HILLTOPPERS OVERCOME SLOW START TO TAKE RC IN 2; JV ROLLS TO 2-0 SWEEP BEHIND BRENNAN SERVING

The Hilltoppers were looking to improve their record to 4-4 and stay near the leaders in the Mountain Division as they took on the Roselle Catholic Lions.  Meanwhile, the JV Squad was seeking their 5th win of this campaign and to avenge a late season loss to the Dragons in 2017.

After Sylvie Goudreau knotted up the score in set 1 at 2 apiece early on, the Lions ran off the next 5 points to take an early 7-2 lead thanks to 2 RC aces and 3 hitting errors by SHS.  Summit got back on track with 4 kills and found themselves back in the mix trailing only 7-8.  Summit kept getting close to overtaking the Lions but every time the squad came within one, they would lose the next point.  At 9-11, Carmel Barsh put home a tip to bring the Maroon and White to within 1 at 10-11, Barsh and Goudreau then combined for a stuff block that finally had SHS even with the Lions at 11 and fueled an 8-5 run that got the Hilltoppers a seemingly key late lead at 19-16. The Lions,  however,  were not going to roll over that easily and stormed back to take the lead 20-19 after hitting for 2 kills and an ace. Captain Georgia Inggs took 2 great swings late to knot up the score at 22 but RC yet again took the lead on a Summit hitting error just to have Katie Macpherson pound out a kill from the outside to get the score tied at 23.  Barsh finished off the set with a kill out of the middle and then scored on a block with Macpherson to rip the victory from the Lions at 25-23.

Barsh and Inggs were instrumental in the win, hitting for 8 of the team’s 16 kills in the set.

Set 2 was a carbon copy of the initial set as SHS found themselves down 5-6 after a Kiera Stock ace but then gave up 5 consecutive points to see themselves on the wrong end of an 11-5 score. But then Lauren Trindell found the floor with a tip, Micaela Nardino found the floor on the subsequent attack and the Inggs Trindell combo block had Summit only down by 3 at 11-8.  After a brief break of serve,  RC saw Macpherson, Trindell and Ava Williamson drop 2 kills and an ace to have Summit tied up at 12. The burst of offense re-energized the squad and Barsh stepped up with 3 kills as Summit began to pull away, leading late 19-14 after Nardino took charge of the outside again and pounded out 2 kills.

It seemed over, it felt over but it was not quite so easy to close out the Dragons as the Hilltoppers offense sputtered with 3 hitting errors before a Dragon hitting error temporarily stopped the momentum with SHS up over RC 20-17.  Summit traded points and saw their lead grow to 4 after a Macpherson kill from the outside had the Hilltoppers up 23-19. RC closed to within 2 at 23-21 but a costly missed serve had SHS on the brink of the set and match win at 24-21.  RC used a kill and a Summit hitting error to get to within one at 24-23 but Macpherson closed it out with a kill to zone 6 for Summit’s 4th win.

Summit was 46/49 from the service line with 4 aces led by Nardino and Cheryl Liu who were a perfect 20/20 and earned 12 combined service points.  Williamson safely passed 18/20 balls for a 2.15 rating and added 8 digs to the win.  Trindell dished out 25 assists and had a team leading 12 digs and the team dug up 44 balls in the match.  SHS pounded out 29 kills led by Barsh with 7 and Nardino and Macpherson each with 6 to pace the offense.

BRENNAN PACES JV ACE BARRAGE TO GET SUMMIT ITS 5TH WIN

The score was 25-16, 25-9 but that did not tell the story of the match.  Summit controlled the match from the onset as the Hilltoppers were clearly more dangerous on offense and were far more consistent on serving to fear a long run of points by the Lions.  Brennan blew set 1 open with a 5-0 run that the Hilltoppers never gave up (2 aces) and SHS cruised in to the set 1 win.  With the score 11-9 Summit in set 2, Brennan hit for 14 service points and 6 aces to close out the match in style and set a new JV record for most consecutive service points in a match.

Summit takes on  Kent Place next  looking for its 6th win.

HILLTOPPERS BOUNCE BACK WITH KEY DIVISIONAL WIN; JV FALTERS IN 3RD SET

With Summit's record at 2W-4L after the tough loss at Wardlaw,  the matchup versus the Cougars of Cranford became more vital not only from an overall record perspective but also from a divisional standpoint as the team sat 4th in the overall divisional standings entering the day's action.  Summit, however, would be without the services of the team's current #1 OH and MB as well as their L for this match.

