VARSITY TRAVELS TO #18 CLIFTON FOR LAST TUNEUP BEFORE STATES

 The Lady Hilltoppers took to the road and traveled to #18 Clifton in their last tuneup match before the State Sectional Quarterfinals.  Summit would be without the services of MB Julia Nardino unfortunately but Hope Basaman would slide into the MB role and Hannah Barlow would take the OPP as the team hoped the previous experience of Basaman as the MB would be sufficient to carry the team through the match. 

As in many of the contests against upper echelon teams this year,  the Hilltoppers look like they could compete early on but somehow,  later in sets,  the SHS squad always seems to commit a rash of errors that prevent them from really threatening their opponent.  Such was the case on this matchup.  Two kills by Vivian Roberts and an ace by Basaman had the Top up 3-1 early and the team looked confident and sharp to start the contest.  A 3-0 run by the Mustangs had Summit down by one but Roberts powered a shot through the Mustang block to even the score at 5.  Eva Oberhuber got into the mix a rotation later with a slide kill and the Maroon and Black stood even with Clifton at 6-6.  But then Summit committed 3 unforced hitting and blocking errors and suffered an ace to give the Mustangs a 10-6 lead.  SHS won a long rally and got yet another kill by Roberts to get within 2 but the Mustangs got control back and eventually extended the lead to 5 at 15-10 as the Top just could not seem to find offense outside of Roberts.  SHS got back into the set with some tough serving by Torie MacArthur who forced a hitting error by the Clifton and the Top was again within striking distance at 12-15.  A kill by the home side broke the Summit momentum and after an ace,  Coach Martins called a TO.  Coming off the time-out,  SHS got a perfect pass up but an unforced hitting error followed and the subsequent serve receive play yielded another perfect pass that was also hit out of bounds without any pressure and the Clifton side,   all of a sudden had a 19-12 lead.  Summit straightened itself out and won the next three out of four points with Oberhuber getting a kill in the run to get Summit within 5 again at 15-20.  But SHS could not cut into the lead any further and after they got to 17-22,  the Mustangs closed it out 25-17 thanks to 3 consecutive errors (2 hitting, 1 setting) by the Hilltoppers.  

Set 2 began terribly for the Maroon and Black as the team found itself 5-0.  A Roberts kill stopped the run but the Mustangs sensed the set could be over early and got another 3-0 run to run up a 7 point lead to 8-1.       The lead got up to 8 and there it stayed despite numerous good plays by the Hilltoppers,  they just could not whittle that lead down and the Mustangs finished it off with a kill and,  appropriately enough,  a Hilltopper hitting error to win the set and match 25-16.

Basaman remains the biggest threat off the service line going 6/6 with one ace and winning 50% of her service points.  Sarah Noa was also outstanding versus Clifton going 8/8 with one ace.  Despite being targeted early,  Rebekah Thompson got back on track with 17/19 on serve receive with a team leading 1.84 pass rating and 5 perfect passes.  Roberts was once again an offensive factor with a team leading 5 kills,  a team leading .250 efficiency and kill percentage of 41.7%.   

Defensively,  Roberts and Thompson saved 17 of the team's total digs but the squad was not able to convert on enough of those which was a factor in the loss.  Basaman was involved in the blocking defense with 2 assists as she filled in admirably for the team's leading blocker Nardino.  

The Mustangs out-killed the Summit Hilltoppers 23-12 and held a 9-4 lead in aces and blocks.  The Summit number that stands out though is the 12-7 hitting error advantage the Hilltoppers held over the Mustangs.  The path to a long run in state sectionals is defined now.  Can the Hilltoppers fix the unforced hitting errors while they remain aggressive on offense?  The answer to that question will go a long way in determining this team's success in states.

Next up,  Millburn,  Wednesday,  11/3,  5:30pm,  in the Main Gym,  Quarter-Finals in State Sectionals.

JV DROPS 2-1 DECISION TO THE RARITAN ROCKETS; VARSITY PREVAILS 2-1 DESPITE DROPPING SET 1 ON SENIOR NIGHT; DAY LATER, FROSH COMPLETE UNDEFEATED SEASON!

 

The Raritan Rockets of Hazlet, NJ took the 40 minute trip north to face off again the home team,  the Lady Hilltoppers of SHS,  on Senior Night,  an event always filled with emotion which signals that the season is reaching its end point.  

JV kicked off the festivities with a tough serving Raritan side which proved too tough in the first 2 rotations for the Summit side to stop and the Hilltoppers found themselves down 8-4 very quickly.  Not much changed for either side through rotation 6 and the Top still trailed 15-10 as the Rockets' best server came up again.  This time, however,  the Summit squad broke serve without losing a point and managed to get 1 themselves to cut the lead to 16-12.  A 4 point run by the Raritan JV could have been the clear message that the set was lost but the Hilltoppers responded with a 4-0 run of their own behind Naya Kim to keep SHS in the mix at 20-16.  But Summit could not muster much else even though they broke Raritan on the next play to stay within 4 at 21-17,  they could not keep the serving pressure up and dropped set 1 25-17.  

Set 2 began ominously similar to set 1 with the Rockets' best server spotting the Raritan crew a 5-1 lead.  Again,  nothing much happened over the next 4 rotations as both teams failed to get any run going in any rotation.  With the score 10-6 Raritan,  the Top got an unexpected but dominant 9-0 run by Kate Cooper to put the home side up 15-11 at the end of rotation 6.  Just a mere rotation later,  Emily Griffith sealed the set essentially with a 4-0 run that pushed the lead to 20-12.  But Raritan was far from done and over the next rotation the Rockets outscored the Top 5-1 and the Hilltoppers felt the pressure of being chased with RHS trailing only by a 21-17 tally.  Abby Wells relieved the pressure however and sealed the set 2 win with a 3-0  run (2 aces) to push a 3rd and deciding with a 25-16 score.

Set 3 was yet again a tough start for the Top and the home side just could not generate anything off their serve which pretty much sealed their fate by rotation 6 as the scoreline read 23-8.  Coach Ross implored the Hilltoppers to fight on and not to end the season this way and the squad responded with its back against the wall at 24-9 and the team rallied behind Abby Wells again who ripped 9-0 run (4 aces) to bring the team back with a glimmer of hope at 23-19! Raritan broke serve to get its first match point but SHS broke serve and the team had a shot at 24-20.  Emily Demm got Summit one more point at 24-21 but the comeback fell short and the Hilltoppers lost 25-21 for only their 3rd loss of the season.  

Summit finishes the year 15W-3L (2nd highest # of wins),  a winning percentage of 83.3% (3rd best ever), a Quarterfinalist in the County Tournament and #1 JV Squad in the Mountain Division.  

SENIOR NIGHT EMOTION AND 2-1 COME FROM BEHIND WIN FOR VARSITY SQUAD

Maybe it was the emotion of the moment,  maybe it was the late start,  maybe it was all of the above or none of the above but,  the fact is,  that the Hilltoppers failed to open set 1 with any consistency against the Raritan Rockets and played catch-up the entire set.  

Although set 1 started slow for the Top,  the home side got a kill from Vivian Roberts and a service error by the Raritan Rockets who held a 3-2 lead at that point.  A free ball reception error led to three unanswered points and the Hilltoppers were in a deeper hole at 7-2.  A few rotations later,  SHS gave up another 3-0 run thanks to a Rocket kill and 2 Hilltopper errors and the home side was looking at an 11-4 deficit.  But the team started to respond by way of a Hope Basaman kill which gave Sarah Noa  the opportunity to put the Raritan squad under duress from the service line and forced 3 RHS errors to close the gap to 11-8.  Unfortunately,  the visitors were not deterred and responded with a 4-0 run (2 SHS hitting errors and free ball return error) to extend the lead back to a 7 point bulge at 15-8.  Two rotations later,  the Top got a gift in the form of a Raritan serving error and got a key kill by Alison Wauters, a big block by Eva Oberhuber and an attack error by the RHS side that had the Hilltoppers back in the mix at 18-15.  Nothing much changed for the subsequent 2 rotations as the Summit side kept themselves within 3 after a Wauters kill had the score at 20-17 Raritan but the SHS crew gave up 2 aces and added a hitting error to see the visitors take a seemingly insurmountable 23-17 lead.  Yet again,  a Raritan serving error opened the door for the Top and Basaman took the shot with an ace and 2 more tough serves that led to 2 Rocket errors to keep hope alive at 23-21.  Unfortunately,  Summit ran out of time as the Rockets closed it out 25-21.  SHS scored only 9 points in the set to Raritan's 13,  a major factor in the set.

