HILLTOPPERS NEARLY TAKE DOWN DRAGONS IN A HARD FOUGHT LAST MATCH

The Summit Varsity Squad was looking to do the unthinkable and beat the county semi-finalist, Prep School Champion and 18W-1L Kent Place Dragons who had dropped only 4 sets all season, two of those to the #2 team in the state, Union Catholic.   Kent Place had beaten SHS soundly last time out with a 25-12, 25-9 score-line that did not even reflect how dominant the Dragons were from the service line.

The odds were long but the squad was playing in its last match of the 2019 season and playing about as well as it had at any point in the season.  Coach Martins started with the senior serve receive in this, their last match of their high school career and early on, the squad was up to the challenge Kent Place presented.

The Dragons jumped out to a 4-2 lead after a kill by their first team all county OH but Summit responded with a kill by their #1 OH Maldonado and a couple of errors by KP due to the Maroon and White offense that had SHS up 5-4.  Kent Place stormed back to take a 7-5 lead after a tip kill and an ace but again, the Summit play forced a couple of more errors from the Green and White squad and the score was knotted up at 7.

However, the Dragons had seen what the Hilltoppers were attempting to do and the 2nd time through the rotation, KP went on a 5-2 run that had them up 12-9.  With the score at 13-10,  Kent Place went on an 9-1 run fueled by their serving pressure that sealed the fate of the Hilltoppers as the teams played fairly evenly the rest of the way with SHS not being able to get closer than 5 points the rest of the way (14-19, 15-20 and 17-22) bowing out at 25-17.

Set 2 was a mere continuation of the second half of set 1 with the Dragons jumping out to a 4-0 lead before SHS could respond.  Summit got 2 kills by Goudreau and 1 from Yorio to get the set tied at 4 but another long run by the Green and White of 6-1 had the Dragons up  10-5 and despite a Clapp swing that put the Dragons in all kinds of trouble and led to a hitting error,  Summit saw itself on the wrong end of another 6-0 run that put the score at a seemingly insurmountable 16-6 score against the Dragons.

Often in the year,  when coaches feel that their teams have good control of a set,  they often put into matches players who are short on experience but hungry to play in real matches with real consequences on the line.  Often,  those players come through and finish the job.  But, often enough,  unpredictable things occur and things change quite rapidly.  The Hilltoppers have been on both ends of that equation with matches like New Providence in set 2 and Rahway in set 2.  The team was about to go through another of those crazy moments.

A Maldonado kill off a perfect pass by Stocks got the Top to 7 points.  Another Maldonado attack led to a tight ball that Vostal managed to block down and, despite the Dragons saving that point, it led to a hitting error and SHS had reached 8.  A glimmer of hope was shredded by a serving error by Summit, an ace by KP and an errant dig by the Top.  Score, 19-8.

Maldonado continued to put the Dragons under pressure and scored another kill for Summit´s 9th point.  A subsequent Brennan serve put the Green and White squad into all sorts of trouble and a hitting error resulted giving the Hilltoppers 10 points.  Next play,  perfect pass by the Dragons, middle quick gets run,  Yorio and Vostal stuff block it for 11th point.  Next point,  another great Kent Place pass led to a great attack but Tarashuk got a huge dig up that Summit put deep into corner of zone 1 and the Dragons were unable to handle it well,  sending an errant third ball over for the Hilltoppers´ 12th point.  To understand the mountain the team needed to climb,  that 4-0 run showed a 12-19 deficit.  A service error handed the ball back to Kent Place and the 20-12 score-line seemed depressing after the emotional 4-0 run.

This team hasn´t been the type to give in to adversity and despite what seemed like a foregone conclusion, it kept playing through the set as if the score was 0-0.  That was key as the Dragons´ coaching staff had already substituted its starting setter a few points prior and, at 20-12, put in other OHs to finish off Summit holding an 8 point lead.

Brennan,  perfect pass to Guenther, sets up Yorio... kill.  Vostal serves effectively,  Tarashuk digs up another key ball,  Goudreau pushes a shot to zone 1 corner, kill.  Vostal, topspin heavy serve, swerves one foot right to left at the end,  Dragon DS unable to handle it, ace.  Another Vostal serve, this time hugging the line to zone 5.  Pass shanked out of bounds, ace.  Next serve,  Kent Place handles it and sends it to their starting MB and she puts it out of bounds after a Dragon time-out.  Score,  20-17 Dragons.

The next rally was ginormous as a Hilltopper point would get the team within 2 but a loss of point would extend the Kent Place lead to 4.  SHS had two attack attempts at it thanks to two Tarashuk digs  but couldn´t convert which gave the Dragon OH, their starter this time, all the chances she needed to slam it down for a 21-17 lead.  The Green and White were elated but the Hilltoppers were still within striking distance.  Could the squad get to within 3 late in the match?  It would come down to serve receive and the next ball was handled brilliantly by Brennan who allowed Yorio to roll a mini-sky ball deep to zone 5, corner pocket, to get SHS to within 3 at 18-21.

As up as the team was feeling at that moment was as low as it felt a play later as a service error that was followed by an unforced hitting error had the Hilltoppers on the ropes at 23-19.  But the volleyball gods are cruel at times and whether they wanted to torture the Hilltoppers by offering hope or whether they wanted the Dragons to doubt themselves,  the result was a service error by Kent Place´s best player to get Summit to within three again at 23-20.  Would the next rally decide the set?  Or would Summit gain more momentum?

Guidetti´s serve handled by the KP squad but the attack was dug up by the junior DS in zone 5.  Maldonado, back in the game, ripped a shot to the line that was dug up but the resulting scramble led to a tip error by the Dragons, 21-23.  Another Guidetti serve, another good Dragon pass.  This time a push shot by the KP outside hitter that Maldonado handled.  Walsh flying in from zone 1 sets the imposing OH who tips just over the out-stretched fingertips of the KP middle.  The Dragon Libero makes an amazing dig but the pass isn´t high enough and forces a low set that the Dragons rip about 2 feet out, 22-23.  Service error Summit, two match points for the Kent Place Dragons.

Goudreau is targeted, the middle blocker passes a great ball to Walsh who sets up Clapp for a shot that finds the Kent Place setter, forcing the Libero to handle the second ball.  The Dragons can´t execute a good pass and send a free ball over that is perfectly handled by Maldonado and Walsh finds Goudreau for the kill out of the middle, 23-24, one match point averted.  Captain Stocks to serve facing a match point against.

Kent Place got what they wanted and sent a perfect ball to their setter who went to the middle looking for a quick put away.  The MB saw a hole on the short side of zone 4 as Maldonado came over to block but Guidetti came flying in to dig the ball which Summit sent over on two, setting up an out of system situation for the Dragons which led to a massive hitting error, score tied at 24!  A fast moving diving serve by Stocks caused an overpass that Maldonado attacked unsuccessfully but that attempt led to a double contact call, 25-24 Hilltoppers, set point, only the 4th faced by the Dragons all year.  Serve Stocks,  tip by the Dragons best hitter into the net, comeback complete,  26-24.  Stunning result which had the Top thinking big things.

Unfortunately,  the 2nd set loss was also a wake-up call for the Dragons which lived up to the saying that the most dangerous animal is a wounded animal.  Summit hurt Kent Place but would need another Herculean effort to slay the Dragons and,  unfortunately,  the Hilltoppers would come up just short.

Kent Place took the serve and the lead over the Top in the very first rotation jumping out to a 7-0 lead.  Stocks served in rotation 3 with the 7 point lead still there and the early signs were there that this might be more like set 1.  Teams traded points through the next couple of rotations and a Yorio kill brought up Vostal to serve with the team still down by 7 at 15-8.  Vostal ripped two aces to get the lead down to 5 but yet again, two rotations later,  Guidetti was serving staring at that same 7 point deficit at 19-12.  Two aces later the lead was down to 5 at 19-14 but a 6-2 run to end the match sealed the set and match for the Dragons as the 7-0 lead in the onset of the set was the nail in the proverbial Summit coffin.

Despite the loss, the 2019 Squad registered 11 wins (5th most) and also registered the 5th best winning percentage in program history.  The Squad reached the finals of the Fall Classic for the first time ever and the semi-finals of the Raider Tourney for the first time ever with the highest seed it had ever garnered entering the playoffs.  The team did not match its 7W-7L record in division from last year (6W-8L) but it did finish in the same spot in the Mountain Division as last year.

Five individual season records were broken this year and the defense produced the highest total number of digs and digs per set ever in program history while the offense generated the third highest number of kills and aces in a decade.  Great things are in store for the squad next year as nine players return to action (one setter,  three outside hitters,  one middle blocker,  the starting libero and all three starting defensive specialists).

