VILLA WALSH (#1)
Summit opened the day with Villa Walsh and split the 2 games by a 22-25, 22-16 scores. Summit out-scored VW 29-23 for the match. Stocks led the way from the service line with 4 aces and defensively led the team with 7 digs. Vostal led the way offensively with 4 kills and chipped in a block. Guenther dished out 5 assists in the match.
MORRIS TECH (#6)
Summit´s 2nd match was against Morris Tech. Summit again split the score with a 25-22, 14-16 score and outscored their opponent by a 22-14 score . Walsh got 2 aces to lead the team from the service-line. Maldonado edged 2 other Summit hitters for the team lead in kills with 5. Stocks another 7 digs and Goudreau chipped in 2 blocks to round out the defensive efforts. Walsh and Guenther earned 5 assists each.
ST. MARY´S (#4)
Summit had a great third match with a hard-fought victory over St. Mary´s by a 25-19, 19-24 scores. Summit out-scored their opponent by a 17-13 margin. Tarashuk led the way with 2 aces and Maldonado and Yorio got 3 kills apiece. Stocks and Guidetti chipped in 2 digs each. Walsh notched up 9 assists.
MOUNTAIN LAKES (#5)
Summit took 2 close games against Lakes (25-23, 25-21), out-scoring Lakes 20-11. Guidetti bombed for 3 aces, Maldonado and Vostal yet again lead the way with 4 kills each and Stocks had a match high 8 digs while Yorio and Vostal chipped in a block. Walsh also led the squad in assists with 5.
SEMI-FINALS VS. MOUNTAIN LAKES (SHS #2 vs. #5)
Summit wins 25-22 and out-scores Lakes by a 14-12 margin, a true reflection of the final score but a closer look at the numbers revealed why the Hilltoppers will live and die by their performance on the service line. Lakes out-killed SHS by a 10-7 margin but lost the ace battle as the Maroon and White hit for 7 aces while only giving up 1. That turned out to be the difference in the match and the cushion Summit needed to win the match in a come-from-behind fashion.
The score was knotted at 7 after Summit missed a serve but Lakes followed suit with a miss of their own and SHS held an 8-7 lead. Doyle came in to serve and ripped 2 aces and another serve that had Lakes sending an errant ball out of bounds and the team held an 11-7 lead. SHS still held a 3 point lead after a Lakes´ hitting error at 12-9 but then the wheels came off the Maroon and White offense as a couple of quick offensive errors and subsequent passing errors saw Lakes go on a 7-0 run that flipped the game on its head at 12-16. A Yorio kill and a Guidetti ace got the Top to within 2 at 14-16 and lifted the Hilltopper spirit.
Summit fought to within 1 at 18-19 but a service error derailed that run. Lakes couldn´t convert on that opportunity as they gave the ball back on a service error of their own and a Goudreau push kill had the teams knotted at 21. The momentum had swung and it was just a matter of who could be the team that could execute their offense and serving error free. Summit took the opportunity given and got 2 kills by Yorio, an ace by Walsh and a final ace by Yorio for their last 4 scoring points of the match to take the set and win 25-22.
Five of the seven serving players in the match hit for at least 1 ace in the win and Doyle and Walsh both led the squad with 2 apiece. Yorio´s heroics late in the match gave her the team kill lead with 3 kills and also the scoring lead with 4 points. Brennan chalked up a team leading 4 digs in the win and Walsh dished out 3 assists for the team lead.
The win cemented the first time Summit had ever won a semi-final match at the Fall Classic and, obviously, the first time they would be playing in the final, this year against Payne Tech who had upset Villa Walsh in the semis and who was to face SHS on Tuesday in Newark in a regular season matchup.