Set 2 saw Hannah Barlow enter the fray as the starting OPP as the squad looked for a spark.  After a service break had the Hazlet school up 1-0,  Barlow drove a ball down from the OPP to knot up the score and go on serve.  The sophomore did not disappoint as she rattled off 6 straight service points (4 aces,  Roberts kill, RHS error) to give the Top a 7-1 lead they would fight to keep the entire set.  Raritan cut the lead down to 4 after an ace (10-6) but the Hilltoppers got a dump kill by Oberhuber and kills by Cece Webb and Barlow to extend the lead again back to a comfortable margin at 13-6.  Yet again the Rockets cut the lead down to 4 at 14-10 but a serving error and a Roberts  kill later,  16-10.  Late in the set,  the Hilltoppers seemed to have it all in control as another set of kills by Roberts and Webb  had the squad up up 23-15 but the Rockets' resiliency was outstanding and they kept fighting back,  cutting the lead down to 4 at 24-20 before Oberhuber put a final exclamation point on the set with a kill to close it 25-20.  Summit outscored Raritan 18-8 in the set and the 13 kills in the set were the main factor in the set.

The deciding set saw Barlow stay in the match but also saw the return of Basaman in the OPP.  The senior opened set 3 with a kill and tough serve by the OPP which led to a Roberts kill to open up an early 2-0 lead.  Despite a service break,  SHS broke right back and went on a 3-0 run (Julia Nardino ace,  Roberts kill) that had the Hilltoppers up 6-1.  Raritan kept clawing back and had cut the lead down to 9-6 but the Summit seniors led the team in re-taking control with kills by Oberhuber and Basaman and another Barlow kill,  this time from the OH slot,  to open a 13-6 lead.  But one thing became clear,  the Raritan team,  also led by many seniors,  was not going to fold at any point,  no matter the lead,  and in expected fashion,  the Hazlet school manufactured a 3-0 run that had the Summit fans nervous with the score 13-9.  But the X factor in the last 2 sets had been the sophomore Barlow and the team looked for her again to deliver and she did with a screamer to zone 6 to break the RHS serve.  Barlow followed up with an ace and Roberts ripped another kill to zone 4 and just like that,  16-9 SHS and a TO by the Rockets.  Raritan broke serve coming off the time-out but Nardino got a kill to zone 1,  Basaman ripped an ace to 5 and Roberts drove a ball down to 1and the Hilltoppers seemed to have it all under control at 19-12.  The Rockets responded with a 4-0 run that ended with a Sarah Noa down ball kill that fueled a 3-1 run (Barlow and Oberhuber kills) that got Summit closer to a win at 23-17.  The Rockets got as close as 3 at 23-20 but a 2nd ball return error and an attack error that sailed 3 ft. out sealed the deal for the Hilltoppers 25-20.  Yet again SHS out-scored Raritan 19-11 with a 16-9 kill advantage,  ultimately the difference in both set 2 and 3.  Roberts saved the best for last as the OH junior went 6 kills of 12 attempts with 0 errors in set 3 to push her match total to 10 and Senior Captain Rebekah Thompson was a defensive machine all match, tallying 19 digs (6 in 3rd set) and passing safely in 22/24 attempts with 11 of them being perfect 3.0 passes (50%).  

With a guaranteed 2 more matches on tap for the Hilltoppers (Clifton on 10/29 on the road and the N2G3 Quarter-Final Matchup versus either Millburn or Belleville at home on Wednesday,  11/3 at 5:30pm,  the Hilltoppers could earn the 3rd most wins in program history and the 4th best winning %. 

FROSH CLOSE OUT THE SEASON WITH A 2-0 VICTORY OVER PAYNE TECH AND COMPLETE THE UNDEFEATED SEASON

The 9th grade squad complete the perfect season with a 25-9, 25-21 win versus Payne Tech at home today to finish with a perfect 11W-0L record!!!  This is the best record ever by a 9th grade squad,  the most amount of wins and the 2nd consecutive year the 9th graders finish UNDEFEATED!!!!  That is a 19W-0L record over the span of 2 seasons!!!  Congrats to all the young ladies and Coach Seifert!!! 

HILLTOPPERS COME FROM BEHIND AND WIN 2-1 VS. BULLDOGS IN SATURDAY MORNING MATCH

 The Lady Hilltoppers hosted the Dayton Bulldogs in an early Saturday morning matchup.  The Bulldogs entered the match suffering a tight two set loss to the Cranford Cougars and the Hilltoppers had dropped a 2-0 decision to the Falcons of Mount Saint Mary's.  Both squads were looking to get back to the winning side of the ledger as they tuned up for their individual State Sectional run.

In today's match,  the Hilltoppers were going to be without the services of the Vivian Roberts as the junior was taking care of the student part of student-athlete as she prepares to enter the college selection and application process soon.  But this match also marked the return of sophomore Hannah Barlow in her first full match since early September due to an elbow injury.  On paper,  the matchup seemed to be a close one and it proved to be so with an entertaining 3 set affair the result at SHS's main gym.

Set one was clearly an adjustment period for Summit as the familiarity of a Roberts was clearly missed and the nerves and excitement of a Barlow in the line-up clearly impacted the rotations.  Summit started off slow on receive as the Bulldogs notched 2 aces early and saw the Top suffer through a hitting,  ball handling and serving error to open with a 5-1 deficit.  Things seemed to settle down a bit as Dayton was also called for a BHE to snap their service run which led to a Aya Laws line drive serve to zone 5 the led to a Bulldog error and Eva Oberhuber, a key to today's plan,  smoked a cross court attack to sone 2 to get SHS to within 1 at 5-4.  However,  the good feelings were short lived as the early unforced errors again raised their ugly heads as the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run (block error SHS, BHE SHS, 2 aces, 2 kills) that only ended because of a Dayton service error.  Summit returned the favor and the Orange and Blue got on another 2-0 run (Summit hitting error and free ball error) as the scoreboard flipped to 14-5 Dayton before an Alison Wauters kill stopped the run.  Unfortunately,  another SHS service error stymied any possibility  of a Summit run and another attack error by the Top had the Bulldogs up 16-6.  But then the Captain,  Rebekah Thompson, stepped up to serve after a Zoe Zacharias tip broke the Dayton serve and the Libero ripped 2 consecutive aces to get the Top within shouting distance at 16-9.  The attack errors continued and SHS found itself down by 8 again at 19-11 despite a Hope Basaman kill.   But 2 more errors by the Summit crew had Dayton on the verge of the set victory at 21-11 and the Maroon and Black could not do much to stop Dayton as the teams traded points as the score-line read 23-13.  Oberhuber then drove a kill to zone 1,  Zacharias dropped an ace and a Bulldog hitting error seemed to lift the Hilltopper spirits despite the 23-16 deficit.  The set ended on a Bulldog kill and ace but the team felt like it had figured out a rhythm late in set one that was going to work.

