The Summit Lady Hilltoppers Volleyball Program took their first step in the 2022 season with 2-0 victories across all levels versus a game Linden Tiger Squad. Ninth Graders took set 1 25-8 and squeezed out a tighter fought set 2 victory.
JV jumped out to a commanding lead middle of set 1 and never looked back winning by a 25-12 tally. Set 2 was a bit more challenging for the Top. Summit led 9-7 but a Linden TO changed the momentum as the Tigers went on an 8-4 run to take a 15-11 lead but the squad bounced back to go on a 14-4 run of their own to close set 2 and take the victory.
*more detailed write-ups coming this weekend*
VARSITY RELIES ON EFFICIENT AND PRODUCTIVE OFFENSE TO EARN FIRST WIN
The 2022 season kicked off with a bang for the Hilltoppers with Vivian Roberts digging up an overpass attack by the Tigers that led to a Hannah Barlow kill to give the team a 1-0 lead. Barlow notched another kill before Linden got the ball back but then Cece Webb got a dump kill and Roberts tallied another 2 kills to give the top an early 5-2 lead. Roberts continued her dominance with 2 more kills and an ace in the next 2 rotations and despite numerous serving errors by the Hilltoppers, the home squad found themselves up 10-6 after 6 rotations.
Linden responded though with a couple of timely kills and an ace that were sandwiched around a Barlow ace and another SHS serving error to find themselves back in the match down only 2 (12-10) after a 4-2 run. After a service break though, Roberts scored on a tip kill and Alison Wauters ripped an ace and forced an errant Tiger pass that Webb put away to get the Summit Squad some breathing room at 15-10. Both teams traded serving errors and after Linden seemed to have found their offense late, the set seemed in doubt as the Tigers got themselves back within 2 points at 18-16.
Fortunately for the Hilltoppers, a Linden attack error opened the door for Caroline Henry who stormed through with an ace and the Top were back up by 4 at 20-16. Two rotations later, another Tiger error opened the door for Barlow who put the opponents under tremendous stress with 2 aces and 2 tough serves that led to a Linden error and a Wauters kill to seal the set on a 5-0 run and a 25-17 final tally.
The second set seemed eerily similar to the opener with SHS Webb, Wauters and Henry all combining for 2 kills and an ace to open the set with a 4-1 lead. Roberts was back in the front row a rotation later and notched another kill as Wauters and Barlow kept hammering the Tiger defense with tough attacks that were leading to Linden errors and a 7-2 lead before a TO was called. The break in action had little effect as the Summit crew proceeded to go on a 5-2 run fueled by Roberts in the front and by Webb from the service line. Roberts continued the barrage a rotation later with an ace and a Barlow kill had the Top up 15-7. Linden again showed its resiliency and forced SHS into errors that had their bench cheering but Barlow quieted the crowd with 4 consecutive kills to give Summit a commanding 19-9 lead.
Despite a break in serve, the Hilltoppers saw themselves back on serve and Barlow ripped 2 aces to push the home team within 3 points of their first win at 22-11 but Linden would not go away and got a 4-0 run under their belts to crawl to within 8 at 22-15 before a Barlow attack forced the Tigers into an errant 3rd ball return. Linden was able to break serve and continued to battle, getting as close as 24-19 before a service error ended their day at 25-19 SHS for the home team's first win over their major rival.
Summit had 22-11 edge in kills for the match, 9-4 edge in aces for a 31-15 scoring advantage. Barlow led the squad with 5 aces and a serve receive rating of 2.33. Roberts led the team with 9 kills a .750 efficiency and a 75% kill %. Abby Thompson shared the team lead with Barlow in digs with 3. Zoe Zacharias started off the season with a 16 assist performance while the 9th grader, Mckenna Welsh tallied her first assists on Varsity and ended up with 3 for the match!
Summit has a tough week ahead with New Providence away on Monday for all 3 levels, Rahway at home on Wednesday for JV and Varsity, Varsity and JV away at Cranford on Friday while 9th Graders are at home versus the Cougars. The Varsity Squad will also play on Saturday in the Heal the Children Tournament at the Rahway Rec Center from 9am to 3pm. Great start for all levels!
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