Set 1 began well for the Hilltoppers.  Despite an even start where SHS had only a 5-4 lead in the early going,  the Maroon and White produced a 6-2 run that began to establish a rhythm to the game that would repeat throughout the match.  Annabella Yorio sparked the run with 2 kills from the outside and Georgia Inggs nailed an ace to lead the Hilltoppers to an 11-6 lead.  Cranford responded though with a 8-1 run of their own that saw multiple Hilltopper errors from every facet of the game drive the run but, at 12-14, Micaela Nardino was once again the answer as she hit for a kill to zone 5 that sparked a 5-0 run fueled by Sylvie Goudreau's 2 aces from the service line.  Despite a Cougar kill that ended the run,  Summit got the ball right back off a service error and then Kiera Stocks did what she has done consistently every match and put an ace down to give SHS a 19-15 lead.  Cranford again managed to respond and tie the score up at 20 but in the key 21st point,  Summit kept pressuring the Cougar defense with attack after attack until finally Cranford committed a hitting error that led to a 21-20 SHS lead. A Yorio overpass kill and a subsequent Inggs ace gave the Maroon and White a 23-20 lead that it would not relinquish.  Final score in set 1, 25-21.

The Hilltoppers managed to serve at an 84% clip and hit for 4 aces (2 by Inggs) and gave up only 3 aces in the set.  Summit also hit for 8 kills, 3 by both Nardino and Yorio in the set to pace the offense.

The second set started auspiciously for the Hilltoppers with the Cougars jumping out to a 3-0 lead after 2 overpasses led to easy kills in addition to a Summit hitting error.  SHS kept its head and after a service error gave Summit its first point, Cheryl Liu's serving forced an error from the Cougar offense and she followed that up with an ace to level the score at 3.  A serving error, an overpass for an easy kill and 3 consecutive hitting errors later, Cranford had exploded for an 8-3 lead where the Hilltoppers had committed 4 unforced errors in the 5-0 run.  But this squad is starting to find its identity in adversity and what the team has been finding out is that Nardino is the answer they are looking for when things are not going well.  Down 8-3,  Nardino pounded out a kill to through zone 6 and assisted on a block set up by Inggs to turn momentum around.  Goudreau kept the pressure on with 2 aces form the service line and SHS had earned itself a 9-8 lead.  Both squads traded shots over the next few points but gained nothing as the scoreboard showed a 10-10 score.  But the other answer this season to any Hilltopper woe has been the serving of Kiera Stocks and she did not disappoint, starting a Summit 7-0 run with an ace.  Inggs followed up with 2 kills, Nardino nailed a bullet for another kill and Stocks nailed 3 more aces to effectively ice the game at 17-10. 

Cranford broke serve but Nardino got another kill to not allow the Cougars any momentum.  With the score 19-13 SHS,  Goudreau drove a ball through the gym floor that got the team and the fans on their feet and led to another kill by Yorio which extended the Summit lead to 21-13.  The rest seemed academic as the Hilltoppers pushed the score to 24-17 and match point but Cranford took advantage of the apparent Summit mental letdown and went on a 5-0 run to make everyone a little nervous at 24-22.  But, when an answer is needed, Summit looked for Nardino and yet again, the senior OH had an answer, closing out the set and match with another kill and helping improve the team's record to 3W-4L and 2W-1L in divisional play.

Summit scored on 8 aces (4 Stocks, 3 Goudreau) and allowed only 1 ace to win the serve and receive battle with the Cougars.  Liu and Tessa Pulgar passed 2/3 of the serves the Hilltoppers faced from the Cougars and combined for 11/12 good receptions and passed at a 1.9 rating to lead the squad.  Nardino led a 9 kill effort by the team with 4 kills in the set and also was the team leader in digs with 3 in the set.

For the match,  Summit hit for 12 aces led by 5 by Stocks who was a perfect 11/11 from the service line.  Goudreau was a close 2nd with 4 aces of her own.  Nardino led a 17 kill Summit performance with 7 of her own with a 38.9 kill % and a .167 efficiency and Yorio hit for 5 with a 38.5 kill % but a team leading .308 efficiency.  Nardino also led all SHS players with 5 digs and Stocks was 2nd with 4 of the team's 17 digs.

Summit will get into the thick of divisional play over the next 10 days which will go a long way in determining the fate of the team's state playoff chances.

JV PLAYS TOUGH BUT FALTER IN 3

The Rams were a tough matchup for the Hilltoppers on the JV level last year (1W-1L) with both squads winning at home and this year the expectation was that the squads would have another tight match. 

Summit took the first set 25-21 but dropped the next 2 sets as Cranford's serving game became more productive as the match wore on, no more evident than in the decisive 3rd set when Cranford missed 1 serve while Summit dropped 4. 