The following set started well enough with Basaman hitting for an ace and Barlow a kill to open up 2-0.  Dayton responded with a 3-0 run but the Top saw Barlow nail another attack which led to a 4-2 run that saw Oberhuber crush 3 balls and the SHS squad had taken the lead 6-5. A 5-0 run by Dayton fueled by a few Summit errors had the Bulldogs up 10-6 and it started to feel eerily like the first set yet again.  But this time,  it was a service error by the Dayton Varsity that sparked a 5-0 run in which SHS got key, tough serves by Thompson again that forced the Bulldogs into hitting errors and highlighted by a Cece Webb kill that saw the score-line flip to 11-10 Summit before a Top error ended the run.  Dayton scratched for a mini run of 2 points that put the Bulldogs up 13-11 but a Basaman kill ended the mini-run and Barlow and Basaman notched one kill apiece to flip the score yet again to the Summit side at 14-13.  Both squads traded points over the next two rotations as nothing much changed with the score 16-15.  Dayton yet again was able to take an opportunity presented by the Top of a service error and turn it into a 3-1 run that had the Bulldogs up 21-17 as Coach Martins was forced to call a TO.  Off the time-out,  SHS went to Barlow and the sophomore did not disappoint with a kill to zone 5.  Barlow notched an ace off her jump serve and  the Maroon and Black were only down 21-19.  A service break occurred but the Summit offense responded with a perfect pass by Thompson which Webb put into play.  The Bulldogs could not do much with it and Thompson passed up another perfect ball off a free ball opportunity and this time Oberhuber had her shot but the Bulldogs yet again stymied the Top.  However,  Dayton's first opportunity to attack in this rally went right at Webb's hands and the block had SHS down only 22-20.  Another long rally ensued after another Zacharias serve and the resulting point went to the Hilltoppers after an Oberhuber dump kill which in turn led to a Zacharias ace forcing the Dayton Coach to call a time-out with his squad tied 22-22.  Off the time-out,  SHS got a great dig from Thompson and Oberhuber got set up for the kill to get Summit the lead at 23-22.  A Hilltopper hitting error had the score knotted up but Thompson again passed up a perfect ball that was attacked by Zacharias but the Bulldogs dug it but could not find the court on the Maroon and Black's side as Thompson and Webb tallied 2 digs that led to a Dayton hitting error and put the Hilltoppers on the verge of a set 2 win.  Thompson again found herself on the service line and she delivered an ace to knot up the set score at 1 and finish these  comeback 25-23.

The deciding set did not start with Summit carrying the momentum of set 2.  On the contrary,  it had an eery feel of set 1 as the Bulldogs jumped all over the Top for a 5-1 lead that had Coach Martins calling a time-out to calm and refocus the troops.  Sarah Noa then passed up a perfect ball off the TO that Zacharias dumped off a block for a kill and the Top was on the plus side of the ledger at 2-5.  That kill brought Torie MacArthur up to serve and the senior DS ripped a ball to zone 5 that saw the Dayton offense have a little trouble with and led to an out of system swing that the senior DS dug up and Wauters , back into action in the 3rd set,  put down for a kill.  This was the beginning of a 5-0 Summit run fueled by MacArthur's serving that saw Wauters hit for 2 more kills and Thea Rind squeeze one through for a back row kill by the DS to flip the score in Summit's favor at 7-5.  A Dayton service break was not enough to derail the Hilltoppers and Thompson got a back row kill and Barlow nailed another shot from the outside in the midst of a lot of switches of serves to give the Top an 11-10 lead.  

Dayton took the lead over after a service error and a BHE call against the Summit crew but Barlow and Oberhuber ripped kills to reestablish the SHS lead at 13-12.  Despite a service error giving the Bulldogs a 13-13 tie,  Dayton failed to serve the next ball in and SHS punished them for it with a block by Oberhuber and an ace by Barlow which forced a Bulldog TO with the team up 16-13 in the late stages of the match.  The Bulldogs did manage to get the ball back off the time-out but Zacharias once again looked to Wauters who delivered with a kill 4 feet back of the 10 ft line to keep the lead at 17-14.  A Blue and Orange kill gave hope to the Bulldogs but a service error deflated that hope as Thompson yet again went up and delivered a tough serve that kept the Bulldogs out of system enough to not run their best play-set.  The resulting attack was dug up by the Captain and Zacharias went to the hot hand in Wauters who delivered another kill and extended the lead to 19-15.  With the lead at 20-16 it seemed a matter of time before the comeback was complete but that was not to be as the Bulldogs had one last run in them and forced the Hilltoppers to close them out under pressure.

It started with 2 attack errors off good passes and a free ball return error in a scramble situation.  Just like that,  in the span of 3 minutes,  20-19 SHS,  Summit TO.  Another scramble play off the time-out led to yet another SHS hitting error and the Bulldogs had tied it at 20.  But Dayton had a costly serving error and Basaman made Dayton pay with a blistering ace to zone 5-6 seam for the 22-20 lead.  Another tough serve by the senior OPP  led to a scramble on the Dayton side which led to a very important rally at this point in the match.  Barlow was unable to put the ball down but Noa came up big defensively with back-to-back digs that led to another Barlow attack and then a Nardino attack to no avail.  Basaman played D and dug up a middle attack by the Bulldogs and Noa notched another dig right after which gave Barlow another shot but the Dayton Libero thwarted her efforts yet again.  But the subsequent pass went astray and the Bulldogs were unable to get it over and the Hilltoppers earned an important point to see the lead at 23-20.  Basaman smoked the next serve to zone 6 causing all kinds of problems and a free ball return gave Zacharias the opportunity to set Barlow again and this time there was no stopping the attempt and the Hilltoppers had 4 match points.  A service break by Dayton just postponed the inevitable as Thompson handled the Bulldog serve with ease and Barlow delivered the final point in a poetic finish to her return to action in a 2-1 come from behind victory for Summit as the team improves to 13W-6,  the 4th most amount of wins in program history and the 3rd best winning % in program history with a few games to go!!! 

Summit out-killed Dayton 30-18,  lost the block battle 2-3 and after a slow start,  almost evened out the ace tally,  losing only by 1 by an 11-10 score for a total scoring advantage of 42-32.  

The difference of set 1 to the other 2 was stark. 

Set 1 total scoring:  SHS 8     DAYTON 11

Set 2 total scoring:  SHS 18   DAYTON 14

Set 3 total scoring:  SHS 16   DAYTON 7

THANK YOU to all who came out to support the team this morning!!! 

MOUNT SAINT MARY'S FALCONS DISPATCH HILLTOPPERS IN 2, JV GRIND OUT 2-0 WIN

 As the Varsity squad continues its preparation for the Sectional State run,  the Hilltoppers are taking on teams that are not on their usual schedule.  On Thursday, said opponent was the Falcons of Mount Saint Mary's,  a team that features a D1 Princeton bound OH and who had just finished a very competitive Prep Championship Final versus Kent Place,  the #7 team in NJ,  who they took to 3 sets.  The task was a difficult one and early on,  it seemed to be too much for the Lady Hilltoppers.  

Summit found itself tied 2-2 after 2 Vivian Roberts kills off a dig and a perfect serve reception by Sarah Noa but it could not keep that level of performance up as the Falcons ran off the next 6 points to take a commanding 8-2 lead forcing a SHS time-out.  Summit had trouble handling the serve off the TO but the Princeton bound Hyliard of MSM tallied a tip error and the Hilltoppers had the ball back at 3-8.  Torie MacArthur put a tough serve to the Falcon side and Alison Wauters dug a ball up and despite not getting a kill,  the Summit D managed to force an attack error to close the gap to 8-4.  The good feelings were short-lived however as the squad suffered through a 5-0 run which was broken by a Wauters kill just to have another 3-0 run follow for a 16-5 score-line.  The Top managed not much else other than a Hope Basaman kill in a 9-3 run to close out set 1 for the Falcons,  25-8.  