Congrats 2019 Team!!! Proud of you!!!

DRAGONS NO MATCH FOR THE 19W-5L JV HILLTOPPERS

The last match for the Hilltoppers was an exclamation point on a record breaking season for this sophomore laden squad.  SHS beat the Kent Place squad 25-12, 25-5 in a serving clinic that had the Summit team score on 18 aces and tally 15 kills. 

Catherine Eldridge, one of the 2 ¨grandmas¨ of the team,  led the squad with 7 kills (5 in set 1) to lead an efficient attack that saw 6 different notch at least 1 kill in the match.  Eldridge was backed up by Sabrina Ippolito  who balanced out the offense with 5 kills of her own (4 in set 1).

Hope Basaman was again a menace from the service line with 4 aces but Sarah Noa was the team leader on this day with 8 aces (3 in set 1 and 5 in set 2) to blow open each set.

The constant Hilltopper serving pressure kept the Dragons from any semblance of offense, often being forced to just get the ball over the net, thus, the defense had very few opportunities to tally any digs.  Jackie Szabados led the squad with 3 digs and Victoria Macarthur notched 2 in the win!

The 19W-5L record the 2019 earned puts them #1 in Total Wins and #1 in Winning Percentage in Program History.  Reaching the Semi-Finals of the County Tournament is also the highest finish for the Hilltoppers in the tournament in Program History. 

Congratulations Coach Ross and JV Hilltoppers for a record setting season!!!!

ROYALS AND RAIDERS VISIT SUMMIT AS SEASON NEARS ITS CONCLUSION.

The last five encounters between the Hilltoppers and the Oak Knoll Royals have been, in general, very eventful regardless of team standings and records.  Last year Summit defeated Oak Knoll early season by a 2-0 score and in 2017, SHS took a 2-0 victory as well at home.

But the prior 4 meetings were quite different with Summit losing 3 out of 4 although the sole win was on the road, end of the season and Oak Knoll was #4 in the county.  So what would the 2019 season bring to the Oak Knoll-Summit rivalry?

The line-up for senior night was reflective of the theme as seniors Abby Doyle, coming off and ankle injury, Julissa Lopez and Cassandra Hrehorovich made their first joint start of the season with starting seniors Sylvie Goudreau, Krista-Ann Clapp and Kyra Guenther as family and friends came together to celebrate the culmination of their high school career.  nailing an ace off the time-out to push

Summit jumped out to an early 5-1 lead after a Goudreau block sparked a 3-0 run where Guidetti hit for an ace and Maldonado struck for 2 kills.  After a serving error got the Royals the ball back at 5-2,  Summit got the gift returned with a serve error from theircross-town rivals which sparked another 3-0 run fueled by 3 consecutive Vostal kills which had SHS easily ahead 9-2.

At 11-3,  the Royals were forced to take a time-out and the Blue and White seemed to react positively as they clawed their way back to 11-5 but a Maldonado kill and a Lopez ace forced another time-out at 13-5 but this time Lopez would not allow another mini-run nailing an ace off the time-out to push the lead to 14-5 and fueled a 4-0 run that saw Lopez score on three more aces to end the Royals'  hopes at 18-5.  Oak Knoll finished the set on an 8-5 run but there was never any doubt of the outcome as SHS finished off the Royals 25-13.

Summit out-scored the Royals 19-3 which spelled the end of any hope for a Royal miracle in set 1.

Set 2 had the same feel as set 1 as the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 5-1 lead as Hrehorovich, Goudreau and Yorio all scored kills in the run.  Guidetti rolled through a 5-0 service run after Oak Knoll had closed to within 2 at 5-3 that saw Maldonado and Lopez hit for kills and Guidetti nail 2 aces for a 10-3 lead.  It seemed like deja vu all over again but this time Oak Knoll reacted a little more forcefully.

A 3-0 run got the Blue and White to a 10-6 deficit but a service error had SHS back in control with Stocks at the service line.  The captain served up 3 aces and seemed to give the Top an insurmountable 15-6 lead.  Oak Knoll broke serve but got blocked by Maldonado and Hrehorovich nailed two aces in the subsequent possession to give SHS a 19-7 lead.  A 6-4 Oak Knoll run saw SHS maintain a 23-16 lead.  SHS got the first match point after a down-ball hitting error by the Royals but the Blue and White made the home crowd a little nervous with a 3-0 run that had the lead down to 24-19 but a Doyle dump kill finished the set and match at 25-19 to give SHS its 11th victory of the season,  6th most amount of wins in program history.


#4 SCOTCH-PLAINS FANWOOD FENDS OFF HILLTOPPER UPSET BID

The Raiders had fallen to the Hilltoppers in 2017 at SHS in an early season upset that was a highlight for that season and last year the Hilltoppers pushed the Raiders to 3 in a matchup where the Hilltoppers dropped the first set, came back to take the 2nd and lost a heartbreaker 24-26 in the third.  How would the 2019 match-up go?

SPF entered the match coming off a three set loss to Kent Place in the Quarter-Finals of the County Tournament and SHS had just beaten Oak Knoll on Senior Night but the Raiders were considered one of the top echelon teams in the county so naturally came in as the odds on favorite in the match-up.  In set 1, early on, it sure seemed that way.

Three rotations in the Blue and White had built a 7-3 lead and Summit's top servers had been handled quite easily.  But the back end of the rotation started to have some success on all facets of the game and when Vostal served in rotation 6 after she had sent a kill to zone 1 to bring Summit to within 2 at 8-10, the junior middle hit for an ace and Summit was breathing down their opponent's neck at 9-10.  But in a mere 2 minutes, the Raider squad went on a 6-0 run (4 Hilltopper errors - 2 SPF kills) that slammed the door on the Hilltopper run and forced a SHS time-out.

Yorio came off the time-out with a kill but SPF broke serve although a Goudreau dump kill and a Guidetti down ball kill had the Hilltoppers back in the set at 12-17.  Over the next few rotations the Raiders were more than happy to trade points with the Hilltoppers and by rotation 11, the lead was back up to 7 at 22-15.  The Summit crew got as close to 5 again at 18-23 after a hitting error by SPF and another Vostal ace but the Raiders slammed the door with an ace and kill to end the set 25-18.

SHS went 17/18 from the service line and hit for 2 aces (Vostal 2). Six different players had at least 1 kill in a 7 kill set and Clapp and Stocks led a 13 dig effort by the Hilltoppers with 4 apiece.  The Raiders out-scored the Hilltoppers 16 - 9 (12 kills v. 7) which proved to be the set story line.

Early in set 2 it was clear that the team would need to maximize its attack opportunities as the squad was having trouble stopping the SPF featured OH.  Down 3-5,   got a gift in the form of a Raider service error and Brennan went to work.  The junior DS kept the Raider serve receive in check with a tough serve that forced the Blue and White into a predictable offensive set that led to a Vostal block.  Next play yielded a free ball that Gregory, making only her 2nd appearance of the season due to injury, put down on a swing from the 10 ft. line.  Brennan nailed another serve which forced another tough return and predictable offensive set.  To avoid another Vostal block, the SPF hitter hit way high and out and SHS had built an 8-5 lead.

The Blue and White managed to break serve and a tough Raider serve forced an erroneous back-row attack which cut the Hilltopper lead down to 1.  Gregory stepped up again and nailed a kill through zone 5 and SHS was up 9-7.  Unfortunately, the SPF primary OH was back in front and a 4-0 run ensued that flipped the score and Scotch-Plains took control at 11-9.  Maldonado nailed a kill to give SHS the ball back but the Riders took over again with a kill of their own and the scoreboard read 12-10.  The teams traded points over the next few rotations and with the score 16-14 SPF,  another kill by Maldonado  seemed to have taken back control with a mini 3-0 run until the fans and team saw the hand of the referee signal a ball handling error by the Hilltoppers.  That call switched what would have been 15-16 deficit into a 14-17 tally.  The call clearly rattled the Top and they lost the next point forcing a time-out.

Coming off the time-out SPF ran off another point and it took a Raider error for the squad to regain control of the ball at 15-19.  Summit got as close as 16-19 thanks to another Vostal block but the Raiders continued to pressure the serve receive of the Maroon and White and despite allowing 1 ace in the final Raider 6-0 run, the team could not put a ball down and suffered through 1 ball handling error, 3 hitting errors and 1 SPF kill to fall 25-16.

Summit went 14/17 from the service line with 1 ace in the set.  The squad also passed at an outstanding 2.0 as a team led by Tarashuk's  set leading 2.33.  Summit managed only 6 kills in the set led by Maldonado with 3 but Gregory notched 2 playing only half of the set.  Stocks continued her stellar defense accounting for 6 of the team's 16 digs and Vostal chipped in with 2 blocks.