Summit's record drops to 4W-3L in the defeat but got outstanding performances from unlikely players.  Cassandra Hrehorovich filled in the front row admirably for the first time in her career and led the squad with 6 kills for the match.  Abby Doyle dropped in 3 aces to lead the serving game and newly named Libero Meghan Tarashuk stepped in with 4 digs to anchor a solid defense.  Six different players had at least 2 kills, a testament to the solid play of the setters (Doyle, Walsh and Lopez) who ran a very effective offense on the day.

NARDINO CAREER DAY NOT ENOUGH TO OVERCOME RAMS; 9TH GRADERS PICK UP JV WIN

Summit traveled to Edison to take on the Wardlaw-Hartridge Rams looking to even out their record but came away with the second 3 set loss in a row.  Meanwhile, a 9th grade only JV Squad took on the Ram squad and came away with JV's 3rd win of the season.

Summit began the set trading points with the Rams but, after an Annabella Yorio kill knotted the score at 4, SHS seemed poised to go on a run but that was not to be this time.  Four consecutive passing/digging errors fueled an 9-1 run that had SHS trailing 13-5.  Wardlaw maintained that healthy lead late as the Rams led the Hilltoppers 19-10 in the latter stages of the set. But to Summit's credit, the squad didn't succumb to the long odds and dropped a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to 4 at 19-15 spurred by Cheryl Liu's serving who kept the ran offense off balance and even hit for an ace during the run.  A serving error stopped the run and the Rams re-established the lead they had build in the early stages of the set.  Summit dropped set 1 25-18. 

Summit managed only 7 kills in the set, 4 from the outside hitter combo of Yorio and Micaela Nardino.

Set 2 saw a different lineup on the floor as Coach Martins changed the serving order and the hitting lineup in an effort to be more productive in earlier rotations.  The change seemed to work as the Hilltoppers got off to a better start, hitting for an ace (Kiera Stocks) and getting four kills from Georgia Inggs, Sylvie Goudreau and Nardino (2 k) within the first 5 rotations to get Summit to a 9-9 score.  After a Ram hitting error gave SHS the ball back at 10-9, the Hilltoppers ran off 9 of the next 10 points to take a commanding 19-11 lead.  The run was fueled by a block by an Inggs and Olivia Skrobala block, 2 Cheryl Liu aces, and 3 Nardino kills.  The set win of 25-18 by SHS was never in doubt after that and Summit closed it out 25-18 with a pair of kills by Inggs and Nardino and a Lauren Trindell ace. 

The Maroon and White pounded out 4 aces (2 by Liu) and scored on 12 kills (6 by Nardino) to pace the offense. 

Although the 2nd set result generated hope for a comeback, the astute observer would have pointed out that the Hilltopper offense was relying solely on Liu's serving prowess and Nardino's front row production.  A more balanced offensive production was key if the Hilltoppers were to win the 3rd set.  Unfortunately, that was not to be on this day. 

Liu and Nardino again started things off well for the Maroon and White with 2 aces by Liu and 3 kills by Nardino spurring on the Summit offense and getting the team tied with Wardlaw at 8-8 a third of the way through the set.  A kill to zone 1 by the Ram outside hitter began a 6-1 Wardlaw run that featured not only their squad's outside attack but also Summit's own inability to put down a kill.  A block by Sylvie Goudreau and Trindell broke momentum and two kills by Trindell and Kate Macpherson had the Maroon and White within 2 at 15-13.  But another service error thwarted the comeback and sparked a mini 2-0 run that had the lead up to 5 again at 18-13.  An Inggs kill got the Hilltoppers the ball back down by 4 but three consecutive Ram kills had all but put the game away at 21-14.  The last 8 points in the set were split evenly 4-4 and Nardino again tallied another couple of kills but the Maroon and White fell short in set 3 25-18.

Although the Hilltoppers hit for 9 kills, once again Nardino provided the only steady offense with 5 of those swings.  Cheryl Liu again tallied the only aces in the set (2) but the problem for the Summit squad was that the serving 5 was a lowly 61% for the set, the major reason the team was not able to complete the win. 

Nardino was a one woman wrecking crew, at times seeming like the only player who could score on the Summit side.  Although the team hit for 28 kills in the match, Nardino had 13 of them and committed only 1 error.  Cheryl Liu was also outstanding from the service line, scoring the most service points thanks to 5 aces and only 3 errors in 25 service attempts.

Summit's record now stands at 2W-4L.