Summit had to serve tougher and be more productive offensively to keep pace with the MSM offense but could the team do it.  Basaman seemed to believe so as she started set 2 from the service line.  The Sr. OPP stepped up to the line after Roberts had tallied a kill to break a 2-0 start by the Falcons.  Basaman ran off 6 consecutive service points  (5 aces) forcing a MSM time-out.  Coming off the TO,  the Senior fired another bullet serve which had the Falcons out of system and drew another hitting error.  Three more service points later (2 more aces) and the Summit had the Falcons on the ropes up 12-2 before a kill ended the Basaman run.  Unfortunately, the Top could not score enough past this point and could not serve tough enough to close out this talented team.  

The Mount earned a kill and an ace to get the score to 12-4.  A Roberts kill ended the service,  13-4 SHS. A serving error and a BHE later by the Hilltoppers,  13-6.  A tip error by the MSM offense could not be taken advantage of as Summit committed another service error,  14-7 SHS.  Thea Rind passed up a perfect pass on receive that Oberhuber crushed on a slide and the bench exploded with the score 15-7.  But MSM responded with a kill to mute the enthusiasm just to see Summit rejoice again with an Oberhuber kill and a Hannah Barlow block that had the Maroon and Black up 17-9.  A kill by the Falcons and a hitting error by the Top saw the lead whittled down to 6 at 17-11 but a Zoe Zacharias tip had the Falcons all out of sorts and led to a 2nd ball return error and the Hilltoppers had to have felt that they could beat this team with the lead 18-11.  

But then the wheels started to fall off as the reality and expectation of the set win started to set in.  A free ball return error, a hitting error and a kill by the Falcons quickly turned up the heat as SHS felt like they were just holding on at 18-14.  Noa passed up a perfect ball off a tough Mount serve and Roberts swung around a block.  The ball did not go down but an overpass ensued and Julia Nardino tried to tip it down to no avail but the Falcon MB drove the ball out of bounds and the Top got back to a 19-14 lead.  Aya Laws continued her tough serving late in the season and hit a line drive to zone 5 that was handled by the Falcons and led to an attack from their OH but Roberts dug it up beautifully but the Hilltoppers could only produce a free-ball.  The subsequent attack was also dug up by Summit,  this time by Noa,  but yet again,  no Hilltopper attack was possible and for the Falcons,  third time was the charm,  19-15 SHS.  A blocking error and a spike error later had Mount St. Mary's knocking at the door with the Hilltoppers hanging on to a 19-17 lead and despite a TO by Coach Martins,  the team could not find a kill off serve receive and 2 aces and kill later,  the Mount had overtaken the Hilltoppers, 21-19.  The Summit ladies did not fold and Zacharias put a perfect set in Roberts' wheelhouse after Rind had put up another perfect pass and the Jr. OH did not miss with a screamer to zone 1-6 seam to get the Hilltoppers to 20-21.  Unfortunately,  the SHS crew could not generate more and the Mount finished the set and match on a 4-0 run that sealed the affair at 25-20.  

Despite the loss,  SHS proved in set 2 that it could be dangerous to a top team and,  without some unforced errors, could upset some team down the line,  just not on this day,  not on the Falcons home court.

The JV Squad used their service attack in set 1 to pull away late in the set and earn a 25-16 win.  The turning point in an otherwise even affair began off the service attack of junior Naya Kim who ripped 2 consecutive aces to open a 4 point lead that the Top would not yield.  Late in set 2 it was clear the Mount was not going to allow any consistent attacks to go down nor any aces to get scored so the Hilltoppers had to muster offense and put the MSM team on the defensive.  Down late 21-20,  the Top did just that,  swing effective attacks and forcing free ball returns or out of system attacks which were leading to Falcon errors.  Down 22-24 however,  Elizabeth Walsh stepped up to the service line and proceeded to serve 4/4 high pressure balls that led to a Hilltopper kill,  an ace and 2 Falcon errors to finish the come from behind 26-24 set 2 and match victory to get the JV to a 15W-2L record!!! 

DIG PINK VS. JP STEVENS A HUGE SUCCESS DESPITE LOSS

Friday,  October 15th was a great day for the Hilltoppers as the Program hosted their Dig Pink-Out event to raise funds for Side-Out Foundation in their efforts to combat Stage IV Breast Cancer,  the least funded of all the types of this disease.  The opponent,  JP Stevens,  the #3 seed in the GMC Tourney and was coming in as the #3 seed currently in the Central Jersey Group 4 section.  The venue,  Summit High School's main gym, which saw an estimated 200 people come out in their Pink-Out shirts to support the cause.  Hilltopper Vball athletes and families helped raise over $4000 between online and game-day fundraising and their work was a major part of the success of this day.  

The crowd was treated to a very exciting and close inter-squad match between the Hilltopper 9th graders and JV.  Set 1 went to the 9th graders by a 25-16 score after being spotted a 6-0 lead to start the set.  Set 2, with no handicap,  went to the JV crew by a 25-18 score.  The deciding set went to the JV after a very close,  competitive affair by a 25-20 score.  Congrats to all the athletes for their outstanding display of competitiveness and high quality volleyball which entertained the crowd!  Thank you to Coach Ross and Coach Seifert who guided their teams and helped foster the level of competitiveness the crowd was treated to on Friday!

The main event was the JP Stevens Hawks against the Summit Hilltoppers and the crowd,  nearly 250 at the start of the match,  was vocal and created an amazing atmosphere for the match.  Set 1 saw the Top come out very nervous as the crowd size and volume had the young athletes little jittery.  SHS spotted the Hawks a 6-0 lead fueled partially by 3 Summit hitting errors but the Hilltoppers finally got going after they got the ball back off a JP Stevens serving error making the score 1-6.  The crowd continued to impact both squads of the service line as serving errors began to be the story early on but Julia Nardino began to settle the Maroon and Black down with a service ace that had the Hilltoppers only down 7-4.   The JP squad responded with a 7-3 run that had the scoreboard showing 14-6.  Despite the deficit,  the support from the crowd was unwavering and when Allison Wauters smashed a kill the place erupted and it began a steady comeback for the Summit squad.  Hope Basaman took a perfect set by Zoe Zacharias and dumped the ball into zone 2 for a point.  A Rebekah Thompson serve had the Hawks scrambling and forced into an error and the subsequent point led to a solo monster block by Nardino which forced a TO by Coach White of the Hawks with Summit trailing 14-11.  Coming off the time-out,  Wauters came up with a dig that led to another Basaman kill from the OPP.  Nardino had two big blocks, Thompson ripped and ace and Wauters got into the block party as well to help the "D" bring the SHS crew all the way back to a 16-14 lead which had the crown chanting "Let's Go Summit".  

The Hawks got the ball back off an unfortunate net error by the Hilltoppers and they used it to get a 5-0 run which forced Coach Martins into taking a TO with the Hilltoppers down 20-16.  The time-out worked in cooling off the JP server and led to a service error.  Vivian Roberts had been pretty quiet until this point but got involved in a big way with a huge block on the OPP and the Hilltoppers were only down 20-19.  The teams traded points over the next few rotations with Roberts notching a key kill in transition which had the Top tied at 22 in the latter stages of the match.  The Hawks pounded a kill to take the lead which was answered by a powerful swing by Roberts that tied things back up again at 23 but that was as close as the Summit Varsity got to taking the set as the JP Stevens team closed it out 25-23.  The Hawks out-killed the Hilltoppers 11-6 but the SHS block made up the difference with a 5-0 advantage.  JP and Summit each tallied 2 aces but the SHS crew were called on 4 ball handling and net faults while the Hawks only 1,  the ultimate difference in the set.

