Summit split last year's matchups with Oak Knoll, winning away by a 2-1 score in a tightly contested matchup. SHS expected more of the same and it played out as expected with both sets decided late in a 22-25 and 21-25 loss to the Royals of Oak Knoll.
In a match that the Maroon and White only managed 12 kills, the name of the game was defense and serve reception and the team was outstanding on that front, thwarting 41 Royal attacks led by the efforts of Ava Williamson who dug up 14 balls and Alisha McDonnell who added 12. The team only gave up 2 aces in the entire match (38 total attempts) with Williamson and Taylor Thompson passing safely a combined 23 of 24 reception attempts.
From an offensive standpoint, the team hit for for only a .016 hitting efficiency and that lack of production cost the Hilltoppers late in each set as the squad couldn't find the hits that would've pushed them to the set wins. Kate McPherson was the bright spot on offense, hitting for 3 kills on 8 attempts with 0 errors (.375 hit and kill %) in the 1 set she played in.
Summit held a 20-19 lead after a Royal error in set 1 but an Oak Knoll kill and a SHS free ball error gave the Royals a quick 21-20 lead. After a long rally that saw Williamson, McDonnell, Tessa Pulgar and Katie Samay all have crucial digs on defense, the team finally forced a hitting error out of Oak Knoll and knotted things up at 21. A Thompson kill out of the back row had Summit in control at 22-21 but an untimely service error turned the momentum to the Blue and White and the team couldn't recover, getting blocked on the subsequent play, dig error on the next and closing out the set allowing an Oak Knoll ace.
The Hilltoppers started off like a rocket in set 2, jumping out to a 6-1 lead behind the serving of McDonnell who once again set the tone for the team with 13/13 serving performance (1 ace) in the match. Summit held that lead through 4 rotations (11-6) but by the end of rotation 6 the team found itself down 17-13, the 11-2 run by Oak Knoll stopped only by a Micaela Nardino block that got the team back to McDonnell serving. Despite numerous attack attempts, the Hilltoppers could not convert or committed unforced hitting errors that led to Oak Knoll taking a seemingly unsurmountable lead at 20-14. McPherson stepped up then with 2 kills in a row and teamed up with Lauren Trindell for a stuff block to cut that lead down to 3 at 20-17 in a matter of seconds. Momentum seemed to have shifted again but the Royals responded with a kill of their own to regain momentum at 21-17. The teams traded a couple of points at this juncture which had the Maroon and White against the ropes at 23-19 but the squad kept fighting for points scoring on a Carmel Barsh kill. Despite a service error by the Royals, the Blue and White did what the Hilltoppers could not and hit for 2 kills late to seal the deal at 25-21.
With a 3W-5L record, the squad has to win versus Roselle Park to have a chance to make states in October.
JV ROLLS TO 8th WIN IN A ROW!
Relying on its superior service game, the JV Squad dominated the Royals in a 2-0 win that saw Summit hit for 12 aces in the match in route to a 25-16, 25-13 victory. Ava Calabrese was again a catalyst from the service line, hitting for a team leading 4 aces, joined by the #2 ace server Gabbie Guidetti who hit for 3 aces of her own. The offense was effective, contributing 11 kills led by the 3 put-aways by Annabella Yorio. The setter trio of Abby Doyle, Kyra Guenther and Daniela Esposito managed the offense effectively and Doyle was again a point scoring factor, assisting in 5 kills, hitting for 2 aces and chipping in a kill of her own.
The squad will look to continue its roll against Roselle Park, looking for 9 in a row.
VARSITY HIGHLIGHTS PACKAGE IN LATER POST
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