JV GETS WIN THANKS TO 9TH GRADERS

The JV Squad earned its 4th victory over Wardlaw (2-0) with a squad made up exclusively of 9th graders.  In their first outing as a unit, the 9th grade squad used their serving power and opportune hitting to pull away late and take set 1 25-19 and easily handled the Rams set 2 25-14 after a 8-0 run led by Amanda Brown who hit for 3 aces in that stretch.  Sabrina Ippolito led the way for the Hilltoppers from the front row, hitting for 4 kills in the match and the entire team's serve receive game was outstanding, giving up only 5 aces in the match to a much older squad in Wardlaw.

Congrats to these young women for their work ethic and dedication as this was their first match action of the season and they performed admirably against older athletes for a much needed win.

HILLTOPPERS FACE 3 SET LOSSES ON BOTH LEVELS AGAINST RAIDERS

Summit lost both matches on JV and Varsity levels in 3 sets against the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders on Friday despite great efforts by both squads.  On Varsity, Summit and SPF deadlocked on total points for the match with 70 and the match was decided on the narrowest of margins in set 3. JV struggled in set 1 to contain SPF's serve receive game but found the key in set 2 to tie up the match.  Unfortunately, set 3 saw the Hilltopper serving game falter and that was the difference in the set 3 loss.

Summit had only beaten SPF once in the last 5 matches with the sole win coming last season at SHS.  Summit sought to repeat that feat on Friday but fell just a bit short of accomplishing that goal.
Set 1 began really well for the visitors as SPF got out to a fast start from the service line and had a 12-5 lead before long after an ace through Ava Williamson.  SHS cut the lead down to 4 after a service error by SPF but then 3 consecutive Summit errors and a Raider ace saw the lead go up by 8 again at 18-10.

But in a portend of things to come, SHS proceeded to go on a 10-5 run after the Raiders opened the door with 2 service errors in a row.  Carmel Barsh did not miss the opportunity and hit for a thunderous kill to zone 1 and followed it up with 2 consecutive aces to close the gap to 15-21. Two more SPF errors and a Gabbie Giudetti ace later had the Maroon and White to within 3 and 18-21 but a kill out of the middle by the Raiders stymied the run.  Georgia Inggs nailed an attack out of the middle that had SHS back to within 3 at 21-24 but the Raiders closed it out with a kill to take set 1 25-21.

SHS continued its consistent serving with 20/23 serves in and tallying 5 aces led by Kiera Stocks and Barsh who scored 2 apiece.  Unfortunately, the offense sputtered and managed only 5 kills (2 by Barsh) which was the difference in the set.

Set 2 began rather differently as the squads traded points early and found themselves tied at 6 as each squad could not get on a run to separate the teams.  Annabella Yorio then began a 6-0 Hilltopper run with 2 kills out of the left side and the entire Summit offense kept presuring the Raider defense with attack after attack forcing SPF into multiple hitting errors.  Kiera Stocks added an ace to the cause and within 5 minutes SHS had taken control of the set at 12-6.

Despite the Raiders' best efforts,  Summit defended its lead and expanded it to an 20-12 lead after a Barsh kill before the Blue and White could find hope in the set.  SHS was outscored 7-5 the rest of the set but it did not diminish the 25-19 set victory by the squad.

Summit hit for only 2 aces and lost 7 points off service errors but mitigated that damage with a nearly perfect offensive performance, nailing 10 kills to only 1 error in the set.  Summit had a kill % of 52% and an efficiency of .474 led by Yorio who had 6 kills on 8 swings with no errors for a 75% kill % and .750 efficiency.  The SHS serve receive was flawless, yielding 0 aces in the set, another major key for the Summit set win.

In the decisive third set, SPF got out to a fantastic start and held a 6-2 lead after a kill to the right side through Captain Lauren Trindell.  But Summit kept trying to find their game and started to chip away at the lead, getting the score to within 1 at 9-10 after an Ava Williamson ace.  The Raiders fought back and ballooned the lead back up to 5 at 9-14 after Trindell was forced into the net by a bad Hilltopper pass. This lead they maintained until the latter stages of the match but at 15-21, Katie Macpherson pushed a ball to zone 1 for a key kill that got the Maroon and White to within 5 at 16-21 and gave them a chance for a comeback.