Set 2 began as a very even affair with both teams knotted at 6 through 4 rotations after a Roberts down ball kill.  JP benefitted from 3 consecutive attack errors by the Summit side and forced a TO by SHS that did not have the desired impact that Coach Martins had hoped for as the JP squad got 3 more points and seemed to have things under control with a 13-6 lead.  The crowd spurred the team on,  exhorting the Summit team to fight on and a Cece Webb kill was followed by an eruption by the crowd which lifted the Hilltopper spirits.  SHS steadied the boat over the next few rotations and stayed within striking distance at 10-16,  when Roberts moved back to the front row.  The Hawks saw Roberts put down 2 kills and Eva Oberhuber had a huge stuff block to force a Hawk TO with the Hilltoppers down only 16-13.  But the time-out did its job and forced a Summit service error but the JP Stevens team did not take advantage as their server missed her serve as well and SHS still had hop at 17-14.  Roberts got the team to within 3 at 18-15 again but then the Hilltoppers dropped 3 straight points (serving error,  hitting error and blocking error) forcing a timeout at 21-15. The Summit crew kept fighting till the end with the support of their crowd but another serving error pushed the team to within one point of a loss at 24-18.  Nardino and the Hilltoppers would not yield and a dump kill by the sophomore MB got the team to 24-19.  Nardino drove an ace into the Hawks court and the crowd exploded with the score 24-20 but the Hilltoppers ran out of points and the Hawks closed it out 25-20 in a great match.

The Hawks out-killed the Top 22-14 but the Summit crew out-blocked them 6-1.  JP out-aced the Hilltoppers 5-3 for 28-25 point advantage a reflection of the tight matchup.  Ten service errors combined with 5 net/ball handling faults proved to be the Hilltopper undoing in this matchup. 

Thanks to all parents,  families,  alumnae,  athletes and students who came out to support the team and this event!!!!  Another great moment in Hilltopper Volleyball!!! THANK YOU!!!

JV AND VARSITY BOW OUT OF COUNTY QUARTER-FINALS WITH LOSSES TO UNION AND KENT PLACE

 JV hosted the Union Farmers at home in a 4 vs. 5 matchup and the Farmers came away with the 2-1 win by 16-25,  25-23, 18-25.

The first 5 and 1/2  rotations proved that this was going to be a true 4v5 matchup as both squads were in a tight set with the score 11-9 Union.  But then the Farmers stepped up on the serve and broke the Hilltopper receive formation with a 6-0 run that had the visiting squad up 18-9.  The rest of set 1 was academic as the  teams traded points the rest of the way but that run was the difference as the Top dropped set 1 25-16.

Set 2 began very auspiciously for the Hilltoppers as they received serve to start the set and promptly trailed 3-0.  Things did not seem to get better over the next 3 rotations and the Summit players saw the Union serving rotation 4 end with the home team trailing 11-4 by the change of serve.  Things looked bleak.  And then Ally Liguori serves a game saving run of 6 points that got SHS back in the match at 10-12.  The Liguori run sparked the Hilltoppers,  changed momentum and the next rotation finally flipped the score with Kate Cooper giving the home side a 5-0 run that had Summit up 16-13 and 18-13 after 6 rotations.  Union outscored the Hilltoppers 8-3 over the next 3 rotations   and the score was knotted at 21 with Summit's county run on the line.  But Liguori stepped up again under tremendous pressure and delivered with 2 service points that had the Top at the doorstep of a game-saving set win at 24-21.  Union fought back to break serve and hit for an ace to make the score 24-23 but the Hilltoppers closed it out 25-23 to tie the match 1-1.

The deciding set was a tale of 2 rotations and unfortunately,  the Hilltoppers were on the short end of both.  Union ran a 7-0 run that had the visitors up 11-1 at the end of 2 rotations and although SHS had cut the lead the lead to 12-5 after their serve in rotation 4,  it was the Farmers' serving rotation that killed any hope of a comeback with a 5-0 run that pushed the lead to 18-5.  Score was 21-10 after 6 rotations and 23-15 after 8 rotations but Summit just did not have enough points to give and soon fell 18-25 to end their county run.  JV drops to 14-2.

Varsity took the walk to Kent Place to face off against the #12 ranked team in the state.  The task was massive but the confidence in the Summit offense was as well.  The Top started really well getting kills by Julia Nardino and Vivian Roberts as well as a timely ace by Hope Basaman to take an early 3-1 lead.  SHS knew things would get tight and they would face adversity but early on it was clear the team was up to the task.  The Maroon and Black saw the Dragons fight back and take a 5-4 lead but Eva Oberhuber had a dump kill and SHS forced a Dragon return error off a Torie MacArthur serve and both squads were knotted up at 6.  The Dragons took an 8-6 lead but Allison Wauters delivered a kill to zone 5 that had Summit within 1 at 8-7.  KP then ran off 3 quick points from a kill, an ace and a free ball error by the Top forcing Coach Martins into a TO.  Another hitting error by the Summit crew had the team down 12-7 and despite a service break,  SHS could not capitalize and suffered through another 4-0 run forcing a second TO with the Hilltoppers down 16-8.  The Dragons continued to score after the time-out and with the lead at 18-8,  a blocking error by KP finally ended the run.  Summit could not muster much off their serve and finished the set on the wrong end of a 7-3 run that,  despite a great kill by Roberts in the mix,  it was not enough to overmatch the Dragons.  

The subsequent set saw the KP Dragons serve first and again,  early on,  the Hilltoppers were able to compete with the #12 team.  Sarah Noa passed up a perfect ball that Roberts drove to zone 1 for a kill and Basaman followed up with an ace.  Two hitting errors by the Dragons and a Nardino ace had the visitors up 5-1 and feeling good about themselves.  But yet again the Kent Place squad used their serving attack to rattle off a 5-0 run and it wasn't until a serving error that the Hilltoppers got the ball back at 6-6.  A MacArthur serve followed that had the Dragons in a little bit of trouble and forced another hitting error to get SHS a 7-6 lead.  But a 5-1 run flipped the score and momentum and despite the Summit squad being down only 11-8,  the trend line was obvious,  the Dragons could score in bunches against some of the Hilltopper rotations.  And so they did in the very next rotation with a 14-0 run that the Hilltoppers were unable to break to wrap up the set.  

Summit drops to 12-4.

JV AND VARSITY MOVE ON TO COUNTY QUARTER-FINALS AFTER 2-0 WINS OVER THE LINDER TIGERS

 JV and Varsity entered their third match this season against the Tigers of Linden on Tuesday and came away with their third victory on both levels as both squads will move on to the Quarter-Finals.  JV won 25-21,  25-17,  taking a close set each time and getting on a hot serving rotation that produced the separation the team needed to win each set easily.  

Set 1 started to break open on rotation 3 and 4 as the Top fought back from a 6-4 deficit to take a 12-7 lead entering rotation 5 thanks to the serving rotations of Stella Yarden and Abby Wells.  Linden could not put much of a dent into the SHS lead by rotation 7 and the Hilltoppers held a 14-9 lead as Abby Thompson stepped up to serve.  By the end of her serving rotation,  Thompson had Summit up 19-9 and the outcome was never really in doubt even though the Tigers did manage to cut the lead down minimally 23-15.  Final score set 1,  25-15.

Set 2 was rather competitive as the Hilltoppers fond themselves down 16-14 by rotation 6,  a set that saw both teams not able to go on a huge run but rather multiple rotations struck for at least 2-3 points.  That was the case until rotation 8 with the Hilltoppers and Tigers knotted up at 17 and Wells serving again.  The south paw junior ripped off an 8-0 run with 4 aces that sealed the deal unexpectedly by a 25-17 score.  JV will now host Union in the Quarter Finals on Thursday,  4pm at home.