For the match, Vostal led the squad with 2 aces and a 2.60 serve rating but it was Brennan who scored the most service points with a 2.30 rating.  The team was outstanding going 31/35 from the service line (89.6%) but despite Vostal and Brennan scoring on 60% of their serves, the rest of the squad was not as efficient leading to a match scoring percentage of 34.3%.  The team actually received at a better rate than SPF (1.89 vs. 1.65) but the Raiders were far better at scoring out of system than the Top.  Brennan passed 27% of all the receptions and rated an outstanding 2.00 for the match.  Maldonado led all Hilltoppers with 4 kills and Guidetti, Goudreau and Gregory nailed 6 kills total (2 apiece) in a very balanced attack.  Stocks tallied 10 digs and Vostal notched 2 blocks to lead the Top.

With one match left,  the Hilltoppers find themselves with the 6th highest number of wins in program history (11) and many season records broken by numerous individuals.

FROSH CLOSE OUT RE-INAUGURAL SEASON IN STYLE; JV FALL IN SEMI-FINALS TO WESTFIELD

The 9th grade team concluded its 2019 season this past week with three consecutive matches.  On Wednesday,  Senior Night,  the team took on the Ridge Red Devils as the appetizer to the Senior Night match-up versus the Oak Knoll Royals.  On Thursday, the Pioneers of New Providence came calling in hopes of avenging their earlier loss to the Hilltoppers.  9th graders finished out their season on Friday against the Scotch-Plains Fanwood Raiders.

The match against the Red Devils was decided by the service line as the Hilltoppers dropped a 2-1 decision based on its inability to match the Red Devil serving attack. 

The Pioneers took set 1 from the Hilltoppers by a 27-25 score as a near perfect service game from the New Providence Squad late sealed the fate of SHS.  Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers come back from a 21-4 deficit to close to within 4 over 3 rotations where the Summit serving game out-scored the Pioneers 15-2 to give the Hilltoppers hope at 23-19 but two late errors derailed the comeback and the Pioneers came away with the victory despite the furious Hilltopper comeback.

For the last match,  Summit faced off versus the Raiders to close out the season and despite the SPF squad having more experience in the game, SHS swept the Blue and White 2-0 by scores of 25-16 and 25-11 to close out 2019 with a 10W - 7L record.  With SHS leading in a tight match 12-9 through 7 rotations,  Allison Wauters, as she has often done this season, ripped a 4-0 run to blow open set 1, 17-9, in route to a 25-16 set 1 victory.

In set 2,  the teams were locked in another tight battle through 6 rotations with SHS again leading 13-11 after 6 rotations.  A service error by the SPF squad expanded the lead to 14-11 and put Abby Wells at the line to serve.  Wells ran off an 11-0 service run that eradicated any thought the Raiders had to come back into the match. 

Congrats to Coach Gutierrez and the Squad for their wonderful season!!


UPSET MINDED JV'S EFFORT COMES UP SHORT AGAINST THE BLUE DEVILS

The Junior Varsity traveled to Westfield to take on the Blue Devils in the Semi-Finals of the Union County JV Tournament.  Summit was very competitive and pushed the Blue Devils in set 1 but the consistent play of Westfield wore down the Hilltoppers late and JV dropped set 1 late.  Set 2 was a clinic in serving dominance as the Westfield squad dominated from the service line and Summit could not convert its opportunities and dropped a 2-0 decision to the #1 Westfield Blue Devils.  JV's record is now at 18W - 5L. 

VARSITY KNOCKED OUT BY PIONEERS COME BACK TO BEAT THE PANTHERS IN 2

The Varsity Volleyball Team will look back at the 2019 campaign as an up and down season with some outstanding sets, some not so good sets, and overall, a season filled with a much more competitive and efficient set of performances.  New Providence and Roselle Park would be the last 2 matches that would count toward state playoff qualification and the team was walking into the week with a 9W-11L mark. 

The Squad looked to re-create its huge upset of New Providence last year on the road after getting close to that at home last week.  This time, at stake, would be passage to the Quarter-Finals of the Union County Tournament.  SHS looked to take the lessons learned from its tough 2-1 loss to the Pioneers at home and come out with a different result on the road.  Things started off well for the Top after a Pioneer ace had given the Green and White a 3-2 lead as Maldonado nailed a kill to tie the score at 3 and another 2 kills by the OH followed by a hitting error by New Prov gave SHS a 6-3 lead and a 4-0 run that had the Pioneers clearly rattled.  New Providence battled back to within 1 but a Clapp kill and another Pioneer free ball error had the lead back up to 3 at 8-5.  The teams swapped possessions until a huge block by Guenther on a tip attempt followed by 2 timely kills by Vostal had SHS dreaming big holding an 11-6 lead.  Despite a Pioneer service break, Summit was able to side-out via Vostal again and Lopez nailed an ace to again expand the lead to 13-8. 

But then New Prov began to chip away at the lead as their serving attack began to provide the squad with opportunities to attack at will and preventing SHS from doing the same.  The Pioneers had cut the lead down to 1 at 13-12 before a dump kill by Yorio stifled the run.  Goudreau stuff blocked the Pioneer middle in the next play and the momentum seemed to have swung again with Summit leading 15-12. But a 3-0 Pioneer run (2 kills,  1 ace) had the teams knotted up at 15.  Both squads were unable to muster much over the next 2 rotations and, tied at 17,  Stocks delivered 2 serves that forced New Prov into 2 errors that gave the Hilltoppers a 19-17 lead and forced a time-out from the Green and White.   Despite the Pioneers coming off the time out and forcing another tie at 19 all,  Maldonado again provided an answer for the Top that had SHS up late 20-19.  New Providence responded with a kill of their own and forced a tip error that had the Pioneers with their first lead at 21-20.  Vostal came up with a huge momentum swinging block to knot up the score at 21 but the Hilltoppers committed a free ball return error to give the Pioneers the serve which they took full advantage of by nailing 2 aces and taking what seemed to be a cruching 24-21 lead.

SHS has been at fault for many things in its losses but giving up on plays has not been one of them and in that vein,  Guenther provided a spark with a block that had SHS still down 22-24 but with life.  A Guenther serve caused all kinds of problems for the Pioneer serve receive and led to a ball handling error call that had SHS within 1 at 24-23.  Another deep serve by Guenther led to a free ball return that Summit had a shot at putting down but it was not to be and SHS fell 25-23 in set 1.

Summit matched the Pioneer offense as the Hilltoppers hit for 9 kills to New Prov´s 10 and out-blocked the Pioneers 4-1.  However, the Green and White out-aced Summit 5-1 which yielded a 16-14 scoring advantage for the Pioneers, the eventual difference in the set.  Summit served at a 95.7% but only got 1 ace,  a trade-off the team was willing to make so long as their serve receive could keep New Prov at bay.  At the end of set 1 that became obviously a difficult task.  Vostal (3 kills) and Maldonado (4 kills) were instrumental in keeping Summit in control  most of the set and gave a chance for the Hilltoppers to pull off the upset in set 1 but the team came up just a few points short.  New Prov kept their attacks away from the Summit Libero, Stocks,  who came up with only 2 digs in the set but her teammates picked up the slack, tallying 17 digs for the set. 

The Summit serve receive buckled in set 2 and unfortunately did not straighten itself out in time to give SHS a shot to come back in the set and match.  New Prov raced out to a 3-0 lead behind some tough serves but a serving error gave the Hilltoppers the ball back.  Guidetti answered the opportunity with an ace but the New Prov squad would not allow the Maroon and White to gather any momentum,  breaking serve and extending the lead back to 3 at 5-2.  Guidetti and Maldonado nailed 2 kills to get SHS back to contention at 5-4.  A Clapp kill and a Pioneer hitting error had SHS square at 6.

But that was about the end of all good things in the set and match as New Providence ran off a 6-0 run (2 aces) that effectively took the heart out of the Hilltopper squad.  Only a New Prov serving error stopped the run but a kill by the Pioneer OH resumed the onslaught as the Green and White ran off another 8-3 run to get the lead to 20-10.  Summit kept fighting and got another kill by Maldonado and a tip kill by Vostal to cut the lead to 8 at 22-14 but 2 points later, Summit was looking at the wrong end of a 24-14 score.  Maldonado notched another kill and her subsequent attack led to a Pioneer error which gave the Hilltoppers 16 points.  However, that was the end of the scoring as the Pioneers finally converted on match point to end the Hilltopper run in the County Tournament with a 25-16 set 2 and match win.