But that hope was dashed a few points later as the Raiders benefitted from a Summit hitting error and serving error to get to within 2 points of the set and match at 23-18.  SHS did not give in however and crawled to within 4 with an Annabella Yorio kill out of the left side (19-23).  A SPF hitting error and a Carmel Barsh kill later, Summit started to believe in miracles as the team was within 2 at 21-23.  The Raiders called a timeout but to no avail.  Williamson came off the timeout and promptly nailed 2 aces to throw the crowd into a frenzy as the Hilltoppers had knotted the score at 23.  A block by the Raiders stopped the momentum but on the subsequent rally, Tessa Pulgar put up a perfect 3-pass to Trindell who tried to find Barsh for the kill.  SPF dug the ball but managed only a free ball that Yorio tried to put away.  Again, the Blue and White defended it but could not convert and the resulting hitting error gave the ball back to SHS tied at 24.  Unfortunately that's where the miracle ended as Summit was called on an unfortunate net violation that cost them a point and then saw the SPF outside put down a kill to seal the set and match 24-26.

Despite 5 serving errors,  Summit hit for 6 aces (4 late in the set) to keep their hopes alive in set 3.  Williamson led the squad in the set with 5 service points and 3 aces to pace the serving offense.  The outside tandem of Yorio and Macpherson combined for 5 of the team's 8 kills and suffered only 1 error.  Kiera Stocks and Williamson were a perfect 13/13 in receptions, allowing 0 aces and passing at a combined 2.21.  Williamson also led the squad with 6 digs. 

For the match, Summit averaged 4.33 aces per set, 1 block per set, 7.67 kills per set, and just over 10 digs per set.  Here are comparative stats:

SHS                MATCH               SPF
70                      Score                  70
23                      Kills                    25
13                      Aces                    8
3                        Blocks                 0
39                      EARNED           33


The squad in currently ranked in the top 10 of the Union County Conference for the first time in 7 years.  Summit will look to even its record at Wardlaw-Hartridge on Thursday and get a key divisional win versus Cranford on Friday at home (start time 4pm).

JV FALLS SHORT AGAINST SPF DESPITE GREAT 2ND SET

JV knew it was in for a long match right out of the gate against the Raiders.  Despite serving tough, the Hilltoppers were finding out that SPF could contain their normally potent serving game.  The question became whether the team could contain the Blue and White's own servers and by the sixth rotation, the answer was apparently not.  The scoreboard read 17-13 SPF and the lead was insurmountable as SHS could only get on a run behind Gabbie Guidetti's serving which brought the team back from a 14-6 deficit to a 14-13 score.  The celebration was short-lived as the Raiders responded with an 11-2 run to close the set 25-15 behind the serving pressure they brought to each rotation.

Set 2 was quite different as the Hilltopper serve receive, combined with SPF serving errors, had the Maroon and White 13-12 up with 6 rotations completed.  The serving game had also began to wear down the Raider defense and SHS was beginning to get easy offensive opportunities as a result.  The difference in the set really was the Hilltopper serve reception game as they stymied the Raiders' best server, limiting her to 0 service points the second time around the rotation which allowed the Hilltoppers to keep pressure on the Blue and White themselves and close out the set on a 10-4 run to win 25-19.

The deciding 15 point set saw SHS miss 3 of the first 7 serves which spelled disaster as the SPF side jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the first 6 rotations.  Summit got no closer than 8-11 as the serving power of Scotch Plains was on display in the last service rotation, hitting for 1 ace in the last 3 service points and forcing errant passes in the other 2 that did not allow the effective Summit offense to get involved.  Summit fell 8-15 and saw their record drop to 3W-2L.

Gabbie Guidetti and Cassandra Hrehorovich led the Hilltoppers from the service line with 4 and 3 aces respectively.  Sarah Brennan dug up a team leading 6 digs while teammates Krista-Ann Clapp and Megan Gregory held down the fort from the offensive side of the net with 4 kills apiece.

SHS VARSITY EARNS UNEXPECTED VICTORY OVER ROYALS; JV ACES ITSELF TO 3RD CONSECUTIVE VICTORY

With their season record at 1W-2L, the matchup versus the Oak Knoll Royals was a pivotal one in the early season for the Maroon and White.  With the bulk of the conference schedule yet to come, the result of these early season non-divisional matchups are vital to the Hilltoppers long-term success.  For only the 2nd time in the last 8 match-ups,  SHS delivered when it mattered and out-lasted a game Royals squad for a 25-17, 25-19 victory to even their record for the year.

The first set took an unusually similar tone to the Linden match as early service errors and hitting miscues by SHS gave Oak Knoll 7 of it's first 9 points,  leading to a 10-10 score near the midpoint of the set.  Carmel Barsh got a key solo block that sparked a mini 5-1 run that featured an ace by Barsh and a kill by Sylvie Goudreau out of the right side to get the lead up to 15-11.  Summit retained that 4 point cushion until the latter stages of the set. With the score at 16-13,  a Micaela Nardino well placed off-speed attack began a 9-4 run that finished off any chance the Royals had of a comeback.  Nardino ripped off two kills in that run and Ava Williamson tacked 4 service points (1 ace) in the back end of the run to seal the deal.

