The Hilltoppers were looking at three opponents this week that were going to be favored to win with Summit needing at least to salvage the divisional matchup versus Rahway if they were to have any hope to finish in the top 3 in the division and remain top 10 in the conference. First up, the Governor Livingston Crusaders.
Last year, GL came into Summit and swept the Hilltoppers in a first round matchup in the county tournament. SHS was looking to show the Crusaders that this was going to be a different year. After a GL hitting error had the Hilltoppers knotted up at 7, SHS went on a 3-0 mini run sparked by a Carmel Barsh and Lauren Trindell block which allowed Kiera Stocks to step up and deliver 2 aces to give Summit a 13-10 lead. The teams settled into a side-out war that resolved nothing and the squads found themselves separated by that same 3 point gap late in the set after a GL kill had the Crusaders down 17-14. A Crusader hitting error got Summit to 18-14 and after a Micaela Nardino kill gave the Maroon and White a 19-14 lead, the victory seemed eminent.
But GL stormed back with a 5-0 run fueled by 2 aces and 3 SHS errors and soon the set was in doubt. Three errors by the Crusaders and an additional ace by Stocks had Summit seemingly back in control at 23-20. Kate Macpherson pounded a kill through zone 6 to give SHS a 24-21 lead but another serving error stymied the momentum and 2 subsequent hitting errors had the score all square at 24. Macpherson again found the floor with a swing and Summit had its fourth match point at 25-24 but another error erased that one as well. But SHS kept its composure and Goudreau found the court on the following play to give SHS another match point but, yet again, GL escaped. The Crusaders then finished off their set 1 victory thanks to 2 hitting errors by Summit to close it out 26-28.
Despite the score, SHS relied too heavily on Crusader errors as the squad managed only 7 kills in the set. The positive was that the Maroon and White hit for 6 aces (3 by Stocks) and added 2 blocks.
Summit was looking for a better ending in set 2 but it did not look like even the beginning was ever going to get off the ground as the Crusaders jumped out to a 10-3 lead that just looked impossible for the Hilltoppers to overcome. A block by the duo of Goudreau and Inggs broke the GL momentum and then Williamson ripped an ace to keep hope alive at 5-10. When Yorio rolled a ball down into zone 6, Summit began to feel hope flow as the lead was down to 4 at 7-11. That hope was dried up though within 10 minutes as the Crusaders ripped a 7-1 run that had the Hilltoppers reeling at 8-18. All seemed lost until again, a block by Inggs and Barsh seemed to lift the Maroon and White. Barsh then stepped up to the service line and the senior delivered an ace, followed by a GL hitting error and free ball return error. 12-18… Barsh delivered an ace to zone 5 and then Goudreau and Trindell combined for another huge block. 14-18… A few points later, the Hilltoppers saw the lead expand to five at 17-22 after another inopportune service error but Co-Captains Inggs and Trindell combined for a great combo kill that stymied the premature GL celebration. Trailing 23-18, Summit got an error from the Crusader OH, ripped a kill by Yorio and delivered a Stocks ace to come all the way back to within two at 21-23. But that’s as close as the team came to the Crusaders as GL closed it out 25-23.
Summit hit for 5 aces in the set, 2 by Barsh in her service run, while only giving up 3 aces of their own. However, the lack of offense was again an issue as the team managed only 5 kills and committed 6 errors in earning those kills. Once again, the defense kept SHS alive in the set with the team digging up 12 balls and blocking 4 Crusader attack attempts to stay in the match for as long as they did.
From the service line, Stocks led the way in the match with 4 aces while teammate Williamson was a perfect 14/14 in serve receptions with a 2.14 rating and also led the squad with 7 digs. Macpherson was the sole bright spot offensively as the OH hit for 6 total kills to lead the Summit offense. Barsh was a wall at the net, notching 4 blocks on the evening.
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