The difference in the set was the Pioneer serving as it struck for 7 aces and kept the SHS offense from ever getting into rhythm.  Maldonado had 3 of the 6 Summit kills in the set with no errors for a 60% kill % and .600 efficiency but the lack of passing accuracy limited the team´s offensive opportunities overall. 

Summit went 37/40 from the service line and notched only 2 aces.  Maldonado was a one woman wrecking crew, hitting for 7 of the team´s 15 kills as she went 7/12 on attack attempts with 0 errors for a .583 efficiency and 58.3 kill %..  Vostal was especially effective with 4 kills out of 7 swings for a .429 efficiency.  but there were not enough looks to compensate for the serving production of the Pioneers. 


HILLTOPPERS REBOUND FROM PIONEER LOSS WITH WIN OVER PANTHERS
The Hilltoppers outscored the Panthers of Roselle Park 28-14 for the match, had 19 kills to RP´s 10 and out-aced their opposition by a 7-4 margin in a 25-20, 25-23 win.

SHS took an early 3-0 lead but from that point on through 7 rotations, nothing much changed and when Walsh served again in rotation 7, the score was still only 12-9.  Roselle Park broke serve and went on a 2-0 run to knot up the score at 12 but the Hilltoppers responded with a 4-0 run (Goudreau kill and Guidetti ace)  to force a time-out at 16-12. 

The run continued after the time-out as Guidetti hit for another ace and Maldonado pushed a tip into an empty area to give SHS an insurmountable 18-12 lead.  The Panthers got as close as 22-19 but a Yorio kill followed by a Clapp kill all but sealed the deal in set 1 and, a few points later, SHS had wrapped it up at 25-20.

In set 2, Summit jumped out to a 5-1 lead and built tha lead up to 12-6 by rotation 6 forcing a time-out by their opponents.  Although the squad lost the next point,  Summit went on a 5-0 run to get a stranglehold on the set by a 16-7 lead that they would not relinquish.  The Panthers got as close as 18-14 but a Maldonado dump kill gave SHS their 5 point lead back at 19-14. 

Unexplicably though, Summit tried to force 5 consecutive plays and yielded 5 unforced errors to see Roselle Park cut the lead down to 1 at 19-18 but a 3-1 run gave the Hilltoppers the comfort they seemingly needed at 22-19 to close out the set.  Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Roselle Park the set was over and the Panthers roared back with a 3-0 run to tie the score at 22.  A block by Yorio gave SHS a 23-22 lead but another Summit fault tied up the score again but RP followed that up with a hitting error of their own to give Summit and Walsh an opportunity to close out the set and match. 

Despite a time-out by Roselle Park, Walsh got the serve in play and after 2 attack attempts failed to end the set, it was a Goudreau swing that put the nail in the coffin and finished off the Panthers for the Hilltoppers´ 10th win of the season. 

Guidetti hit for 3 of the team´s 7 aces,  the squad gave up only 4 aces in the 2 sets and Yorio (5 kills), Maldonado (4 kills) and Goudreau (4 kills) headed a multi-faceted  offense that kept the Panthers at bay.  Stocks led all players with 19 digs to anchor a solid defense.

JV HILLTOPPERS PICK UP THREE WINS, REACH COUNTY TOURNEY SEMI-FINALS, BREAK WINS RECORD

In an eventful week,  the JV Squad beat the Rahway Indians in the First Round of the Union County Tourney to avenge an earlier loss at Rahway and take the season series match-up 2W-1L.  The team followed that up with a 2-0 sweep on Dig Pink Night of the Roselle Park Panthers.  But the biggest win of the year thus far was the 2-0 victory over the Lancers of Governor Livingston in the #4 vs. #5 match-up in the Quarter-Finals to take the match-up series for the year 2W-1L and, more importantly, reach the Semi-Finals of the County Tournament for the first time in program history.

RAHWAY NO MATCH FOR HILLTOPPERS IN RUBBER MATCH
Summit began the week with a resounding 2-0 victory in the First Round of the JV County Tournament by the scores of 25-13, 25-13.  SHS had an 18-7 lead by the end of rotation 6 as each serving rotation scored a minimum of 2 points and the squad never looked back, taking the set 25-13.

Set 2 was more of the same but the damage was done in rotations 4 through 6 as Victoria Macarthur opened up rotation 4 with 5 service points (2 aces) to give the Hilltoppers a 10-2 lead.  Rebekah Thompson pushed the lead to 13-3 and Hope Basaman finished it off with a couple of more service points to give the Top a 16-6 lead that was more than enough of a lead to secure the second set victory.  If there was any lingering hope of a comeback by the Indians,  that was dashed by Jordan Parella who rattled off 5 service points to shut the door on a Rahway run and give the Maroon and White a 22-9 lead that, in effect, killed off any Rahway chance of a comeback.  Summit took set 2 and the win, 25-13.

DIG PINK MATCH YIELDS VICTORY FOR THE HILLTOPPERS, TIES WINS RECORD
The Hilltoppers took on the Roselle Park Panthers in the Dig Pink Match and came away with a 2-0 win by 25-18, 25-18 scores and in the win tied the record for most wins in a season with their 17th win to only 3 losses.

Summit could not have asked for a better start as Jordan Parella opened the match with a 6-0 run (2 aces) that provided the early lead the squad would eventually use to thwart various Panther runs in the match.  Roselle Park cut the lead down to 2 at 9-11 but SHS got to Parella again in rotation 7 with a 14-11 lead and the sophomore setter ran off another 3 points to, in effect, kill Roselle Park´s chances by giving the Top an 18-11 lead they would not relinquish in route to a 25-18 set 1 win.

Set 2 had a slightly different feel to set 1 but the squad relied on its serving yet again to establish a lead, albeit later in the set, and eventually close out the Panthers.  Trailing 6-5,  SHS got a tremendous scoring boost from Jackie Szabados who ran off 4 service points (2 aces) to give the Hilltoppers a 10-6 lead.  The Top held on to most of that lead through six rotations as Roselle Park still trailed 12-9.  Sarah Noa then expanded the lead with a number of short serves that led to errors by the Panthers and SHS had a 15-9 lead before the Panthers broke serve.  With a 17-13 lead in hand, Basaman stepped up and delivered 5 service points (1 ace) to put away the match effectively out of reach as the sophomore serving specialist gave the Hilltoppers a 22-13 lead. In a few rotations the match was over with the scoreboard showing 25-18 for the set 2 and match win, the team´s 17th win, matching the program´s total wins number.

SUMMIT EARNS HISTORIC WIN IN QUARTER-FINAL MATCH VERSUS GOVERNOR LIVINGSTON

The Hilltoppers and the Lancers had each won at home this season splitting the divisional series.  The match at GL had been a particularly bad one for the Top as the service game failed to yield points and the offense was stagnant at best leading to the GL victory.  Now the teams would meet at SHS once again with more than bragging rights on the line as the #4 SHS and the #5 GL would square off to determine who would move on to the Semis of the Union County Tournament.

The early signs were not good for Summit as GL benefited from a few Hilltopper miscues to get out to a 6-2 lead by rotation 3.  Down 9-5,  Rebekah Thompson was able to give the Top 2 service points to close the gap to 9-8 but GL responded with a 3-0 run that gave the Lancers a 13-8 lead through 6 rotations.  This forced a time-out by Coach Ross and in the very next point Summit regained control of the ball and got Sarah Noah up to serve.  Noah served up 4 service points forcing GL into free ball returns or errors and the GL coaching staff called a time-out before the sophomore DS could tie the score.  Noah came off the time-out with another service point and the squad had the score knotted at 14.  Despite a service break, Summit got the ball back immediately and over the next 3 rotations outscored the Lancers 6-3 to take a 20-17 lead.  By the time rotation 12 came about and Sabrina Ippolitto was serving, the result was academic as the Top held a 23-18 lead and nothing short of a catastrophe could derail the Summit win.  Ippolitto served up the final 2 points (2 aces) for the 25-18 set 1 win.

Parella got 4 assists in the set and Olivia Lawlor led the squad with 2 kills as the GL defense was great in keeping the Hilltopper attack at bay but it was the defensive efforts of the Summit players that made the difference as Thompson and Szabados combined for 9 of the team´s 13 digs that prevented the GL attack from ever being a factor in set 1 and led to the errors by the Lancers.

Set 2 saw the Maroon and White jump out to a 9-4 lead after 3 rotations thanks to Basaman and Szabados who rattled off 5 service points earned by the team in rotations 2 and 3.  SHS felt pretty good at the end of their service in rotation 4 as Summit held a 10-5 lead but the Lancers who had failed to get on a serving run did so then in rotation 5 and forced a Summit time-out with the score knotted at 10 after a 4-0 run by GL.

