Summit´s third win was highly elusive but the team finally put together a string of key plays to beat the Cardinals for their third win, 25-22, 25-19. Casey Nardino was crucial in the victory, hitting .312 with a team leading 8 kills and adding 4 aces from the service line while serving at a serving % of 93% while scoring 10 service points. Madison Young came in off the bench and had a huge impact with 4 kills and a .333 hitting %, second only to Nardino.
In game 1, both teams struggled to find any consistency off the serve or attack and found themselves tied at 11 after 6 rotations. By the 9th rotation, Casey Nardino stepped up to the service line with the score 14-14 and proceeded to serve 7 service points (4 aces) which turned the match on its head. Leading 21-15, the Hilltoppers got key kills from Maddie Young and Lauren Trindell to close out the game 25-22. This accomplishment could not be overlooked as the team had managed to lose these type of games recently but the true test would come in game 2. Summit was led in game 1 by Nardino who had 4 kills and 4 aces to score 8 of Summit´s 14 earned points in the game. Val Guzman and Jocelyn Mendez were stalwarts defensively, digging up 9 of the team´s 13 balls (5 and 4 respectively) and passed 14/21 balls on serve receive at a 2.1 rating.
Game 2 was more of the same with Summit trailing 11-9 after 6 rotations due to Summit´s serving errors. Gabby Mejia put 2 aces away in rotation 7 and had Summit up 13-12 and Val Guzman did some damage with an ace and 2 service points to extend the lead to 16-13. With both teams trading points over the next 2 rotations, it started to look like the Hilltoppers were going to face that moment of truth again late in the match. Would the team respond or would it find a way to self-destruct?
Grace Galuppo gave everyone the answer as she served up 2 high pressure serves which led to 2 free ball opportunities the Maroon and White put away which gave the team a 21-16. Both teams traded points throughout the next few rotations but Summit´s execution on side-out opportunities was the key down the stretch as the team closed out the match 25-19.
Maddie Young and Casey Nardino were key in the game 2 win as they hit for 4 kills apiece. Of note, Young was the most productive and effective hitter on the squad in game 2 and was vital in the late scoring for the squad. Young hit for 4 kills at a .571 kill and hitting efficiency! Gabby Mejia ran a great offense distributing 8 assists and led the squad in the game with 2 aces. Val Guzman dug up 3 balls to lead the Hilltoppers and, along with co-captain Jocelyn Mendez, passed at an incredible 2.585 rating as the team gave up 0 aces in game 2.
Team leaders for the match were Guzman with 8 digs, Mendez with a 2.38 pass rating, Nardino with 8 kills, Young with a .333 hitting efficiency and Mejia with 17 assists.
Next up for the Hilltoppers is first round of the UCIAC as they travel to Roselle Park for the second time this season, looking to avenge its earlier 3 game loss and move on past the first match in counties for the 3rd consecutive year.
JV STRUGGLES EARLY BUT FINDS SERVING TOUCH FOR 2 GAME SWEEP AND 13th WIN
The JV Hilltoppers continued their record setting season with a 25-23, 25-9 sweep of the Cardinals. Summit missed many serves in game 1 and were locked in a close match with a slim 10-9 lead after 6 rotations. Cheryl Liu opened the game up in the Hilltopper´s favor with 2 aces to give SHS a 15-11 lead by rotation 9. Olivia Elko added another ace 2 rotations later and the Maroon and White held a seemingly insurmountable 18-12 lead. But then the Cardinal serving attack took over and the Hilltoppers gave up a 6-0 run in rotation 11 which had SHS leading only by 1 at 20-19 by the end of rotation 12. Summit responded and extended the lead to 22-19 just to see Plainfield get a key kill and add 2 service points to knot the score at 22. Olivia Skrobala hit a highly pressurized serve that led to a Plainfield hitting error to get Summit to within 1 point of the win at 24-22. Plainfield got a kill for a side-out but missed on its subsequent serve to give SHS the game 1 win at 25-23.
Coach Ross stressed the importance of eliminating the service errors in between game 1 and 2 and the team seemed to heed his words as it missed only 3 serves while pounding out 8 aces in route to a 25-9 win in game 2. The key to the game 2 performance was the serving of Cheryl Liu who hit for 5 aces in an 8-0 run in rotation 3 that opened up a 13-3 lead for the Hilltoppers and the subsequent server, Camille Della Piazza, who followed it up with a 5-0 run (3 aces) to give Summit a 19-5 lead. The rest of the game was academic.
Summit got key performances from Camille Della Piazza (3 kills, 4 aces, 5 assists), Cheryl Liu (7 aces 2 digs) and Bella D´Ambrosi (3 kills).
The team will face off next week versus the Linden Tigers in a home match between the 7 v 10 matchup in the UCIAC JV Tournament, time TBD.
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