VARSITY MAKES IT 3 FOR 3

The Varsity squad got an all around balanced attack by their front line and a defensive effort that was statistically the most productive of the year to seal the 2-0 victory over the Linden Tigers,  25-16,  25-13.  This match featured many long rallies and the difference in the match was that the Hilltoppers tended to win most of these,  a result that clearly had a demoralizing effect on the Tigers at key junctions of each set.  With the Top receiving serve early at 2-2,  a long rally ensued that ended on a Tiger error and that point sparked a 4-0 run that had SHS up 7-2 before it ended (Julia Nardino 2 aces,  Vivian Roberts 1 kill) .  Linden then owned the next few rotations and the two teams found themselves deadlocked at 10 after an Eva Oberhuber tip kill.  An 8-3 SHS run gave control back to the Hilltoppers thanks to kills by Nardino, Roberts, Oberhuber and Hope Basaman who also added an ace to push the score to 18-13.  Linden again started to make a push but Roberts and Basaman put kills down and Alison Wauters dropped a tear drop tip for a kill to all but seal the set for the Black and Maroon at 23-15.  And it soon did end,  with the Hilltoppers putting an exclamation point on the set with the final point going through Basaman for a powerful seam shot from the OPP position. 

The handful of rallies that Linden lost took the steam out of the squad and it showed early in set 2 as the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 5-0 lead (Roberts kill, Basaman ace) .  Despite the Tigers breaking serve,  Summit got a mini run again through Roberts with 3 consecutive kills forcing a Linden TO at 8-1.  Cece Webb and Oberhuber put down 4 kills over the next few rotations and the outcome became apparent as the Top held a 14-4 lead.  When Webb returned to the front row again with the score 22-11,  she promptly drove a kill down to zone 6 which led to a Torie MacArthur ace to push the set win to near reality at 23-12.  It soon ended at 25-13 and propelled the Hilltoppers to a 2-0 win (12W-3L) and a Quarter-Final berth in the UCIAC Tournament.  Varsity will travel to Kent Place for a 4:30 match against the #12 team in the state, a real test for the young squad.

HILLTOPPERS TAKE THE 3-0 SWEEP VERSUS THE PIONEERS

 The Pioneers had pushed the JV in the earlier matchup at Summit and the Varsity had given the Top their third loss of the campaign while the 9th graders had handled the New Providence squad to remain undefeated.  

Ninth Graders took care of business with a 25-14 and 25-12 win over the Pioneers.  Through the first 6 rotations the Hilltoppers were in a bit of a fight with the Top leading only by 2 at 10-8. But in rotation 7,  with SHS up 11-8,  Molly Davies ran off 4 straight points to push the lead to 15-8,  the beginning of the end for the Pioneers.  New Providence couldn't get any closer to Summit and,  with the score 18-12,  SHS ran off 5 straight points off the service run of Juliana Alicea to all but seal the deal at 24-12.  One rotation later it was over,  25-14.

Set two was more of the same.  Ailish Gutshall led the way off the first rotation with a 7-0 run that had the Top up 8-0.  The Pioneers cut slightly into the lead over the next few rotations and,  with the scoreboard showing 10-4,  Amanda Jimenez ripped off 7 straight points in her rotation to give the Summit squad an insurmountable 18-4 lead.  New Prov fought back to close the gap to 18-9 but the lead was just too large and the Hilltoppers closed it out 25-12 to remain undefeated!

The Junior Varsity had earned a hard fought 2-0 win (25-23, 27-25) at home versus the Pioneers but it remained to be determined if the squad could duplicate that feat on the road.  Early on,  it did not seem so.  The Top looked out of sorts and had numerous hitting and serving errors that,  combined with the New Providence serving attack,  proved to be the difference in a lackluster 25-22 set one loss.  Summit was down 18-12,  cut the lead down to 18-17 just to see the Pioneers go on a run that had them at the doorstep of the set win at 24-19 before the SHS squad broke serve.  Summit could not get much closer and yielded the set a rotation later.

Set two was a drastic turnaround with the Hilltoppers serving and attacking more efficiently.  Summit was up 11-4 after a mere two rotations as Emily Griffith and Elizabeth Walsh powered the Hilltopper service attack to an early lead.  Summit served and attacked well in the next 4 rotations but the Pioneer defense was better,  thwarting the Summit offense at every turn and not allowing any other runs.  However,  the New Providence attack was not effective at all during this stretch and the scoreboard showed a 16-11 lead for Summit at the end of rotation 6.   Walsh yet again was the difference in the Hilltopper attack,  serving the team another 4 points in rotation 8 to give Summit a 21-12 lead and,  despite NP cutting the lead down to 21-16,  SHS was comfortable after her service rotation and closed it out 25-19.  

The decisive set was over early as the Hilltoppers took a 4-3 lead in rotation 3 and exploded it to a 12-3 lead behind the serving of Emily Demm.  Stella Yarden then took the 13-5 lead the SHS squad had in rotation 4 and expanded it to 19-5 and the set and match were essentially over.  By rotation 8 it was officially over with the scoreboard reading 25-12 for the 13th victory for the JV crew.  

Varsity may look back at the New Providence loss as the turning point for their season.  Since that loss,  the Hilltoppers have gone 7W-0L dropping only one set in the run and winning 5 consecutive games on the road,  the longest away winning streak in a decade!  The match began very evenly with NP taking a slight lead at 4-2 by rotation 2 but a Vivian Roberts kill had Summit back in the set and it sparked a 6-0 run that saw Eva Oberhuber and Allison Wauters get kills and Torie MacArthur rip 2 aces.  Despite a break of serve,  Summit kept the pressure up with Wauters yet again adding to her offensive tally with kills #2 and #3 and Hope Basaman nailing an OPP attack that forced a Pioneer time-out with SHS up 11-5.  The Hilltoppers lost the point right after the time-out but another Basaman kill had the Top on another run with sophomore Setter Zoe Zacharias getting into the offensive mix with a setter dump to give SHS the 14-6 lead.  NP cut the lead down to 15-10 over the next couple of rotations but the Top used Roberts again to steady the ship as the junior OH notched a kill and an ace to solidify the Hilltopper lead at 20-12.  The Pioneers cut the lead down to 22-17 over the next few rotations but to no avail as the Summit squad closed out the set with kills by Wauters,  Nardino and Roberts to close out the set 25-17.  

Set two had the Pioneers jump out to a 3-1 lead that seemed to exist until rotation 7 with the scoreboard showing 9-6 NP.  Basaman got a tip kill to move SHS to within 2 and after a Pioneer hitting error,  Roberts stuff blocked the New Providence OPP for a 9-9 score line that forced a NP time-out.  The time-out was key as the Top were on the wrong end of a 3-0 run that had reestablished the Pioneer lead to 12-10.  

Aya Laws had been working all season to improve her service game but had yet to test out all her hard work in a real match.  That is,  until this game.  Laws was put into the match at 10-12 NP and in her first pressure serve of the season,  the senior executed a good serve that led to an attack easily handled by Sarah Noa and put away by Oberhuber.  The senior DS followed that serve up with an ace and SHS had tied the set at 12.  Later in the set,  Oberhuber was yet again the villain from a New Providence perspective with a kill to zone one that had NP looking to use their second time-out to stem the tide.  And so they did,  generating a 3-0 run that had New Providence up 20-16.  

A block by Cece Webb started the emotional comeback.  Noa served up an ace and Roberts ripped another kill to push SHS to within 1 at 20-19.  New Prov stayed ahead of the Summit squad with 2 SHS errors but at 23-20,  NP suffered a serving error that had the Top only down 23-21 and followed that up with two other errors thanks to the serving of Laws.  The Pioneers soon earned a set point at 24-23 but Roberts smashed a kill to zone 1 to stave off the set loss and Webb followed suit with a kill of her own after a MacArthur serve forced the Pioneers into a free ball.   MacArthur sent another tough ball over the net at set and match point Summit which the Pioneers could not return and the match was over with a 26-24 set and match win to move to 11W-3L.

MacArthur led the team with 2 aces and a 2.56 serve rating and a perfect 9/9 from the service line.

Thompson was stellar with a team leading 2.07 pass rating with 6/15 perfect passes and 12 digs on defense.

Roberts, Oberhuber and Wauters shouldered the offensive load with 19 of the 27 Hilltopper kills (7-6-6 respectively).  