Coming off the time-out Summit was able to break serve and by the end of rotation 6, SHS had restored control of the set with a 2-0 run that had the scoreboard flashing 15-11, forcing a Lancer time-out.  GL could not muster a run on the next rotation and like many times this season, Parella stepped up and served up 3 consecutive points (1 ace) which gave the Top all the room it needed in set 2 to handle the Lancers as the score showed 17-13 by the time Parella was done.  GL got as close as 20-17 but a key kill by the Top re-established the 4 point cushion and brought in Szabados who delivered 2 service points to push the Lancers to the brink at 23-17.  The Berkeley Heights school needed a long run as the next service break was going to give Summit a match point but it was only able to manage 2 and bringing the score to 23-20, forcing a Summit TO.

Natalie Peralta passed up a perfect 3 pass to Parella who set the sophomore OH and Peralta nailed a kill to zone 1 to give SHS 4 match points at 24-20.  Victoria Macarthur stepped up to serve for the match with the fans and athletes buzzing with excitement in anticipation of the win.  The buzzing, flat serve by Macarthur forced a tip attack by GL that was handled by Szabados who was perfectly positioned for the attack. Olivia Lawlor took the 2nd ball but it was sent to the Lancers who again attacked the middle of the court just to have Szabados dig it again.  This time, the dig got to Parella who put a perfect ball up for Ippolitto who crushed it through the block and defense in zone 5 to spark the celebration of the 25-20 win and the historic moment in the program of JV getting to the semi-finals of the Union County Tournament for the first time.

The squad who has historically relied on its serving and timely offense needed its defense to shine and it did with 28 digs in set 2 alone to spark a 14 kill effort by its offense (12 assists Parella).  Noah, Szabados and Thompson combined for 16 of the digs (7, 5 and 4 respectively) to anchor the defense.  6 different players scored kills led by Catherine Eldridge who, along with Ippolitto, notched 3 kills for the set but tallied 4 for the match to lead the Maroon and White.  Szabados led the team with 10 digs for the match and contrary to prior matches, the Hilltoppers, who got only 5 aces for the match, were dominant defensively and had more kills than any other 2 set match this season to earn its first Semi-Final appearance and its record breaking 18th win of the season with a mainly sophomore squad!

Congrats JV and Coach Ross!

Union Catholic, Chatham and Elizabeth, Powerhouse Watchung Division Teams Stern Test For 9th Graders

The 9th Grade Squad had experienced a great deal of success against Mountain Division opponents and out of conference teams throughout this ¨Grand Re-Inaugural¨ season.  The tests have come but usually from programs whose Varsity was a well established successful program. 

Entering this stretch of matches in the season the 9th graders have fared as follows:

Out of Conference: 2W-2L (2 Wins versus Payne Tech, Losses to Chatham and Livingston)

In Conference: 6W-1L (beat Union 2x, all divisional wins and a Loss to Cranford)

In Division: 4W-1L (beat Linden 2x, GL, New Prov, Lost to Cranford)

Overall: 8W-3L


Chatham is a perennial state tournament participant at the Varsity level and Livingston is often in the top 25 in the state.  With UC being ranked top 5 this year on Varsity, Chatham having beaten the Hilltoppers already and Elizabeth a top 8 team in the county on the Varsity level, the next 3 matches were going to give the squad a glimpse of the future. 

VIKINGS ESCAPE SUMMIT UPSET
First up were the Vikings of Union Catholic.  The frosh serving attack threw UC for a loop in set 1 with Allison Wauters leading the charge early with a 4 point service run to give the team an early 6-1 lead but the Vikings began to chip away at the Hilltopper lead and by rotation 6, the score was knotted up at 11.  Wauters had another run 3-0 to give SHS a 15-12 lead but UC responded and tied the score up again at 15.  With Summit up 18-15 after Bridget Dempsey served up a trio of points, the Top held UC to 2 and Cecilia Webb came up to serve with a slim 2 point cushion at 19-17.  Webb did not disappoint in the stressful parts of the set and ripped 5 service points before a break of serve to push the Summit lead to 24-18 and essentially ending the set.  Final score set 1: 25-18.

Set 2 was a different story as the Vikings jumped out to an early lead and seemed to have control of the set from the onset.  By rotation 5 the UC Squad held an 11-5 lead but Webb stepped up again and served up 4 service points to get SHS within shouting distance of the Vikings at 9-12.  The teams traded points over the next few rotations and by the end of UC rotation 9, Summit still remained 2 points back at 14-16.  This time, Dempsey stepped up and delivered what looked like at the time like the first nail in the proverbial Viking coffin with a 5-0 run that flipped the score to 19-16 Summit.  Wauters had SHS on the verge of a 2 set sweep with a 2-0 run that saw Summit go up 22-18 but SHS could not drive the last nail through the coffin as UC went on an unexpected 7-0 run to steal victory from Summit in set 2 with a 25-22 score.

Set 3 began as a tight affair as both teams struggled to serve and made many errors due to the stress of each point but it was UC with an 8-2 run in rotations 4 and 5 that blew the set open taking a 13-6 lead that was just insurmountable.  Summit fought back to within 4 with a 4-1 run of their own but ran out of real estate as the Vikings took the set and match 15-10.

SUMMIT COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AGAINST THE COUGARS
The 9th graders fought valiantly in the return match versus the Chatham Cougars as part of the Dig Pink Event but still were not able to overcome the Cougar serving consistency as key errors cost the team their 9th win.

Set 1 was very close as neither team could push through any significant run.  Chatham opened up a 14-10 lead in rotation 6 but the Hilltoppers had closed it to 12-14 by the end of rotation 6.  But then the Cougar serving attack went to work and a 9-0 run sealed the deal for Chatham as the Hilltoppers fell 25-14. 

Set 2 was again a tight affair but it was the Hilltopper squad that struck first with their serving run as Allison Lipschitz lead a 6-0 run that got the Top a 16-9 lead before it was done.  Stella Yarden followed suit a couple of rotations later with a 3-0 run that saw SHS build a 22-11 lead and it seemed that Chatham was on its way out of the set but credit to the Cougars, a 7-0 run ensued which cut the Hilltopper lead to 18-22 before the Top broke serve.  At 23-18 Summit still looked in control but a service miss gave Chatham the ball back and before the Maroon and White got the ball back, Chatham had closed to 23-21.  Serving for the match at 24-21 Summit was unable to convert and 1 point later, the Cougars had all but erased an 11 point lead and were looking to fight off a third match point but was unable to do so and fell to Summit 25-23.  A win is a win but the comeback had sparked the Cougars and set up a difficult situation for the Top in set 3.

Summit was able to keep the Cougar serving attack in check through 6 rotations and trailed only by a 8-10 score.  A mini 3-0 run by Chatham began to stress the young Hilltoppers as the team saw a 13-10 deficit balloon to 16-10 before a service break occurred.  Another 3-1 run in the very next rotation saw Chatham go up 19-12 and the team just could not recover.  SHS got as close as 14-19 but Chatham followed up with a 5-0 run after a service break to close out the set 25-14.

SHS GETS 9TH WIN IN BATTLE WITH ELIZABETH
Set 1 was over early as the Hilltoppers attacked the Minutemen serve receive and won that battle early to cruise to a 25-9 win.  Dempsey started the festivities with a 7-0 run that had SHS up 10-4 before Elizabeth was able to get the ball back.  A 3-0 run by Vivian Roberts extended the lead to 15-7 and Lipshitz ended the suspense with a 7-0 run that had Summit at the edge of a set 1 win by a 23-8 score the squad would not relinquish in route to a 25-9 set win. 

Set 2 saw a much different match with Elizabeth running up a 9-3 lead before a service break got the ball to Naya Kim´s hands trailing 9-4.  Kim tallied 4 consecutive points to nearly erase the deficit and get the Hilltoppers right in the thick of the match at 9-8.  By rotation 6, SHS had stayed in the mix although trailing 14-11 after 7 rotations.  Down 18-13, the Top needed a service break and got one getting the ball into the hands of Kim again and the 9th grader continued where she left off in the first service rotation notching 2 more service points to get SHS close again at 18-16 before she was done.  Elizabeth tried to respond but a service error derailed that effort and Yarden stepped up down 17-19 and ripped 2 service points to get Summit even at 19.  The Minutemen responded to that adversity by out-scoring SHS 4-2 in the next 2 rotations to take the lead 23-21 and get that close to forcing a 3rd set.  Wauters then got the ball down 22-23 and with all the pressure on her serving and the young OH was a perfect 3/3 from the service line and got the Hilltoppers over the finish line with a 25-23 set and match win. 

