The Lady Hilltoppers traveled to nearby Morristown to participate in the Morristown-Beard Fall Classic. The team featured 2 different lineup versus 3 different teams in their pool (Morris Tech, North 13th Tech and Piscataway).
Summit opened with Piscataway and split 25-21 and 17-25. The next matchup was versus North 13th Tech and SHS lost both games 14-25 and 16-25. Summit closed out pool play with Morris Tech and the Maroon and White split with Morris Tech 25-21, 21-24.
The team was ranked 10th after pool play and played Lacordaire in the first round. SHS started off slow and lost the first game 25-20 but came back in the 2nd game and won 25-18. Summit moved on to face Oak Knoll in the second round due to point differential.
Oak Knoll had just beaten SHS in 3 games in comeback fashion after the Hilltoppers looked to have the 3rd game in hand at 22-19. Oak Knoll came in as a top 5 seed in the tourney and heavy favorites. Summit did not have top OH sub Madison Young due to illness and starting Setter Gabby Mejia was away at a family function but the team did not miss a beat with backup Setter Alisha McDonnell running the show.
Summit took control early and did not Oak Knoll get control at any point in the single game elimination match. SHS led 10-6 and extended the lead to 15-11 after Oak Knoll had closed to within 1. The Royals made another run to get close to the Lady Hilltoppers at 16-17 but yet again the Maroon and White responded with a 4-1 run to take a commanding 21-17 lead. The Royals called a time out and the Hilltoppers could sense the victory.
SHS saw its lead evaporate in a matter of seconds and Coach Martins called a time-out to settle the squad. Summit came out of the time-out with a sense of purpose and won 2 of the next 3 points to take a 23-21 lead. With top Middle Blocker Casey Nardino and top OH Val Guzman in the front row at this point, the Hilltoppers should have been very confident but yet nervous errors cost the team at this critical junction as they have all season long. The Royals closed out a 4-0 run with an ace to win the match 25-23 as SHS could not muster the kills that mattered.
STARS OF THE TOURNAMENT:
Alisha McDonnell took over the reigns of the offense and had an outstanding day. McDonnell had a 2 kill 3 ace day to contribute offensively but had 27 assists (3.0/game) to lead the Hilltoppers in Mejia's absence. With Mejia graduating this year, McDonnell's role and performance becomes more vital to the team's success in 2017.
Casey Nardino led again all scorers with 24 points with 11 kills, a team leading 6 aces and was a blocking machine with 7 blocks on the day.
Val Guzman was the offensive star for the Hilltoppers with 15 kills to lead the team and tied for 2nd with 5 aces. Guzman was also 2nd on the team with 17 digs and yielded only 2 aces during the entire tournament. Guzman scored 20 points total, 2nd on the team.
Grace Galuppo was brilliant in the tournament, scoring the 3rd highest amount of points with 11 off a 6 kill, 5 ace performance. Galuppo also chipped in 4 assists and 3 digs.
Katie Samay keeps solidifying her OH status for this season and the future with performances like she had versus the Royals earlier this week (team leading 8 kills) and followed up with a 10 point performance at the MBS tournament with 6 kills and 4 aces. Samay also had 3 digs and 1 assist. With the bulk of the offense graduating this year, key performances by Samay and others this year will go a long way to setting up next year's offense.
Jocelyn Mendez, the most versatile player on the Hilltopper roster, started the season as an OH and now has moved to Libero to strengthen up the passing defense. Mendez had 1 kill and an ace but handled almost 70% of the serve receive and allowed only 2 aces. Mendez was also all over the court defensively, digging up a team leading 22 balls.
The squad faces off against conference foes Union on the road on Tuesday and host Rahway and Linden Thursday and Friday.
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