lead, Summit's serve receive fell apart in rotation 7 and 8 and the Tigers went on a 13-3 run to take the lead 23-21. Cheryl Liu gave Summit hope with an ace and McPhearson hit for a kill to knot the score at 24 but Linden had the ball serving for the match at 24-25. A service error gave Elko the opportunity to put game 1 away with 2 service points (1 ace) to take game 1.
Game 2 was a more even affair through the first 6 rotations as SHS held a 15-12 lead but most of the damage for the Hilltoppers was done by Elko again (1 ace, 1 kill) and Micaela Nardino (4 service points, 2 aces) from the service line. Yet again, later rotations became the problem for the Hilltoppers. The Tigers outscored the Hilltoppers 11-8 between rotations 7-9 to knot the score at 23. This included a 6-0 run that brought Linden from a 23-17 deficit to a 23-23 score due to numerous SHS miscues on receiving and hitting. Cheryl Liu yet again came through under pressure with 2 key serves, one of which yielded a free ball that Summit put away and the other caused a hitting error by the Tigers, to seal the game and match 25-23.
Olivia Elko led the squad in scoring with 7 points (5 aces, 2 kills). Next up for SHS are the Pioneers of New Providence as the team looks to improve to 4W-1L.
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