With the win, Summit´s record improves to 9W-5L for the season.  Upcoming for the young guns are the Ridge Red Devils, the Pioneers of New Providence and the Raiders of Scotch Plains on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to close out their season. 
 
At the conclusion of this stretch of matches in the season the 9th graders have fared as follows:

Out of Conference: 2W-3L (2 Wins versus Payne Tech, 2 Losses to Chatham and 1 to Livingston)

In Conference: 7W-2L (beat Union 2x, Elizabeth once,  all divisional wins and a Loss to Cranford and Union Catholic)

In Division: 4W-1L (beat Linden 2x, GL, New Prov, Lost to Cranford)

Overall: 9W-5L

LIONS AND BULLDOGS AND 2 MORE VICTORIES, OH MY!

The JV and Varsity Hilltoppers took on the Lions of Roselle Catholic and the Bulldogs of Dayton to close out the week and came away with two more victories for each level of the program as the JV Squad improved to 15W-3L (2 shy of program record 17 wins!) and the Varsity Squad earned their 8th and 9th victories, tying the most wins by a Varsity Squad since 2011.

JV took care of the Lions 21-25, 25-15, 25-18 getting outstanding performances from Oberhuber from the outside as the sophomore hit for a season high 9 kills to lead the Hilltopper offense.  Parella had a stellar day, finding 6 different players for at least 1 kill as the sophomore setter had a season high 15 assists on the day.  Macarthur and Szabados led the serving barrage with 9 combined aces (5 and 4 respectively).  Noah was the defensive stalwart notching a team and season high 8 digs in the match.

The Bulldogs had a lot of bark but didn´t show much bite as the Hilltoppers were dominant in a 25-13, 25-13 two set sweep of Dayton. Parella hit for 4 aces and Macarthur for 3 as the match was largely decided on the strength of the Summit serve which kept Dayton from running any real effective offense.  Peralta made the most of her hitting opportunities as the sophomore OH hit for 3 kills and added 2 aces to lead the squad with 5 points.  Lawlor was also impactful from the front row, notching 3 kills as well.  Thompson was solid in defense as the sophomore DS tallied 3 digs to lead the team.  An impressive victory for the Hilltoppers who were missing 3 starters at the onset of the match.


VARSITY TAKE SEASON SERIES FROM ROSELLE CATHOLIC AND WIN IN 3 VS. DAYTON

The Maroon and White had tough losses versus the Pioneers and the Farmers, two of the top 7 ranked teams in the county.  It was Summit´s turn to be the hunted in the last 2 matches as the squad finished off the week against the Lions and the Bulldogs, two teams ranked lower than the #10 Hilltoppers.

The outcome was never in real doubt against the Lions early in set 1 as Walsh opened the set up 5-0 with 3 aces around a Yorio tip kill and Summit never looked back.  By the time Stocks served 2 aces in rotation 3, SHS had exploded to a 13-4 lead on its way to a 25-14 set 1 win.

Stocks and Walsh combined for 7 aces (4 and 3 respectively) and team served at an 88% clip with a 2.64 rating, keeping RC out of system most of the set.  Summit did not pass particularly well, rating only a 1.36 with only 1/11 perfect pass but the team only gave up one ace.  However, the lack of great passing would be an issue in set 2.  Maldonado led the team with 3 kills in the set to pace the offense.

Set 2 was a different story.  Summit trailed 6-2 early and continued to trail 9-12 midway through the set and the hitting errors and passing inconsistencies did not allow the offense to get on track and use its superior height advantage.  Down 14-11,  Maldonado and Vostal ripped 2 kills and had another strong hit that led to a free ball error to get SHS knotted up 14-14.  RC re-took the lead at 15-16 but Vostal notched another kill and Yorio had a dump kill in a 5-3 run that had Summit up 19-17, a lead they wouldn´t relinquish.  Hilltoppers finished on a 6-2 run to close out the Lions.

Maldonado led the offensive effort again with a 7 kill performance but, more importantly, committed only 1 error for a .400 efficiency and a team leading 46.7 kill %.  Goudreau and Vostal were very effective out of the middle, going a combined 7 kills (4 and 3 respectively) out of 15 attempts (46.7 kill %) with an efficiency of .266.  Lopez and Stocks anchored a steady defense with 9 digs apiece.


Against Dayton, the Hilltoppers took care of the Bulldogs 25-15 in set 1 as the team relied on 7 aces to thoroughly dominate the Dayton squad and shut down their offense.  The Bulldogs still out-killed Summit 7-5 but the Top out-scored Dayton 13-7 to take the set easily.  Walsh and Guidetti notched 6 aces (3 apiece) out of rotation 1 and 2 to set the tone as SHS opened a 7-2 lead after those 2 rotations and never looked back.

Set 2 however was a bit different as the Maroon and White could not muster any aces due to the play of the Bulldog serve receive.  SHS gave up 5 aces instead,  were out-killed 9-7 and out-scored 16-8 on their way to a 2nd set loss by the score of 25-22.

The deciding set was a tight affair with the Hilltoppers trailing by 11-9 after 6 rotations. Dayton would not allow a run by Walsh and Guidetti after rotation 7 and 8 and the Top saw their deficit expand to 14-11 after a hitting error.  At some point, the Hilltoppers realized that to get the win, points were going to have to be scored and Goudreau started the process with a shot down the line to zone 1.   An ace by Stocks and a tip kill by Maldonado continued the run and the Top had crawled back to within 1 at 14-15.  Tarashuk then stepped up and changed the set for good with a 6-1 run in which she notched 3 aces and saw Maldonado get 2 kills to put SHS in front for good at 20-16.  Another 5-1 run finished off the Bulldogs, this time spearheaded by Brennan who hit for 1 ace and forced free ball passes over that Maldonado put down for 2 more kills.

Maldonado led the team again with 8 kills and a .222 efficiency followed by Goudreau with 5 kills.  Stocks and Tarashuk passed at a 2.44 and 2.30 rating to steady the reception game that led to the win and Stocks tallied 20 digs to lead the defensive effort.  Guenther and Walsh combined for 18 assists in a dynamic offensive effort that saw 6 different players tally a kill.

Varsity Record now stands at 9W-11L.

WEEK OF GREAT VOLLEYBALL IS FULL OF HEARTBREAKS AND CELEBRATIONS

With 4 matches on tap for the week and county seedings on the line for JV and Varsity,  the Hilltoppers needed to make a strong statement.  Meanwhile,  9th graders,  although playing well,  were looking to snap a 3 game losing skid against Union on Tuesday.

JV opened up against New Providence with a 25-12, 25-16 win buoyed by Hope Basaman whose serving set the stage for both set victories as the sophomore serving specialist hit for a team leading 5 aces and 19 service points to lead the Hilltoppers to the 2 set sweep.  In set 1, with the score 5-2 New Providence, Basaman stepped up and delivered a 4-0 run (1 ace) that had SHS up 6-5.  When Basaman stepped up again, Summit held an 18-12 lead but a 7-0 (1 ace) run by the sophomore sealed the set win.

In set 2, the Hilltoppers were held in check most of the first 6 rotations as the team held a tenuous 9-8 lead but Basaman would be up in rotation 8 and with the score 11-9 SHS,  Basaman put the game away with an 8-0 run (3 aces) that got SHS to a 19-9 lead they just would not relinquish for their 12th win of the year and a sweep of the Pioneers for the season.

In match day 2,  the Hilltoppers faced off against the Union Farmers, a team that had handed the Top one of its 3 losses earlier in the season.  Summit was locked in a battle through 6 rotations with the Hilltoppers up 15-12 thanks to Basaman who ripped a 7-0 run (3 aces) to give Summit a 10-5 lead in rotation 3.  To Union´s credit, they kept coming back at the Maroon and White but  Catherine Eldridge hit some key kills to stymie various Union runs.

With SHS up 18-13 late however, a final Farmer 4-0 run threatened to derail the Top´s chances at set 1 with the Farmers breathing down the back of the Hilltoppers at 17-18 but, after a service break, Basaman again hit for an ace and got another service point to extend the lead to 20-17, giving SHS the breathing room it needed as it closed the set out with 25-21.

Summit struggled to handle the Union serving pressure in set 2 as the Hilltoppers allowed 5 aces through the first 6 rotations and were looking up at the wrong side of a 13-9 after 6 rotations.  Nothing much changed by rotation 12 as the Hilltoppers were down 22-18 before Sarah Noa served up 3 service points to get SHS to within 1 at 22-21 but a kill by Union stopped the run and a rotation later the Farmers stopped Jordan Parella after the Hilltoppers knotted the score up at 23.  But that was the last bit of fight the Top had as the Farmers pushed a 3rd set with a 25-23 set 2 win.

