The Pioneers of New Providence stepped into the SHS gym fresh off their upset win over Scotch-Plains Fanwood while Summit was trying to right the ship after a tough loss to the Crusaders of GL.
Meanwhile at the JV level, SHS had beaten the Pioneers on their home court in a tight 2-1 victory and New Providence was looking for revenge this time around.
Despite the Maroon and White's best efforts, New Providence not only continued its dominance over the Hilltoppers (12-0 last 6 years) on the Varsity level but also upset the Summit JV squad to give the team only its 2nd loss of the season.
The JV Squad knew they were in for a battle in the first set as the Maroon and White got out to leads of 9-3 and 13-8 just to see the Pioneers fight back each time. The longest run of the match occurred in rotation 1 as both teams served for the 2nd time. The Pioneers, trailing 14-10, ran off 5 straight points to get the score knotted up at 15 after a service error. Abby Doyle then stepped up and returned the favor with 4 points of her own to give SHS an 18-16 lead after a Pioneer kill broke her serve.
Up 22-19 moments later, the Hilltoppers felt like they were in full control but another Pioneer surge tied up the game before an Annabella Yorio kill gave the ball to SHS with a 23-22 lead. Krista Ann Clapp finished off the Hilltoper set win with 2 service points for the 25-23 win.
Set 2 was quite different as the Pioneers controlled things early building a 13-6 lead by rotation 5. Luisa Esquivel brought the team back to within 3 at 13-10 and Abby Doyle had the game knotted at 14 2 rotations later. But the Pioneers went on an 11-4 run to close out the set and the lack of kill and ace production by the Hilltoppers was evident.
The decisive set started off phenomenally well for the Hilltoppers as the team jumped off to a 4-0 lead but within 2 rotations, the Pioneers had built up an 8-6 lead. Summit could not solve the Pioneer serve but Sarah Brennan single handedly brought the Hilltoppers back from the abyss with 2 aces that had SHS to within 1 at 12-11. Unfortunately, a Pioneer kill broke the momentum and New Providence sealed the deal 2 points later.
Meanwhile, the Varsity squad was looking to break a six year losing streak to New Providence but despite a tremendous effort, the Maroon and White fell short by a 25-22, 25-18 result. The match boiled down to specific moments late in each set.
In set 1, New Providence jumped out to a 17-12 lead after outscoring SHS 8-4 in rotations 5 and 6 and seemed to be in total control when the Pioneers got the best of Summit in rotation 1 to take a 20-13 lead. But true to the character of this year's squad, the team kept battling and Ava Williamson ripped off 2 aces and earned 4 service points to get the Hilltoppers to within 2 at 20-18. One rotation later the Maroon and White had crawled to within 1 at 21-20 after a Taylor Thompson ace but a Pioneer kill had restored the 2 point cushion. An ace later the lead was 3. A long rally that ended with a Sylvie Goudreau kill had SHS back in the conversation down only 2. But a service error deflated the Hilltoppers' comeback and seemed to put the set in the Pioneer pocket with the score 24-21. Carmel Barsh ripped off a huge kill to keep Summit alive. Katie Samay did her part with a high pressured serve that forced a New Providence error to get SHS to within 1 at 24-23. But the Pioneers got a kill of their own and sealed the set at 25-23.
In set 2, Summit trailed early again 10-6 but by the end of rotation 6 and Tessa Pulgar's serving rotation, SHS was only trailing by 1 at 13-12. New Providence regained a small cushion over the next few rotations and led 17-13 and seemed poised to pull away as in set 1 but the Hilltoppers relied on a Taylor Thompson kill and a Pioneer hitting error to close the gap to 2. But Summit couldn't keep the next serve in and New Providence got their 3 point cushion back. That turned out to be a huge point as Summit battled back in 2 long rallies to cut the lead back down to 1 at 18-17 and force a time-out but would not be able to get any closer as the Maroon and White had no kills, 2 errors and suffered 5 New Providence kills to seal the set at 25-17.
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