The Hilltoppers hosted the Rahway Indians on Wednesday and had two battles over this much improved squad. Summit came out on the winning side of the ledger, improving to 3W-0L on both levels.
JV was down 9-3 before the game was 5 minutes old but a 6-0 run by Molly Davies got the Top even before the end of rotation 3. Isabelle Meltzer ended a run of Summit errors that had the team down 13-11 by serving up 4 service points and seemingly putting the team in control at 16-13. Summit and Rahway traded points over the next few rotations and SHS looked to be in some control with a 19-15 lead after 7 rotations but the Indians went on a 3-0 run that closed the gap to 19-18. But in rotation 8, Kate Cooper stepped up and delivered 3 service points to put the game essentially out of reach as the Hilltoppers wrapped up set 1 by a 25-21 score.
Set 2 was much less suspenseful due to the serving prowess of newcomer Sanne Smidt who delivered 11 service points to blow open set 2 and the match. With the score 15-4, it was only a matter of time before the home team ended the match and 2 rotations later they did with Cooper again delivering 4 service points to get the squad to 24-7 before a Rahway service error ended the festivities. Final score, 25-7.
VARSITY SHOWS GRIT AND RIPS VICTORY AWAY FROM RAHWAY
4-0.... that was the score after 90 seconds of the match starting between the long term rivals Rahway and Summit. Two errors by Summit.... that trend of being down due to self-inflicted wounds continued throughout this match and these opening points were simple the signs of things to come...
Vivian Roberts began her day with a kill out of the back row to cut the lead to 3 at 5-2 but a service error by the Top gave the ball right back to Rahway. Alison Wauters got involved with an ace and Roberts notched another kill but yet another two service errors stymied the momentum and still, 7-10 down. Rahway hit for a kill and got two hitting errors from the SHS side and pretty quickly Summit was looking at a 13-7 deficit. Roberts nailed another shot and Zoe Zacharias forced an errant return ball with a well placed serve -an exception in this set- and the Top seemed to be gaining momentum at 9-13 but a 10-0 Indian run (6 aces, 1 kill, 1 SHS serve and 2 net errors) sealed the set. Summit did not fold however and despite the deficit, the team responded with a 6-0 run of their own to force a Rahway TO thanks to kills by Hannah Barlow and Wauters and a Caroline Henry ace. But the damage had been done and the set ended 25-15. Rahway outscored the Top 16-10 on the tally of an 8-2 advantage on aces and blocks.
Set 2 looked early on like a carbon copy of the first set with Summit trailing 5-2 early but this time due to the great Rahway serving attack. A Wauters kill momentarily stopped the momentum of the Indians but a service error followed that kill which again ended any Summit momentum. Unlike the first set though, the Top started to look like they had found some holes in the Rahway defense and instead of some hitting errors, the team started to put the ball away which got SHS to within 2 at 5-7. Rahway was able to bounce back though and go on a 7-1 run that had the home side on the ropes down 14-6.
But SHS did not look defeated but rather began to exploit the holes they had discovered in the Rahway defense. Roberts started the comeback with a kill and followed it up with an ace and another tough serve that Rahway was not able to manage and the lead shrunk to 5. Despite a service break by the Indians, the Hilltoppers saw a service error finally benefit them and that led to a long rally won by the Hilltoppers thanks to a tip kill by Barlow that led to a long stint at the service line by Zacharias which sparked a 5-0 run after another Wauters kill that had Summit looking at a 1 point lead (16-15). Rahway reacted with a 3-1 run to retake an 18-17 lead but Barlow then went on a clutch service run that saw Roberts hit for 3 kills, add a block and had Cece Webb end a long rally with a massive stuff block to give Summit a definitive 23-18 lead they would not give up. A TO later, after a Wauters kill and a Webb kill, the set was over at 25-19. Summit had outscored Rahway 19-5 down the stretch and looked poised to do the same in the final and decisive set 3.
Summit got out to a fast 4-1 lead after kills by Barlow and Webb which were followed by a Julia Nardino ace and another Webb block. But Rahway responded with a 9-1 run driven by 3 hitting errors and one service error by the Top which had the home team on the ropes midway through 10-5. Roberts notched 4 kills and Webb added another in a 5-1 run that cut the lead to 10-11. Rahway broke serve and extended the lead back up to 3 but Roberts hit for another kill and then added two consecutive aces to force a Rahway TO with the score knotted at 13. Roberts did not falter off the TO and ripped another 2 aces before the visitors broke serve looking at 16-15 deficit.
Summit had fought all the way back but would it be enough. It seemingly was not going to be enough after a 5-0 run by the Indians (2 attack errors and 2 free ball return errors by SHS) had Rahway in control at 21-17. Both teams traded points over the next two rotations which was just fine with the visitors as they held a 23-19 lead. A Rahway serving error though opened the door for the Hilltoppers and this time, the home side did not let it shut. Stella Yarden delivered two clutch serves that forced Rahway errors and forced a time-out by Rahway but once again the TO did nothing to the SHS serving attack as Yarden sent 2 aces over after the break in action to give the Hilltoppers their first match point at 24-23. A hitting error knotted things up but Roberts hit a clutch down ball kill and followed it up with an ace to bring the Summit faithful to their feet with their come from behind 26-24 win.
Summit is now 3W-0L and has a tough matchup on the road versus the Cougars of Cranford on Friday.
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