Set 3 was a tight affair with SHS leading Union 9-7 after 6 rotations and seeing the Farmers knot up the score at 14 by the end of 10 rotations.  Eva Oberhuber, Olivia Lawlor, Sabrina Ippolitto,  Natalie Peralta and Eldridge all contributed offensively in the set to keep SHS in the set especially in light of the fact that the Hilltopper serving was not inducing quick points via the ace.

Victoria Macarthur had had a quiet but effective serving game in the match but it was with the score knotted at 14 that the sophomore DS exploded with 4 service points (1 ace) that allowed the Hilltopppers to earn their largest lead of the set and one the squad would not yield.  The Farmers shot back to within 2 but Rebekah Thompson followed up with 2 service points to effectively put away Union with a 21-16 lead.  The Farmers got within 2 at 19-21 but SHS shut the door with an Oberhuber kill that gave the ball to Sarah Noa who finished off the Farmers for an upset win, their 13th with only 3 losses.

9th GRADERS SNAP 3 GAME SKID, RECORD AT 8W-3L

The 9th graders played the Farmers in the Auxiliary Gym having beaten the Union squad in a tight 3 sets earlier in the season.  This match-up was a reflection of the improvement of the squad as the Hilltoppers dominated the Farmers with a 2-0 sweep by scores of 25-11, 25-22.  This win snapped a 3 game losing streak and their record now stands at 8W-3L.

TWO OUTSTANDING MATCHES, TWO CLOSE CALLS, TWO HEARTBREAKING LOSSES

New Providence #7 UCIAC Seed
The Varsity Squad opened the week with the Pioneers of New Providence in the return match after a dominant win by the Green and White in New Prov by 25-10, 25-8 scores.  New Prov was entering the match 3rd in the division while SHS was fifth.

New Providence relied on its standout OH and consistent serving attack in set 1 to dominate in the latter stages after SHS had knotted up the score at 14 to go on a 11-3 run to close out set 1 25-17.  The Pioneers outscored Summit 11-7 in the set but the lack of scoring by New Providence reflected the Hilltopper game plan, limit the New Prov scoring and hope to force errors through defensive efforts and get enough offense to get over the hump.

Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers get outscored by 2 (15-13) but the squad matched the Pioneer kill total and committed less hitting errors in the clutch points.   After another close set with New Prov being able to withstand Summit runs by relying on their serve attack,  and had built a 19-16 lead.  Goudreau and Maldonado tallied back to back kills to close out points off tremendous defense to give SHS hope at 18-19 and Summit forced the Pioneers into 2 hitting errors to overtake NP at 20-19.  Guidetti hit an ace and SHS held a slim 21-20 lead after a Pioneer kill.  Another kill by the Green and White knotted up the score but a serving error gave Summit the ball back at 22-21.  Another hitting error and SHS could taste the set 2 win at 23-21 but the New Prov OH slammed a kill to crawl back to 23-22.  The Pioneers were charged up after that kill and using their serving pressure, they fed their primary hitter two more times for a 24-23 lead and a match point.

In big points you need big plays, those moments are what make big players and the squad is finding that Maldonado has come through under pressure more often than not.  A perfect service return by Guidetti led to a straight kill by Maldonado to fend off match point.  A long rally ensued off another big serve by Tarashuk under massive pressure that Maldonado attacked but New Prov returned it and set up an attack to the outside.  But Stocks, the Summit Libero,  came up with a huge dig that set up Maldonado again for a tip kill that stunned the Green and White squad.  Another Tarashuk bomb led to an overpass which middle blocker put away emphatically for the set 2 victory 24-26.

Set 3 was a tremendous volleyball battle with neither team really committing many errors throughout.  New Providence out-scored SHS 16-14, the difference in the set win.  Summit committed only 9 total errors in the set, but 3 of them in the last 7 points in the match.

Guidetti led the way with 3 aces from the service line and was perfect from serve receive with 7/7 safe passes on a 2.17 pass rating.  Maldonado had the highest efficiency offensively with a .125 on 6 kills and Yorio led the offense with 7 kills.  Stocks´ 14 digs led the team and anchored an outstanding defensive team effort.

Union #3 UCIAC Seed
Summit followed up their outstanding effort versus the Pioneers by hosting the Farmers of Union, the #3 seed in Union County.  Summit played well in stretches in the set 1 loss at Union High in the first match-up by a 25-18 score.  Set 2 was more of the same as Summit struggled to find points and dropped a 25-15 decision.  Union outscored SHS 16-10 in set 2 and 14-9 in set 1. 

Summit knew it could compete with the Farmers as the Hilltoppers had gotten to within 1 of Union at 17-18 in set 1 and the set 2 match was close until roughly the midway point with the scoreboard showing 9-9 before Union went on a 9-0 run that effectively ended the Hilltopper threat.

Could SHS put it all together in the match at home?

Summit and Union both scored 11 points in the first set but in very different ways.  SHS relied on a balance of aces and kills with some blocks as the squad knew kills would be hard to come by against this squad.  Union relied on creating multiple attack opportunities off their defense and needed their kill number to be high.  Summit thwarted those efforts in set 1 by using their serve to prevent Union from running their offense in a  25-18 set 1 win that stunned the Farmers. 

The turning point of the set came after the squads were knotted up at 12.  A long rally that saw the Hilltoppers stay alive off 2 digs by Stocks and 1 by Guidetti allowed time for Maldonado to put down a kill that sparked a 7-0 run that blew the set open.  Vostal nailed 2 kills and Yorio tallied a kill in the run while Brennan ripped an ace in the run to fuel the run.  Union cut the lead to 3 (20-17) but the Hilltoppers responded with 2 aces by Walsh in a 4-0 run that all but ended Union´s hopes. 

The Summit serving attack was deadly with a 2.45 rating as a team led by Walsh who rated at an obscene 3.67 (4.0=ace) and the team´s serve receive gave up only 2 aces and passed as a unit at a 1.94.  With only 5 team kills the premium was on good swings and eliminating as many errors as possible and Maldonado led the team in all facets with 2 kills and a .286 efficiency and a kill % of 28.6% as the junior OH committed no errors in 7 attempts.  Stocks was a defensive stalwart notching 10 digs just in this set.

Set 2 was a bit of a turnaround unfortunately as the Farmers tallied 13 points but this time hitting for 8 kills but adding 5 aces.  Although SHS scored 9 points, it could not stop the Farmer serve attack.  The team had a 1.50 pass rating which set up the rest of the set.  Union was up 14-6 by rotation 6 and that was enough of a lead for Union to close the set out.  The Hilltoppers played even with Union from that point on so momentum had been curtailed but the 3rd set loomed. 

Union seemed to begin where it left off in set 2, up 5-1 after an ace.  Clapp got a kill out of the opposite and Vostal got a solo block to get SHS to within 3 at 5-8 but the Farmers won the next long rallies to extend the lead to 5 at 10-5.  Vostal yet again put a ball down and the Summit serve attack forced a Union hitting error to again get the lead to 3 but Union cut off that mini-run and ran off 3 points of their own to get the score to 13-7 and things began to look bleak.

Summit rotated back to Walsh and despite Union handling the serve well, the squad tallied 2 hitting errors to give SHS hope at 14-10.  The celebrations were short lived as Union broke serve and got a timely kill to push the set closer to conclusion at 16-10.  The match began to take the look of a mirror with one team getting a 2-0 run just to see the other team do the same.  A Summit serving error saw the Farmers take a 19-14 lead and things looked all but academic. 

Vostal again got a big swing and kill to get SHS to 16-20 to be followed by a long rally that had the Farmers hit the net with their attack so SHS had crawled to within 3 at 17-20.  The teams traded points and at 18-22, a long rally ensued that SHS had to win.  The Hilltoppers got digs by Goudreau, Brennan to stay alive  until Yorio, on her 4th attack tipped a ball for a kill, 19-22.  Two hitting errors by Union and a kill by Yorio had SHS all knotted up at 22 with Union.   But then the wheels fell apart a little bit by the Hilltoppers as the squad had a hitting error and a free ball return error that gave the Farmers 2 match points at 24-22.

Union serve error... 23-24, 1 match point down.  Yorio ace... 24 all... teams traded service errors and the scoreboard showed 25-25.

But that was as close as the Hilltoppers would come as Union won the next two points to close out the Hilltoppers 27-25. 

Union out-scored SHS 15-9 with 12 kills but the Summit D forced 11 attack attempts to go awry in a match where SHS came within a whisker of beating the #3 team in the county.

JV EARNS #4 SEED IN COUNTY TOURNAMENT

VARSITY GETS #10 SEED IN VARSITY COUNTY TOURNAMENT!

