Given that context, the Lady Hilltoppers have usually not made it past the quarter-finals of the tournament when they have qualified for the playoff rounds. That is, until this season. This Saturday, the team earned the highest seed entering the playoff round (4th) and made it to the semi-finals before losing to eventual tournament champion Piscataway (#1 seed).
MATCH 1 - Scotch-Plains Fanwood
The squad made a couple of changes to the line-up and order in which they began their first 2 regular matches earlier this week and it showed in some uncertainty and reaction to plays in their first match versus the Raiders of Scotch-Plains. Summit dropped the first game 21-17 as key errors off the service line and some miscommunication cost SHS some key points. On a positive note, the lineup tweaks allowed Sylvie Goudreau more opportunities to swing and her 3 kills were tied for the team lead in game 1. Annabella Yorio had 3 kills as well as the entire offense hit for 8 kills, 1 block and 3 aces for 12 points, a higher output than earlier in the week. The only negative was that the switches in lineup clearly affected the other hitters who had already been producing in the prior matches this week and the offense was clearly not balanced. The second game saw the serve receive falter and the offense then could not get get any consistent flow and the 21-13 loss was a reflection of that fact. However, the serving attack was alive and well and kept the Hilltoppers in the match late as the team´s power serving and 4 ace production (Cassandra Hrehorovich 3 aces) forced SPF into numerous offensive errors.
Team Leaders Match 1
Aces- Hrehorovich 3
Kills- Goudreau, Yorio 3
Blocks- Sarah Maldonado 2
Digs- Gabbie Guidetti, Kiera Stocks 3
Assists- Kasey Walsh 5
Total Points- Goudreau, Maldonado 4
MATCH 2 - JFK Iselin
The Hilltoppers had to wait nearly 90 minutes for their next match and it took nearly half of the entire game 1 versus JFK for the squad to get on track. By that point, the Maroon and White were trailing by 10 points and despite playing even with their opponents by the end of the game, Summit fell by a 21-11 score. Game 2 was a different story as the team got into a rhythm and finally seemed comfortable with the new lineup rotations. Summit controlled the game from the onset and defeated JFK 21-10, winning the match by point differential.
Team Leaders Match 2
Aces- Julissa Lopez 3
Kills- Maldonado 5
Blocks- Goudreau 2
Digs- Stocks 6
Assists- Kyra Guenther 4
Total Points- Maldonado 6
MATCH 3 - St. Thomas Aquinas (formerly Bishop Ahr)
Summit faced off against St. Thomas Aquinas in the last of their pool play immediately after the JFK match and the familiarity with the new lineup was beginning to show. The 21-14, 21-17 scores were not reflective of the Hilltopper dominance in certain parts of the match. SHS committed numerous errors late but the byproduct of their aggression was a much higher point scoring output that led to their victory. The Maroon and White scored 15 points in game 1 and 19 in game 2 to more than overcome any errors. This was the best point scoring output by any Hilltopper squad in the last 4 seasons in any type of match. Would this trend hold versus their rival Rahway in their final pool play match?
Team Leaders Match 3
Aces- Lopez, Sarah Brennan 4
Kills- Maldonado, Yorio 5
Blocks- Goudreau, Yorio, Erin Vostal 1
Digs- Stocks 6
Assists- Guenther 4
Total Points- Yorio 6
MATCH 4 - Rahway
Summit ended pool play with rival Rahway in a preview of their match on this upcoming Monday. Both the Hilltoppers and the Indians had to wait approximately 40 minutes to play in their final match. Two game wins by the Maroon and White would guarantee a top 4 seed in playoffs and 2 wins by the Indians could propel them to 6th seed. SHS took game 1 21-19 but the Indians were the beneficiary of 5 consecutive Summit unforced errors toward the end of game 1 to make the score appear closer than it had seemed most of the match-up. Game 2 was a different story as SHS got out to a lead early and never looked back, closing it out 21-10 for a comfortable 2 game sweep. Game 1 saw the Lady Hilltoppers score 10 points and 14 more in game 2.
Team Leaders Match 4
Aces- Guidetti 5
Kills- Maldonado 7
Blocks- none
Digs- Stocks 9
Assists- Guenther, Abby Doyle 5
Total Points- Maldonado 7
MATCH 5 - Quarter-Finals v. Linden
The #4 v #5 match-up could not be any more exciting for Summit as the Tigers and the Hilltoppers have always had very close matches throughout the years. A few years ago, the Tigers were odds on favorites to win the Mountain Division but the Hilltoppers, slated to finish near the bottom of the division that year, went into Linden and upset the eventual division champions in 3 sets. Fast forward to 2018, the Hilltoppers were looking to get off to a fast start and the Tigers were the upset minded ones and almost pulled off a huge upset in Summit in week one as SHS escaped with a tight 3 game win. Linden returned the favor in the 2nd meeting of the squads in Linden and had a resounding 2 game win in the county tournament over the Hilltoppers.
The quarter-final match-up turned out to be another close affair but it was evident early on that the serving advantage would go to Summit. This led to many more attack opportunities for the Hilltoppers and allowed SHS to dictate the offensive pace and outscore the Tigers on this day for a 25-21 win. The final score was closer than it needed to be as once again the Maroon and White found themselves with a large lead late but a run of unforced errors saw the Tigers close to within 3 at 22-19 before the Hilltoppers pulled away again and closed out the game.
Of note, the Hilltoppers hit for 5 aces as a team with 4 of the 6 servers getting at least 1 ace. The team scored 8 kills as well and earned 13 total points in the match which is a higher point total production than last year´s average.
Team Leaders Match 5
Aces- Brennan 2
Kills- Yorio 5
Blocks- none
Digs- Stocks 5
Assists- Walsh 4
Total Points- Yorio 5
MATCH 6 - Semi-Finals v. Piscataway
Even though Summit upset Piscataway two seasons ago in the Heal the Children Tournament for the Championship that year, the performance at the Raider tournament this year was not up to the level necessary to be competitive this time around. Perhaps the length of the day, perhaps the realization that the team had already achieved its most successful outing at this tournament, perhaps a very motivated Piscataway team, maybe all of those reasons and more led to a lackluster effort in the last match. The reality was that Summit just ran out of answers early against a talented and superior team on this day and dropped a 25-4 decision in the semis. A great run by the Top Squad that hopefully will translate to a great upcoming regular season week.
Team Leaders Match 6
Aces- none
Kills- Vostal 2
Blocks- none
Digs- Guidetti 2
Assists- Walsh, Guenther 1
Total Points- Vostal 2
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