Despite 6 serving errors (4 early), SHS ran off 5 aces to mitigate the damage and stabilize the point scoring phase of the game.  Nardino LED the squad with 4 kills in the set and the team tallied 12 with 5 other players contributing to the offensive output.

Set 2 was almost a mirror image of the opening set except that Summit was not committing the service errors.  Oak Knoll was playing phenomenal defense, digging up consecutive Hilltopper attacks and converting their defense into points or, most of the time, waiting for a Summit hitting error.  That strategy seemed to be working as the teams were tied at 9 nearing the midpoint of the set.

Yet again, and 5-1 run proved to be the difference in the set.  Williamson hit for 3 aces which started the run and Annabella Yorio closed it out with a kill to zone 4 which put SHS in the lead 14-10.  The Royals whittled the lead down to 2 at 15-13 but a Katie Macpherson dump attack through the block increased the Summit advantage to 3 (16-13) and was the catalyst for a 6-1 run that became the undoing of the Oak Knoll comeback.  Despite a late run by the Royals to get within 4 at 23-19, a block by the duo of Barsh and Lauren Trindell snuffed out any hope left in the Oak Knoll sideline.  This duo put the bow on the victory with another block on match point.

Summit was a perfect 25/25 in set 2 and scored on 6 aces (3-Williamson) and the squad generated 46 attack attempts in the set although only managed 10 kills.  The silver lining was that 7 different players contributed to the kill production in the set.  Summit was also exceptional from the defensive side of the ball, not giving up any aces and digging up 34 balls in the set.

Next up for the (2W-2L) Hilltoppers will be Scotch Plains-Fanwood at home, Friday, first serve at 4pm.

JV POWERS THROUGH ROYALS WITH AN ACE BARRAGE

The JVsquad continued to rely on consistently powerful serving and key defensive and offensive play to win 25-17, 25-7.

Although offensive contributions were key in set 1 with kills by Sarah Maldonado, Megan Gregory and Kate Hanson, the key to the set was Gabbie Giudetti who dominated from the service line.  In the first serving rotation, Guidetti ran off 6 straight points to give the SHS squad a 13-5 lead.  With the score 19-17, Guidetti ran off another 5 points to seal the victory in set 1 by a 25-17 score.

Set 2 was truly a serve and serve receive battle.  Both teams struggled to generate much offense as the passing was not yielding great offensive opportunites. Julissa Lopez started the set off in rotation 2 with 8 consecutive service points (3 aces) to blow the game wide open early (8-2).  With the score 11-3, Meghan Tarashuk then stepped up and rattled off 10 straight points (6 aces) to slam the door on the Royals chances.  Oak Knoll scored a few more points in the set but the Hilltoppers were too comfortable in the match and closed out the match a few points later at 25-7.

JV improved to 3W-1L on the season.

HILLTOPPERS WIN CRUCIAL POINTS FOR FIRST VICTORY; JV ROLLS TO 2ND VICTORY

Summit looked to get on the winning side of the ledger in their home match-up with the Linden Tigers, a divisional battle with a familiar and difficult opponent.  SHS prevailed in a hard fought 24-26, 25-23, 25-23 match that saw the Maroon and White overcome big odds in the latter phases of the match to complete a most unlikely comeback.

Set 1 saw the Tigers jump out to an 8-12 lead thanks to serving and passing miscues by the Maroon and White.  But the team slowly began to make its comeback as for 5 consecutive rotations the Hilltoppers did not miss a serve.  After an Ava Williamson hit had the Hilltoppers within 1 at 13-14,  the squads settled back to their rhythm on offense and the teams found themselves tied up at 18. Kills by Barsh and Macpherson and some Tiger miscues had the team near the finish line with the 24-20 lead.  But another missed serve helped spark the Linden offense and the Tigers soon had tied up the score at 24 and were within a 2 points of the set win. Despite a hard effort, SHS had a hitting error in the last moments and gave up a tip kill to seal the deal at 24-26.

Despite Summit out-killing Linden 10-7, tying for aces at 3-3 and adding a block, the reality was that 9 missed serves by the Hilltoppers helped drive the Linden win.

