Varsity went 0W-2L against Union Catholic and Governor Livingston this week. Despite the results, a lot of positives came out of each match as the squad is going through the process of learning to win in big moments.
The UC Vikings and GL Crusaders came in with numbers and individuals that seemed to indicate that they would have better offensive production than the Hilltoppers and therefore the matches were billed as the experience, talent and depth of UC vs. the multi-pronged offense and size of SHS while the GL match was billed as a matchup of the First Team All-County outside hitters of the Crusaders vs. the multi-pronged offense of the Hilltoppers.
The underlying message was the same in both cases, the media and the opponents believed that the Hilltoppers would need to prove they could stay with the more talented offensive pool of their opposition. As the dust settles on both those losses, one thing is clear. Summit more than held their own from the offensive side of things and from a defensive perspective.
In total, SHS struck for 38 kills and UC and GL only for 31. Summit got 9 blocks and UC/GL got 5 blocks. The only detrimental number was the ace number, 6 aces for SHS and 14 for UC/GL. In summary, the Hilltoppers scored 53 points in the losses while their opposition 50 points. From a serve receive perspective, despite the ace disadvantage, Summit passed at a 1.69 rating while UC/GL at a 1.67, nearly identical. The difference in both matches, although from different areas of the game, was the error rate. UC/GL had 10 hitting errors, 4 service errors and 5 faults called on them, giving the Top 19 points over the 2 matches. The Lady Hilltoppers had 21 hitting errors, 11 service errors and 9 faults whistled against them, giving their opposition 41 points.
Gabbie Guidetti and Erin Vostal led the way with 2 aces apiece from the 5 and 6 serving slots and had the highest serve ratings on the team (Vostal 2.36 / Guidetti 2.09). Guidetti, Kiera Stocks and Sarah Brennan had the bulk of the serve receive work, attempting 67 passes of the 94 total the team faced. The three defensive specialists passed at a 1.88 rating. Brennan led the trio with a 50% perfect pass (3.0/3.0) result (12/24) as, combined, the three passers gave Kasey Walsh perfect passes on nearly 42% of all pass attempts allowing the offense to flow in system more often than not, allowing the senior Setter to tally 36 assists (her highest 2 match total this year) against her toughest opposition.
The offense was multi-pronged and effective as 6 hitters tallied at least 10 attack attempts in both matches. The squad hit for 38 kills in both matches combined at a kill rate of 31%. The efficiency was the issue as the error numbers were also high creating a mere 0.098 efficiency rating. Summit was led by OH Sarah Maldonado with 12 kills, Vivian Roberts with 9 kills and Vostal with 8 kills to account for 29 of the team´s 38 total kills. Maldonado and Vostal were particularly effective for Summit as they hit at not only a high kill % (Vostal - 42.1%, Maldonado - 41.4%) but were also the most effective hitters with their low error rate, earning an efficiency rating of .310 (Maldonado) and .263 (Vostal).
Defensively, it is hard to ignore the numbers put up by Stocks who stymied talented offensive players with career performances against the UC/GL offensive stars. The senior Libero tallied 24 of the teams 72 digs and was accompanied in her defensive efforts by Walsh and Guidetti who combined for 25 digs as well.
The SHS size was a factor in both matches and forced talented offensive players to have sub-par days as 5 different Hilltoppers had at least 1 block to their name and the block party was led by Catherine Eldridge who, playing in only one of the two matches, tallied a team leading 6 blocks for the week.
From a scoring perspective, the kill numbers are the easiest path to scoring points, followed by aces and then blocks. That fact alone means that the offensive players need to be a net positive in the way of point scoring (points earned vs. points lost) and will score the most points on the team. The net point total for each player will then determine the most impactful front row player. By definition then, setters and especially defensive players will be the least likely to produce points or have a plus number in terms of net point totals so their goal is to have as low of a negative number as possible or possibly be a plus number if they serve.
The top 3 point earners for the Top for the week against the toughest competition of the year were Maldonado (15), Roberts (13), Vostal (10). The best net point producers were Maldonado (+8) and Vostal (+7). There were three players with +1 to follow these two players. Maldonado and Vostal accounted for 41.7% of the total points the team earned but only 12.8% of the points lost. Outstanding!
In the course of the two matches the three most efficient serve rotations (net points) were rotations five, six and one (Guidetti, Vostal and Walsh servers) and the most efficient serve receive rotations were rotations four, five and six (Setter in the front in all three) which feature the best 3 passers in receive.
In summation, when looking at all the errors or faults a team may generate, the Hilltoppers committed 78 of those errors while the opposition combined tallied 64, a -14 point swing which accounted for the losses in 3 of the 4 games in the 2 matches.
Union Catholic (11-25, 22-25)
US THEM
Kills 16 17
Blocks 7 2
Aces 2 7
POINTS 25 26
***Game 2 SHS out-scored UC 17-13 and out-passed them 1.84 to 1.58***
Governor Livingston (21-25, 19-25)
US THEM
Kills 22 14
Blocks 2 3
Aces 4 7
POINTS 28 24
***SHS had its worst serving day of the season, serving at an 80.5% clip with 8 misses, 7 in first game of the match (68.7% game 1) and ace percentage of only 9.8% (SHS in prior 10 matches: 91.7% with ace percentage of 19.4%) ***
***Summit had 3 players with the same amount of kills as GL´s First Team All-County OH and Maldonado/Roberts had more kills than the entire GL Squad***
In conclusion, the Hilltopper offense has proven it can score on the toughest teams on their schedule. Maldonado has found her form from last year and hit 12 kills on 29 attempts for a .310 efficiency and a kill percentage of 41.4% this past week. Vostal has emerged as an effective offensive option out of multiple locations for the Top and is 2nd on the team over the last 2 matches with a .263 efficiency and a team leading kill percentage of 42.1%. Vivian Roberts continues to show flashes of the player she may become if she gets more consistent as the young OH was 2nd on the squad with 9 kills in the past 2 games.
Vostal and Kasey Walsh continue to be table setters for the squad from the service line, almost automatic with a serving percentage of 100% and 94.7%, respectively. Along with Gabbie Guidetti, Vostal and Walsh serving rotations have won nearly a combined 51% of the points from the service line. Meghan Tarashuk, Guidetti and Vostal led the team with a 2.09, 2.09 and 2.36 serve ratings and hitting for 5 of the team´s aces this week.
The team´s state sectional run will begin on Monday at 5:15 and with Mendham, Chatham, Millburn in the section, the team´s ability to minimize errors in the late stages of the match and off the service line if they are not producing aces will be key in their long term success.
The team is good enough to attack and defend against anyone (72!!! digs versus UC and GL) with Stocks anchoring a very effective defense with 24 digs last week. Can it put everything together and believe in the team they can and have been throughout this season?
We will find out in the next week.
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