Nardino was busy at the net, notching 3 blocks and 2 kills on the match.

Zacharias tallied 25 assists in a 2 set match,  the highest of her career in a 2 set match.  

HILLTOPPERS FIGHT OFF A MUCH IMPROVED OAK KNOLL SQUAD

 The JV and Varsity Teams faced off at home against an Oak Knoll side that had seen its performance improve significantly in the second half of the season and it showed in their two matches versus the Hilltoppers.  Junior Varsity improved to 12W-1L with a convincing 2-0 win relying on their serving and timely hitting to fight off the charge of the Royals.  

Varsity also won 25-11 and 28-26 in a surprising test of adversity right before the start of the County Tournament to improve to 10W-3L.  In set 1,  Summit out-killed the Royals 11-4 and out-block and out-ace the Blue and White 4-1 for a 15-5 score advantage in a 25-11 set win.  The beginning of the set established the tone as the Hilltoppers got out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back.   Vivian Roberts had 2 kills early to spot the Top a 3-0 lead.  Julia Nardino added a kill and an ace to increase the lead to 6-1 forcing a time-out by the Royals.  The time-out helped out the visitors as they broke serve and cut the lead down to 3.  Roberts put a ball down to stem the run and that led to a Hilltopper run fueled by kills by Eva Oberhuber and Allison Wauters and a Torie MacArthur ace got the Summit crew to an 11-3 lead they just would not yield.  

Set 2 was a bit different right from the start.  Oak Knoll jumped out to a 3-0 lead but SHS did manage to tie things up after a Hope Basaman kill.  The good feelings were short lived though as the Royals pulled another 3-0 run to go up 7-4.  This time the Hilltoppers relied on Roberts to end the run with a kill and Oberhuber got the Top to within 1 at 6-7 with a slide kill. 

Midway through the set,  the visitors had an 11-8 lead but then the Hilltopper squad seemed to get a handle of the set with a 5-0 run (Cece Webb, Roberts block,  2 aces Sarah Noa) that got the Top in the lead 13-11.  Later in the set the Oak Knoll crew had the lead at 17-16 but Oberhuber again got a kill out of the middle to knot the score at 17.  With the Hilltoppers down 19-20 a rotation later,  Ally Lipchitz fooled everyone on the court with a setter dump kill that pulled Summit even at 20 and allowed Basaman to step up and nail an ace to zone 5 for a 21-20 lead.  The Royals responded but a rotation later the Oak Knoll team was forced into a time-out after an attack error had Summit tied at 22.  A tough serve by Nardino led to a return error by the Royals but SHS could not capitalize and the score showed 23-23.  The subsequent serve by the visitors was easily passed up by Rebekah Thompson and Roberts put the set by Lipchitz down with authority and the Maroon and Black had earned their first set and match point.  Oak Knoll got a crucial kill to tie the score at 24 but a hit by Oberhuber forced a ball handling error and Summit had earned yet another set and match point.  To the Royals' credit,  the team did not give up and found itself yet again tied at 25 but a Webb hit forced an errant return by the Oak Knoll crew to give the Top a 3rd set and match point that was yet again thwarted by the Royals.  A serving error by the visitors gave the Summit squad a 4th set and match point and this time Noah was able to slam the door on any Royals' hope with another ace that set the final score at 28-26.

Noa led the Top with a 2.77 serve rating and 3 aces with an 13/13 serving performance.

Thompson had a nearly perfect 2.70 pass rating and notched 7 perfect passes out of 10 attempts and was the digs leader with 5.

Roberts was the top point scorer for the match with 10 points and led the squad with 8 kills out of 16 swings and a 50% kill % and a .250 efficiency along with chipping in with 2 blocks on defense.

Zacharias set up 11 of the 15 Hilltopper kills for the match.

VARSITY AVENGES EARLY LOSS, JV SWEEPS SEASON SERIES VS. RAHWAY

 The Summit Volleyball Team traveled to Rahway on the back end of the 2 game season series which saw the Rahway crew drop a decision on the JV level to the Hilltoppers in Summit but the Varsity squad up-ended the SHS team 2-0 on the road.

The JV Squad started off rather slow in their return match versus the Rahway crew as the squad was looking at the wrong end of a 9-4 score by rotation 3 but Emily Demm ripped off a 3 point run that had the Top back in the game at 9-7 down.  On the very next rotation Rahway was unable to create any separation and that allowed Stella Yarden to run a 4 point service streak that finally had the Hilltoppers up at 12-11 after her serve was broken.  The set remained somewhat undecided over the next few rotations with SHS holding an 18-12 lead but not being able to get the decisive run,  that is,  until. Abby Thompson stepped up to serve.  The sophomore Setter ran off 5 points on her serve and the SHS crew had finally broken the spirits of the Rahway team with the lead of 24-13.  It was over in the very next rotation, 25-14.  

Set 2 was much more competitive with Rahway getting the upper hand late.  Not much separated the teams through 6 rotations as the Hilltoppers found themselves tied at 8.  Wish there was more to tell of rotations 7 through 12 but the score line of 15-14 Summit says all that needs to be said as neither team could muster much consistency.  But in rotation 13,  Rahway made the first real run with a 3-0 service point tally that had RHS up 18-16.  SHS could not respond and the next rotation saw Rahway extend the lead to 22-17.  Despite the adversity and being down 22-18,  the Hilltoppers used their serving to crawl back into the set behind the arm of Abby Wells.    Wells had a 3 point run that had the Top closer but still facing a deficit at 23-21 but Demm ran off a pair of serves that had the set knotted up at 23.  A service break gave Rahway the ball and a set point but an RHS error got the ball in Jessica Clark's hands and the junior drove two difficult balls to Rahway and just like that the Hilltoppers had closed out the set and match 26-24.

JV improves to 11W-1L.

Varsity was looking to erase their early speed bump against this Rahway team but the hosts were of a very different mindset.  Summit started off well enough with a solid Sarah Noa serve which led to a Zoe Zacharias dig and Rebekah Thompson set up Vivian Roberts for a kill to start SHS off well and the team actually found themselves up 3-0.  But the good feelings were soon gone as RHS ran off 6 consecutive points to go up 6-3.  Summit could not eat into that lead for a couple of rotations but Eva Oberhuber finally started a Summit run with a kill to zone 1 that ignited a 5-0 run behind the serving of Zacharias who also notched an ace in the run.  SHS ran the lead up to 3 with an Alison Wauters kill and things seemed like they were in hand until a 5-0 run by RHS had the Hilltoppers down again 16-14.  A Rahway service error gave the Top the chance they needed to get back into the game and after a Roberts tip kill,  SHS had re-established the lead at 17-16.  Again Rahway responded with a 5-0 run that seemed to doom any chance of a set win as the Hilltoppers saw the scoreboard read 21-17 HOME. 

A hitting error by RHS and an ace by Hope Basaman got SHS to within two at 21-19.  After a service break by Rahway,  the Hilltoppers got a timely kill by Roberts and a subsequent error by the home side and the score read 23-22 HOME.  A kill by Rahway seemed to have given the home side all the room they needed with 2 set points but this time SHS responded with a crucial defensive play to stave off a set 1 defeat.  Ant that play came in the form of a block through the most unlikely of blocking sources,  Zacharias.  Wauters followed up with a downball kill and the Top was tied at 24.  Zacharias continued serving and RHS could not do much with it,  eventually putting the ball into the net.  Now holding a set point at 25-26,  the Summit squad got the terminating kill from their productive MB Oberhuber for the 26-24 win!