Set 2 was another close affair as the teams found themselved deadlocked at 9 after a net violation by Linden but a Macpherson overpass kill set up by an Ava Williamson jump float started a 4-1 run punctuated by a Tiger hitting error that had the Hilltoppers up 14-11.  The celebration was short lived however as Linden stormed back to tie the score back up at 14 but Summit held their composure and after a few Tiger errors -combined with 2 kills by Macpherson-, the Maroon and White had what seemed to be an insurmountable 21-15 lead late in the set. 

To Linden's credit, they never showed any panic as their best server stepped up and delivered 4 aces and saw Summit commit 2 hitting errors to get the score knotted at 21.  Another Ace and kill later and Summit saw the set slipping away trailing 21-23 until Linden committed a key hitting error which opened the door for SHS to mount a comeback.  Kiera Stocks stepped up to serve these last final points and, after a long, furious rally, Summit forced the Tigers into a hitting error and Inggs and Trindell combined for a block on the outside that had the Hilltoppers on the brink of a set win are 24-23.  Stocks put a bow on the set comeback with an ace and SHS had their first set win of the season at 25-23.

SHS and Linden were locked in quite a battle in set 3 as the squads found themselves tied up at 10 near the midpoint of the match but SHS went on a 5-0 run which saw Carmel Barsh score on a block and 2 kills to fuel the surge.  But the Tigers would not quit and went on a 8-1 run to knot things up at 16 as Summit could not manage the Linden serving power, yielding 3 aces in the run.  Summit's offense came to the rescue as Katie Macpherson struck for 2 kills to help get the Maroon and White back within reach at 20-20.  But the celebration was short lived as the Tigers hit for an ace, got a kill out of the middle and benefited from a Summit hitting error to seemingly put the game away.  But then Stocks stepped up and her serving gave Georgia Inggs an opportunity for an overpass swing that she did not miss and later, at 22-23, she hit a sharp angle shot that propelled SHS to a 23-23 tie.  Thanks to a tremendous dig by Stocks and a Tiger hitting error, the Hilltoppers took set 3 in a 25-23 decision.

Summit served at an 88% clip in the last 2 sets and hit for a .210 efficiency as a team for the match LED by Barsh who hit for a 42.1 kill % and a .263 efficiency as she led the team with 10 points (8 k, 2 blk) but the key to the match was the serving consistency of the Hilltoppers led by Trindell and Stocks who combined for an 85% serving efficiency and 7 aces (22%) to keep the Linden attack off-balance in the late moments of sets 2 and 3.

Summit travels to cross-town rival Oak Knoll today in a non-conference matchup.

JV DOMINANT EARLY, SURVIVES AT THE END IN EARNING VICTORY #2

The JV Squad got caught up in a serve and receive battle with Linden and we're dominant in set 1 as they hit for 8 aces and allowed only 4 in a 25-13 win.  When the ball was over the net, the Maroon and White were able to put it away as the team also hit for 5 kills from 4 different players.

Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers struggle to handle free balls and serve receive with any consistency early and the team trailed late in the set (22-17) but the serving of Eva OOberhuber brought Summit back to life as she hit for 2 aces and forced multiple Tiger errors which saw Summit climb back to within 1 at 22-23.  The teams traded passing and hitting errors and, with Summit ahead 24-23, Linden got a key kill to knot things up at 24 but that was the last roar from the Tiger squad as the Hilltoppers took the last 2 points to win 26-24. 

RAHWAY EARNS A CLOSE VICTORY OVER SUMMIT ON VARSITY, JV DOMINATES

The Hilltoppers were looking to even out their record against the Indians but the early season serving woes again provided the dagger that did in Summit in this matchup.  SHS served a mere 79.5% for the match, the 2nd straight match under 85% (73.7% v. Union).

Summit was looking to straighten out its serving performance and get points off the serve and managed to explode for 7 aces in the match (3 from Cheryl Liu) but 9 serving errors did the Hilltoppers in versus an opponent that served at 91% with 8 aces of their own.  The errors at different points in the match were the key difference in the contest as the Maroon and White out killed the Rahway squad by a 20-7 margin with a 36.4 kill % (MacPherson 7 kills - 50% kill - 28.6% efficiency) but still managed to lose each set 22-25, 21-25.

Set 1 was a close affair early as the teams struggled to get consistency in their game.  Although Rahway was keeping its serves in play, their offense was not productive early on in the set.  Summit, on the other hand, had already missed 3 serves in its first 6 rotations but had also hit for 3 aces and had generated 3 kills which had both teams knotted at 9.

With SHS leading 12-11, Captain Lauren Trindell found Co-Captain Georgia Inggs for a kill, Carmel Barsh for another while Barsh blocked a Rahway attack and Liu chipped in an ace to get Summit what seemed to be a comfortable lead at 16-11 to force an Indian time-out.  After the time-out, Rahway broke serve on a kill and Summit handed out 4 consecutive unforced errors which had Rahway again tied with Summit at 16.

