The Hilltoppers came into the week looking to improve its chances to make the state tournament and get a more favorable seed in the County Tournament.
First up for the Varsity Squad were the Linden Tigers. Linden had won a tough 3 set match at Summit earlier in the year and the Hilltoppers were looking to return the favor. Despite a phenomenal start by the Maroon and White in set 1 (7-1, 13-7 and 18-11 leads), the crew could not hold on to the lead late and found themselves tied 19-19 in the closing stages of the set. A Camille Della Piazza ace and kills by Carmel Barsh and Kate MacPherson had the Hilltoppers up 23-20 and seemingly back in control but the hitting errors that have plagued the squad lately resurfaced after the Tiger time-out and Summit was outscored 6-1 to yield the first set 26-24.
The second set was a tight one as the Tigers were desperately trying to shut the door on any Hilltopper comeback and Summit was fighting for its match life on every point. Neither team was able to get more than a 2 point lead at any point in the match until, with the score knotted up at 17, Della Piazza again stepped up with 8 consecutive service points (4 aces) to give the Hilltoppers a comfortable 25-17 2nd set win.
The final set played out much like the 3rd set in Summit unfortunately with the Hilltoppers getting numerous attack attempts but failing to convert early on which gave Linden the chance it needed to blow the game open early, jumping to a 9-3 lead. Summit could not chip into the lead at all, and trailed 15-8 in the latter part of the match. The team was looking to its usually offensive rotations to get on a run but that run never came and the Tigers closed out the match on a 10-4 run which featured 4 Summit hitting errors to Linden's 0, a statistic that fairly depicted the entire set.
Summit tied Linden 38-38 in total scoring for the match but lost the hitting error battle with Linden by committing 23 hitting errors to Linden's 9 which proved to be the difference in the match.
Summit hosted Kent Place in the last match that counted for county seeding looking to get its first win over its city neighbors in 6 years. Summit will have to wait another year for that win as the Dragons burned the Hilltoppers late in each set for a 25-18, 25-17 win over the Maroon and White.
Set 1 was a battle as neither team could get control. Through 6 rotations, KP held a slim 8-7 lead but the Hilltoppers felt pretty good about their play against the #4 seed in Union County. But the next 4 rotations saw the Dragons slowly increase that lead as they outscored the Hilltoppers 10-6 through that stretch to take an 18-13 lead. That's as close as the Maroon and White got for the rest of the match as Kent Place finished the set on a 7-5 run to close out the set 25-18.
The final set began as the first one had ended, with Summit not being able to connect on attacks and creating errors while KP keeping balls alive and getting key kills. Summit was fighting hard but found itself down 14-8 after 6 rotations and would need a big run to get back into the match. But the Green and White would not allow Summit to get into a rhythm and despite SHS cutting the lead down to 4 at 13-17, a service error stopped the momentum and led to a 2-0 Dragon run that re-established the 6 point bulge. KP outscored Summit 6-4 the rest of the way but the damage was done early as the Hilltoppers trailed 8-3 after 2 rotations and were just not able to generate enough offense to cut into that deficit.
Summit managed only 8 kills in the match but did improve in its errors by notching only 11. Kent Place hit for 19 and that offensive statistic proved to be a major factor in the match. Of note, Summit's defense was outstanding despite the loss. SHS had 3 blocks and dug up 33 balls (17 by Libero Ava Williamson) that led to many Hilltopper attacks.
Summit's record now stands at 5W-8L with 3 matches left before State Cut-Off. SUMMIT EARNED THE 8TH SEED IN THE UNION COUNTY TOURNEY, BEST SEED SINCE 2011!!!
Upcoming opponents for the Maroon and White are:
Monday, 10/16 - #9 Governor Livingston (H) 5:30pm - 1st Round Union County Playoffs
Wednesday, 10/17 - New Providence (H) 4:00pm
Thursday, 10/18 - Roselle Catholic (A) 4:00pm
Friday, 10/19 - TBD
Saturday, Morristown Beard Classic - 8:00am (A)
JV Rolls to 2 tough Victories to Improve to 12W-1L
JV faced off against the Linden TIgers on Tuesday and came away with a 26-24, 22-25, 15-9 hard fought win against a much improved opponent who did not allow the Hilltopper offense to get on a roll. Late serving heroics by Abby Doyle saved the day late in set 1 to pull out a late deficit to a 26-24 win.
Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers lose the set on serving errors as 6 of them sealed the fate of the team and contributed directly to the 22-25 loss.
The deciding set was the best one for the MAroon and White as the team hit for 4 aces, 1 kill (0 errors) and dug up 11 balls to tame the Tigers 15-9.
The Dragons were next and the team had dealt an easy 2-0 victory in the first meeting but the rematch was to be quite different. The 2 teams were deadlocked at 17 late in set 1 as the Dragons used key defensive digs and strong serving to frustrate the Hilltopper serve and attack offense.
Key kills by Annabella Yorio and the serving attack by the Maroon and White -Megan Gregory served up 2 aces late in relief) gave the Hilltoppers the room it needed to pull away late and take the set 25-21.
Set 2 went more to script as the Maroon and White hit for 5 kills and complemented that with 10 aces to easily take the set 25-12 and continue this record setting year with its 12th WIN.
Summit's record now stands at 12W-1L. SUMMIT EARNED THE 4TH SEED IN THE UNION COUNTY TOURNEY, BEST SEED IN PROGRAM HISTORY!!
Upcoming opponents for the Maroon and White are:
Monday, 10/16 - #13 Roselle Catholic (H) 4:30pm - 1st Round Union County Playoffs
Wednesday, 10/17 - New Providence (H) 4:00pm
Thursday, 10/18 - Roselle Catholic (A) TBD
Friday, 10/19 - TBD
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