The Lady Hilltoppers closed out their season this past Monday agains cross-town rivals Oak Knoll. Oak Knoll had beaten the Hilltoppers in 3 at Oak Knoll earlier in the season on the Varsity level and JV had swept the Royals on the JV level.
JV kicked it off with a dominant 2-0 win (25-14, 25-7) to notch their 16th win of the season, ending the campaign with 2 wins versus Cranford and Oak Knoll after a disappointing loss to Plainfield. Summit controlled the match with their usual formula of tough serving and timely kills. Abby Doyle led the way with 7 aces and the team hit for 8 kills (2 by Sarah Maldonado) to earn their 16th win for a final season record of 16W-6L, 2nd best in program history.
Meanwhile, Varsity couldn't muster the energy level and intensity of Friday's Senior Night and lost in 2 to Oak Knoll 25-12, 25-21. Set 1 could not have started any worse as the team was down 9-1 after 1 rotation and was just unable to overcome that deficit despite the fact that they found themselves only down by 3 after rotation 7 by a 12-9 score. But a couple of errors derailed the comeback and Oak Knoll closed out the set on a 13-3 run.
Set 2 was rather different as the team jumped out to a 6-2 lead early and seemed to indicate that SHS was on its way to a comeback. But the Royals slowly chipped away at the Summit lead and closed out a 9-4 run that had Oak Knoll up 11-9 at its conclusion. The run was fueled by 4 SHS errors, a sign of things to come. The Maroon and White got the score tied up at 11 and both teams traded points over the next few rotations and found themselves again knotted up at 14.
But then the game turned as Summit scored 15 of the next 18 points in the match leading to a 25-21 loss. Hilltoppers fans, you are not reading that wrong, Summit scored 15 of the last 18 points in the match, for both sides. This was a run that, in essence, was a microcosm of the entire season and it deserves a closer look.
A serving error got it all started and gave the Royals a 15-14 lead. A kill by Oak Knoll increased the lead to 16-14. Two consecutive unforced errors by SHS had Oak Knoll up 18-14. SHS stopped the run with a kill but a Royal kill and another Summit attack error dropped the Maroon and White into a 20-15 hole. SHS did not give up and pounded a kill on serve receive but unfortunately followed it up with a crushing serving error which gave Oak Knoll a 21-16 lead. SHS recovered and got another kill but yet again, a service error killed any momentum gained and the Maroon and White trailed 22-17. SHS fought off a Royal attack attempt and scored on a transition kill but the third consecutive service error all but doomed the Hilltoppers' chances trailing 23-18. Oak Knoll hit an ace to all but wrap up the set but a game saving kill followed by 2 straight aces by its senior captain McDonnell had the Hilltoppers hoping for a miracle at 21-24. The next serve and defensive play by the Hilltoppers yielded a free ball that the Maroon and White were hoping to put away but, appropriately enough for the match, another unforced attack error ended the run, the match and the season for the Lady Hilltoppers.
In the last 18 points, Oak Knoll generated 3 points with 2 kills and 1 ace. Summit, on the other hand, hit for 5 kills and 2 aces to outscore the Royals 7-3 but yet were outscored 11-7 due completely to the 8 unforced errors generated by the Hilltoppers, none more impactful than the 3 consecutive serving errors late in the match.
Errors at key moments have defined some of the heart-wrenching losses this season but so have the moments like the 7-3 run that showed that Summit could not only compete with but also best some of their talented competition. This squad overcame devastating injuries, illness and a series of crazy lineups to deliver some of the most exciting wins and some of the best volleyball this program has seen in the last 7 years.
This year was defined by the work of 4 seniors who set the tone and led by example every day of the season. Samay, Della Piazza, Thompson and McDonnell each provided this team with the ingredients needed to succeed and established the culture that is now a staple of this team. The 2017 team was a radically different team than in recent past with mainly 9th graders on JV and a mix of underclasswomen, with very few seniors, on Varsity. The challenges to maintain good chemistry and teach team culture were great but the leadership of these seniors led the way at each and every juncture in 2017.
Congratulations to the Seniors on a great season and career, a ginormous thanks to ALL the parents for their support and work and a great big hug to the JV Squad and Coach Ross who gave us all one of the greatest seasons of all time with the youngest squad we have ever fielded! THANK YOU ALL!
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