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.
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