Set 2 seemed eerily familiar as the Top rolled out to a 3-0 lead just to see Rahway erase it and draw even at 5-5.  It was Summit this time that had to respond with runs off serve receive and so they did with a 3-0 run, a kill by Webb,  Oberhuber and Basaman,  to open an 8-5 lead.  Through 6 rotations,  the 11-10 score-line seemed to be a fair reflection of the set with neither team being consistent enough to put on a great run.  Later in the set,  Roberts delivered another key kill to knot the score at 15,  Julia Nardino ripped an ace and Roberts smashed another kill  to get the team ahead 17-15.  The match took on a see-saw quality to it and RHS found themselves tied at 20 and looking for more.  Rahway benefited from a blocking and serving error to push their lead to 22-20 and Summit found themselves with their backs against the proverbial wall.  A serving error got SHS to within one at 21-22 and not much changed a rotation later as the SHS and RHS fan base watched the scoreboard read 23-23.  Basaman kept the pressure on with her serving and the RHS squad could not find the answer.  Appropriately enough,  it was the serving that provided the final nail as Basaman tallied an ace with the score 24-23 to take the set and match 25-23.

Record: 9W-3L

A BANNER WEEK FOR VARSITY, 4W-0L FROM 9/23-10/1

 The Lady Hilltoppers remained undefeated on the 9th Grade Level and JV avenged an earlier loss to Governor Livingston to move to 10W-1L on the year.  Meanwhile,  Varsity goes from 4W-3L to 8W-3L in a week where the Summit Vballers dispatched of #2 GL,  #1 Linden on the road (Linden's only 2 losses),  took care of ALJ for season sweep and had the biggest comeback of the year versus rival Cranford in a 2-0 win!

In the four game stretch,  the Hilltoppers have been dominant.  Summit has out-killed their opponents 83-51, has out-blocked them 16-5 and has out-aced them 33-13.  The difference has been the much improved serving as the Hilltoppers have served at 88.9% with an ace % of 15.2%.  

Hope Basaman and Julia Nardino have led the Hilltoppers this past week with 7 aces each and have led the team in serve rating with a 2.57 and 2.30 rating,  respectively.  

Rebekah Thompson led the team in reception attempts with 61 and passed about 50% of those perfectly.  Thompson also led the squad with a 2.30 pass rating and dug up 48 balls successfully to lead the squad.

Vivian Roberts has been a workhorse from the OH slot,  notching 34 kills and a team leading .274 efficiency and a 40.5 kill %.  

Nardino has been a wall this week as the sophomore notched a team leading 7 blocks for the week

Roberts and Eva Oberhuber have been the main scorers with Roberts scoring 37 and Oberhuber 25 points.  

HILLTOPPERS FACE A TOUGH CHALLENGE IN LINDEN BUT COME OUT UNSCATHED

All levels of the Hilltoppers piled into a Next Level Bus on route to Linden High School.  Over an hour later,  the weary and stiff legged Hilltoppers rolled out of the bus and headed into the Tigers' home turf looking for the sweep.  It should have been no surprise that the Summit crew struggled early but at the end of a very long day and a bus ride back to Summit,  the Hilltoppers could take comfort in their victory over a very tough opponent at all levels!

The 9th Graders won set 1,  dropped a tight set 2 but won the deciding set 3 to stay undefeated at 8W-0L!

The JV Squad earned a hard fought victory in set 1 and pulled away early in set 2 to win convincingly 25-7 and improve to 10W-1L.

Varsity was just off from the beginning.  Even though the scoreboard read 4-4 in the early stage of set 1,  the only point the Top actually scored was a single kill by Vivian Roberts.  A series of serving and attacking errors opened the door for the Tigers and they took full advantage of it,  going on a 9-3 run that got the scoreboard to show 13-7 and forced an SHS time-out.  That TO did not stem the tide long term though as the Hilltoppers suffered through another error filled stretch to see the Linden lead balloon to 18-9.  

It was then that the Hilltoppers began to show signs of life.  Roberts crushed a kill to the 5 zone and Julia Nardino nailed an ace to the back line to start it all.  Despite a service error,  Eva Oberhuber got the Top right back on track with a screaming slide kill and another good attack led to a Linden error.   Even though the Home Team got control back and pushed the score to 24-14,  Summit kept pushing,  sensing a change in momentum was occurring.  Alison Wauters and Nardino tallied back to back spikes and Rebekah Thompson notched an ace that lifted the Maroon and Gold's spirits before bowing out 25-18.  But hope had again returned and the team FINALLY looked like it had shaken off the long bus ride.

Linden had the edge in kills 10-9 in the set,  SHS 1-0 on blocks and 2-1 in aces for a 12-11 lead in points but 14 errors to 6 was the lead Summit did not want which led to the 25-18 set loss.

Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers receive serve and the squad continued the momentum they showed in the latter stages of set 1.  A Roberts tip kill gave the ball back to the visitors and Hope Basaman continued her torrid ace attack with 2 more points and the visitors had a 5-0 lead to start.  The next run happened at 6-3 Summit with a Linden service error that was followed up with a Torie MacArthur ace and another Tiger hitting error forced by her serve. Although the Linden squad broke serve,  Oberhuber drove an overpass through the floor,  Basaman tallied a line kill,  Wauters stuff blocked the Linden MB and Zoe Zacharias hit for an ace which saw the Hilltoppers go on to a commanding 13-4 lead.  

Linden answered back with a 7-0 run of their own which had the Top under duress but Wauters got a key out of system kill to give SHS a 14-11 lead and settle the squad down.  Wauters hit for another kill and the Top forced the Tiger offense into another error to see Summit re-establish a more comfortable lead at 16-11.  A rotation later,  Wauters notched another block,  Nardino followed suit and Roberts crushed a ball down the line to force a TO by the Linden Coach but the damage was done and the set was seemingly the Top's with the lead 19-12.  Both squads traded points in subsequent rotations and the Hilltoppers closed it out 25-18.

With 8 kills, 4 blocks and 5 aces, SHS easily out-scored the Tigers 17-8 and cruised to the second set win.  

In the decisive third set,  SHS would receive serve again to start. Roberts put down the first point off a Sarah Noa pass and the Hilltoppers were on their way.  Basaman ripped an ace to follow and the next serve forced the Tigers into a return error.  Summit up 3-0.  Roberts and Oberhuber notched kills in the next rotation and the Hilltoppers had a 6-3 lead.  MacArthur blistered a couple of serves in the next rotation and tallied an ace to push SHS to a 9-3 advantage.  Linden responded with a 3-0 run but the Maroon and Black had the lead back up to 5 at 11-6 a rotation later.  Another 3 point run by the Tigers pushed the Hilltoppers to respond and Basaman did just that with a powerful kill to zone 1 and then the floodgates opened.  Nardino blocked down a Linden attack and Thompson ripped an ace to get the lead up to 5 at 14-9.  Nardino and Thompson repeated that same dance again and all of a sudden,  SHS led 16-9.  Yet again the Tigers came up with a 3-0 run but the Summit offense notched another kill,  this time by Nardino,  and a Tiger error later,  the Hilltoppers were one step closer to a win at 18-12.  Roberts took the last bit of hope out of the Linden fans with 2 consecutive kills to force a Linden TO.  The junior did not cool off after the time-out and hit for another kill which all but guaranteed a Hilltopper win at 22-13.  Linden kept fighting but the lead was too great and the Maroon and Black offense was just creating too many problems.  Oberhuber put the exclamation point on the match with an overpass kill to finish the match 25-15.

Summit out-scored Linden 15-8 in the set with a 9-6 kill and a 4-1 ace advantage.

Record is now 8W-3L.

Basaman and Thompson led the team with 3 aces each and a 2.59 and a 2.21 serve rating.

Thompson was the team leader on serve receive with a 2.42 rating and a 50% perfect pass accuracy. 

Roberts was the team leader in kills with 11 and also the team leader with a .296 hitting efficiency and a 40.97 kill %.  

Rind was a perfect 10/10 in digs but Thompson led the squad with 15 digs.  

Wauters and Nardino led the block party with 3 blocks apiece.  

Zacharias notched 26 assists, a season and career high!