PAYNE TECH LATE RUN THWARTS HILLTOPPER BID TO FALL CLASSIC CROWN
(SHS #2 vs. #3)
Summit dropped a close 20-25 decision to Payne Tech in a final matchup that was a classic set of runs and, unfortunately, Payne Tech had the last major run to seal their victory. Summit outscored Tech 13-12, hitting for a 10-6 kill advantage but the Newark school out-aced the Maroon and White by 1 (4-3), a reflection of how they used tough serving to get SHS out of system and cause unforced errors which turned the match. SHS had 9 combined hitting or free ball return errors and added 4 service errors versus Payne Tech, who gave the Top a combined 6 error points all match, and only 1 from the service line.
Payne had the first run of the match early, jumping to a 5-2 lead after a Summit fault, service error, hitting error and free ball return error. SHS broke serve on a Goudreau kill and that sparked an 11-3 run by the Maroon and White fueled by aces by Stocks and Doyle and kills by Vostal, Clapp, Yorio and Goudreau to give the Top a 13-8 lead and seemingly control of the set.
Despite a break of serve, SHS kept the pressure on with kills by Yorio and Goudreau and saw themselves inching closer to the title at 16-10. Payne took a time-out and the momentum generated by the Hilltoppers was lost in a mere 3 minutes. Payne Tech went on a 7-1 run that had the game knotted up at 17 but the momentum had swung and the Payne serving attack had done its damage. In the 7-1 run, Summit had 4 hitting errors, 1 free ball return error and saw a Payne Tech ace and kill take away their lead. Only a service error by the opponent stopped the run but the match had changed tone.
Payne took the lead back on a key kill by their OH but Summit fought back despite the palpable stress in the air, getting crucial kills by Vostal and Maldonado to get control at 19-18. But an inopportune service error eliminated any momentum swing and that error lifted Payne Tech to another level emotionally. The opponent hit for 2 consecutive aces to give Payne a 21-19 lead and despite the lead being miniscule, the Hilltoppers seemed to have no answers for the Payne Tech aggression. A Summit hitting error followed by another Payne ace (3rd in 4 serves at this juncture) had SHS reeling trailing 23-19 but a powerful kill to zone 1 by Maldonado opened the door for the Top at 20-23. Unfortunately, another serving error (2nd in a row), shut the door on any comeback and another offensive error by the Top closed the match out at 25-20.
The close score through most of the match hid the fact that the squad was scoring mainly on the serving of Stocks (team leading 2 aces) and Walsh who led the Hilltoppers in serve rating. Vostal led the team offensively with 3 kills and 4 different players had at least 1 kill in an impressive kill percentage of 55.6%. However, the 8 errors stifled that number, making the efficiency rating for Summit of a mere .111. Stocks was a defensive force with a team leading 7 digs and Walsh ran a highly effective offense with 8 assists.
The Summit run in the Fall Classic was , overall, a tremendously positive one and it allowed the Hilltoppers to play 10 sets of tight, closely contested games that demonstrated that the team will be in a lot of matches moving forward thanks to their serving and much improved offense.
A look at the tournament in general saw the Hilltoppers out-kill their opponents by a 64-49 margin for a 10.4 kills per match average. The team also out-aced their opponents by a 34-20 margin, hitting for 3.4 aces per match and only giving up 2.0 per match. The team had a side-out percentage (receive) of 49% while opponents got only 44.8% and SHS point scored (serving) at a 55.2% clip while opponents were at 51%.
Here are the top players in each category listed:
ACES: Stocks 8, Guidetti 6, Walsh 6
SERVE RATING: Walsh 2.55, Doyle 2.29, Tarashuk 2.26
SERVE %: Lopez 100%, Doyle 95.7%, Walsh 93.3%
ACE %: Stocks 23.5%, Guidetti, 22.2%, Doyle 20%
KILLS: Maldonado 18, Vostal 16, Yorio 13
KILL %: Vostal 93%, Maldonado 81.8%, Yorio 65%
EFFICIENCY: Vostal .860, Maldonado .636, Yorio .300
BLOCKS: Vostal, Yorio, Goudreau (all with 2)
DIGS: Stocks 34, Brennan 8, Walsh 8
ASSISTS: Walsh 26, Guenther 23, Doyle 7
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