VARSITY WITH BIG WIN VS. CRANFORD TO SALVAGE TOUGH WEEK

Varsity dropped a 2 set decision to the Dragons of Kent Place, currently undefeated and #1 in the Mountain Division to start the week, continued their losing ways against the Cougars of Columbia in a 2 set loss but somehow fought back from adversity to beat the Cranford Cougars in a thrilling 3 set match to improve to 7W-9L.

The Squad was simply out-gunned from the service line against the Dragons and the Hilltoppers could not therefore match any offense that Kent Place brought to the table.  Summit was out-aced 16-2 and out-killed 21-7 in a 25-12, 25-9 loss.  Sarah Brennan was the only Hilltopper who gave the Dragons any trouble from the service line, going 5/6 with 2 aces.  Erin Vostal and Sarah Maldonado combined for 4 kills apiece to lead the Hilltopper attack. 

In a lackluster game, the Maroon and White suffered from serving errors and unforced offensive errors at critical points in the match to see what was a winnable game slip away to a 25-17, 26-18 loss versus Columbia.  The Cougars out-killed the Hilltoppers by a 19-12 margin and the Columbia Squad got an 8-4 advantage in the ace department over SHS in a combined 30-16 point advantage for Columbia. 
The bright spot for Summit was its passing game as the team passed at a 1.93 rating and Columbia only passed at a 1.61.  Kasey Walsh was deadly from the service line going 6/6 with 1 ace and a team leading 2.67 rating.  Sarah Brennan, Meghan Tarashuk and Kiera Stocks took the bulk of the serve receive going for a combined 27/29 safe passes and earning a pass rating of 2.43, 2.33 and 2.25 respectively.  Sylvie Goudreau was the bright spot offensively, getting 4 kills out of 12 attempts with only 1 error.

But the Hilltoppers saved the best for last.  Summit beat the Cranford Cougars 26-24, 21-25 and 25-20 to salvage the week and gain some momentum into this upcoming week. 

Things looked bleak early for the Summit squad against Cranford as the team saw the Cougars jump out to a 9-1 lead through 2 rotations.  SHS got back into the match after a Maldonado kill that had the score at 6-12 sparked a 7-0 run that had the Hilltoppers tied at 12.  Maldonado tallied a kill, Brennan got 3 aces and a kill, Yorio notched a kill and Stocks earned a kill as well to fuel the furious comeback.

Despite a break in serve,  a Yorio kill led to an Abby Doyle ace to give Summit its first lead of the set at 14-13.  Cranford fought back using their offense and had earned a 3 point lead at 17-14 before a kill by Yorio stymied the run.  The Cougars responded to a Goudreau kill that had the Hilltoppers within 3 at 16-19 with a 4-0 run that had the Hilltoppers at the brink of their 5th straight loss.  A Maldonado kill seemed to just delay the inevitable after a serving error gave Cranford 7 match points.

Vostal blocked a Cranford attack for 18-24.  A Maldonado well placed tip, 19-24, which forced a second time-out by Cranford.  Meghan Tarashuk was unperturbed by the time-out and continued to serve tough which caused another Cougar passing error, 20-24.  Two consecutive aces and 1 hitting error and SHS had fought off 6 match points at 23-24.  A kill by Cranford seemed to end it but the Cougars were on the net, 24-24, Summit miracle to continue.  Vostal sent an overpass by the Cougars through the floor and SHS had their first match point.  Ace by Tarashuk and the stunning comeback was complete.

Summit scored 20 points in the set versus 15 by Cranford, and held a 3 point advantage in kills over Cranford which proved to be the different in the sei.

After a tip by Maldonado had SHS up 13-4 in set 2, it all seemed academic but a 6-2 run saw the Cougars close the gap to within 5 at 15-10.  Another 5-2 run had Cranford to within 2 at 17-15 but a kill by Vostal and Clapp seemed to take the sting out of the Cranford offense with Summit up 19-15. 

After the teams traded points, SHS looked just fine with a 20-16 lead but the Cougars, to their credit, took advantage of every Hilltopper miscue and went on an 8-1 run to seal set 2 25-21.  Summit missed 6 consecutive serves to open the door for the Cougars.

Vostal tallied a team leading 4 kills in the set (44.4% kill % and hitting efficiency of .444) but it was not enough to turn the Cranford tide.

The deciding set was very much in doubt as Cranford rode the emotion of their comeback to an early 9-4 lead.  SHS had the lead down to 2 after a Maldonado dump shot at (8-10) but the Cougars slowly pulled away again over the next few rotations and had the lead back up to 6 at 16-10 after an ace.  A tip by Yorio gave Summit a shot and Guidetti served out the next  5 service points (1 ace, 1 kill Clapp) to get the Top to within 1 at 15-16.

Whatever momentum Cranford had gotten off their 2nd set win was all but gone.  SHS was on the move and despite a couple of freeball errors gave Cranford a 18-15 lead,  a kill by Maldonado broke serve, an ace by Stocks cut the lead to 1 and a dump shot by Vostal had Summit tied at 18!  Time-out Cranford.

Coming off the time-out, Maldonado and Stocks were instrumental on getting 2 digs that led to a Maldonado kill to give SHS its first lead at 19-18.  Maldonado hit another kill in transition and Stocks ripped another ace to throw the crowd into a frenzy at 21-18.  Cranford fought back to within 1 at 20-21 but the Hilltoppers slammed the door on any comeback hopes with a scramble play where the ball had literally been mere inches from the floor and a Carnford point before the Cougars in stunned disbelief committed the hitting error to give SHS a 22-20 lead.  Another Cougar hitting error caused by a difficult swing by Maldonado led to Cranford´s last time-out.

Tarashuk again unperturbed caused the Cougars to go out of system which led to another hitting error and Erin Vostal drove the dagger through the heart with a spike out of zone 3 that closed the set 25-20 and earned the Top their 7th win.

Tarashuk was nearly perfect from the service line in crunch time, going 20/21 with 3 aces and a 2.33 serve rating for the match.  Stocks was also stellar with a 15/17 with 2 aces and a 2.06 rating.  Brennan rounded out the serving attack with a 9/10 with 2 aces and a team leading 2.50 serve rating. 

The 2 middles, Goudreau and Vostal, were extremely active in the offense combining for 13 kills on 27 swings with only 2 errors but the spotlight was on Maldonado who tallied 11 kills on 23 swings with only 2 errors for a .391 efficiency and a kill % of 47.8%. Defensively, Stocks came up with 24 digs, 9 of them in the deciding set while Vostal put down 2 blocks.

JV GETS 2 MORE WINS TAKING DOWN A PAIR OF COUGARS

The JV Squad got two more wins for the week, beating the Cougars of Columbia and the Cougars of Cranford for their 10th and 11th wins of the season,

The Lady Hilltoppers took down Columbia 25-19, 25-16 thanks to the contributions of Sabrina Ippolitto who hit for 6 kills and chipped in with 3 digs,  Hope Basaman who had a team high 6 aces and Jordan Parella who ran an incredibly efficient offense, dishing out 11 assists, adding 3 digs and 1 block on defense and tallying 3 kills offensively to lead the SHS squad.

Cranford had dropped a tough match to the Hilltoppers at home and were looking to return the favor but SHS used a balanced attack led by setter Parella who dished out another 14 assists, 6 of which went to Catherine Eldridge and another 8 went to Ippolitto and Olivia Lawlor (4 apiece) to send the Cougars back to their den.  Jackie Szabados led the ace barrage with 5 aces (4 in 2nd set) and Sarah Noa anchored a tough defense with 6 digs to lead the Squad to a 25-19, 25-18 sweep.

The JV Squad will look to pick up 2 more wins before county tournament seeding  later on this week as they face New Prov Monday and Union on Tuesday.

9th GRADERS PLAY EXPERIENCED SQUADS, HOLD THEIR OWN

The 9th Graders had a buzzsaw of a week against the Livingston Lancers and the Cranford Cougars, well established programs from the 9th grade up and the team held their own against these squads who have many players who have been playing together since middle school.

Hilltoppers dropped a 2-0 decision to the Lancers but surprised the more experienced squad in set 2 with a superb effort that led to a tight set solved in essentially overtime by a 29-27 score.  The squad came back against Cranford on Friday and dropped the first set but, as is this team´s M.O., they did not wilt and came back to take set 2 and force a deciding 3rd set against a much more experienced squad.  Although the Hilltoppers dropped the 3rd set, the team showed that it could compete against these more experienced squads and be highly competitive.

Next up for the Top, New Providence, a team that the Hilltoppers beat on the road.

Ninth graders have a 7W-3L record currently and are in a mini 2 game losing streak entering the match against the Pioneers.