The set settled back to its early rhythm and after MacPherson pounded down a kill down the line to knot the score at 20, it looked like Summit got the emotional lift it needed to finish strong.  However, a couple of free ball errors and hitting errors ended the run and, even though Rahway only got 1 kill in the last 5 points, SHS still fell 22-25 in set 1.

Summit hit for 5 aces but added 4 errors (82.6 serve %) but also got aced 5 times by Rahway. Overall, Summit out-killed Rahway 11-4 but the error differential became the deciding factor in the match.

Set 2 began rather auspiciously for the Hilltoppers.  Early serving and hitting miscues fueled a 12-5 run by the Indians which seemed insurmountable as the Maroon and White would need to play almost error free the rest of the set to have any chance to muster a comeback.  A quick attack out of the right side by Inggs started the a 16-10 Summit run that saw SHS within 1 at 21-22 but a serving error and a free ball receive error dashed the comeback as the Hilltoppers fell 21-25.

Summit managed only 2 aces in set 2 but hit for another 5 errors and had only a 76.2 serving %, the real culprit in the loss.  The Hilltoppers gave up only 2 aces out of 23 pass attempts, a credit to the primary passers who kept Summit in the game when all hope seemed lost.  The offense was effective enough again, hitting for 10 kills (.333 kill, .133 effic.) led by MacPherson with 3 kills although 7 different players got at least 1 kill in a very balanced attack.  Again, Summit out-killed Rahway 10-3 but it was not enough to overcome its hitting and serving errors.

Summit will play in the Raider Tourney on Saturday to find solutions to its serving woes as it prepares for the big match against Linden on Tuesday.

JV Dominates Rahway 25-11, 25-9

JV picked up their first victory of the season behind 17 aces and 16 kills.  Gabbie Guidetti led the way with 7 aces, Meghan Tarashuk led the way defensively with 5 digs while, from the offensive side of the ball,  Sarah Maldonado led the squad with 6 kills and Meghan Gregory added 4 to pace the Maroon and White attack in a dominant performance.

FARMERS THROW WATER ON HILLTOPPER OPENER

The 2018 Lady Hilltoppers opened the campaign with a tough matchup against last year's semifinalists in the Union County Tournament and the matchup proved that the Hilltoppers still have a bit of work to do to challenge that level of competition.

Summit fell to Union 2-0 in a lopsided affair that saw the Farmers hit for 15 aces to Summit's 2.  The lone bright spot for the Maroon and White was the offensive play of Carmel Barsh who led the squad with 4 kills and no errors.

On the JV side, Summit took the first set in a tight battle decided by the serving power late in the set of the Hilltoppers.  The team had a few too many missed offensive opportunities in set 2 and lost an opportunity to close out the match late after an early 5 point deficit had been cut down to 1 late in the set but 3 free ball errors cost Summit the set.  Set 3 saw the Farmers roll out to a 9-3 lead but the Hilltoppers fought back to take the lead late before yet again seeing serving errors and free ball receive errors thwart their chances to earn their first win.

Both squads will travel to Rahway on Friday to take on the Indians in their first divisional matchup of the season. Summit has been very successful of late against the Indians, taking 5 of the last 6 matches in the last 3 years with a few 3 set wins in the mix.   JV has gone 4W-2L over the last 3 years against Rahway as well.

UNION FARMERS POSE EARLY SEASON TEST FOR HILLTOPPERS

The 2017 matchup versus the Union Farmers was an early indicator of what of the rest of the season would bring.  The Varsity Squad lost 25-19 in set 1, the difference in the set were the service errors and blocking errors by the Hilltoppers.  The second set saw the Hilltopper passing not handle the Union serving game very well and the Maroon and White lost 25-9 as the team couldn't find its out of system offense.

Meanwhile, a mainly 9th grade JV Squad took to the floor and used a consistent barrage of serving aces and timely hitting to overcome some of its defensive inexperience and stunningly beat a much older and experienced Farmer Squad by a tight 2-1 set score.

For the rest of the season, Varsity showed that it could compete with some of the best teams in the county but often lacked the finish to get key points that would lead to a few more wins.  JV kept using its serve as a main weapon and its outside hitters for timely points to overcome its receive issues and inconsistent digging which led them to the longest undefeated streak in program history. 

Summit will look to overcome its historical deficiencies on Varsity and prove to themselves that the team can score consistently and the JV will look to its more experienced squad to become a more well-rounded team and set up a long run in the county tournament.