JV HILLTOPPERS OVERCOME CRUSADERS TO ADD TO A GREAT WEEK! VARSITY GOES 2W-0L FOR THE WEEK WITH A PAIR OF 2-1 WINS

 The Junior Varsity came off their great showing versus the Westfield Blue Devils in the County Semi-Finals and followed it up with a solid performance versus the Crusaders of ALJ.  The Hilltoppers took a solid serving performance and used Davies and Nowicka to power the offense that set up a 25-15 set 1 win that never really looked in doubt.

Set 2 saw much of the same as Meltzer and Smidt powered the Top to a 15-6 lead from the service line while Ge and Herring did the damage up front.  Cammarano,  Handal and Smidt turned away many Crusader attacks as the squad improved to 14W-5L with a Cammarano OPP kill on match point to wrap up set 2 25-19.

SUMMIT DODGES A BULLET AFTER DROPPING ANOTHER SET 2

Varsity took on the Madison Dodgers at home in a late added matchup as both teams had exited the their respective County Tournaments and were looking for quality matchups to prepare for the state sectional run.  Madison entered the matchup at 15W-4L and the winner of the NJAC Liberty Division while Summit similarly held a 13W-4L record and had earned their first division title in the Mountain Division since 2011.  On paper,  it seemed like a "pick 'em" matchup and it turned out to be a very competitive and exciting match in "IRL".

Summit began the opening set 2-0 after a Zacharias setter dump but the Dodgers roared right back with a 3-0 run to take the lead back 3-2.  This was the pattern for most of set one as neither team could muster a long run and the defenses held strong through most of the set.   As evidence to this pattern,  after Wauters had knotted things up at 5,  Summit went to the senior for 2 more kills and got a block as well from the OPP to see their lead expand to 9-5.  But Madison answered back with a 5-1 run and the score differential was back where it started with both teams tied at 10.  

Later in set 1,  SHS held a 16-15 lead but the Dodgers ripped 2 aces to take control at 17-16.  But this time,  the Top responded with a sustained run that made all the difference in the final result.  It started with a Madison service error and Barlow used the opportunity to get an ace of her own in the next service attempt.  Then,  Wauters ripped another kill and Roberts continued her stellar defensive play of late,  stuff blocking the Dodger middle attack which forced Madison to call a TO at 20-17.  The TO did not deter the Hilltoppers and Barlow again hit for an ace off the break in action.  Despite a service break, Wauters again stepped up,  getting a kill to switch serve,  followed up with an ace and then saw Roberts tally a tip kill to give SHS a 24-19 lead they would not relinquish as they closed out the set 25-20 with a Roberts kill.  

Set 2 proved to be a near copy of the opening set except that the Top were the victims of a sustained run this time,  not the visitors.  After a Barlow spike had pulled SHS on top by a 12-10 lead,  Madison went on a 6-0 run to take control at 12-16.  Summit responded and got an ace by Henry to crawl back to within 2 at 14-16 but the Dodgers slammed the door with another 3-0 run which forced a Martins TO.  

Off the TO,  Barlow and Roberts tallied 2 kills to get Summit within 3 but as the pattern had been most of the match thus far,  no further sustained momentum was in the works and the visitors tallied 6 of the next 10 points to close out set 2 25-20.

The entire match had echoes of the Governor Livingston matchup and the squad needed to put some of those ghosts behind them.  Could the Top overcome a 2nd set loss and take the match?  With the score 8-8 after 4 rotations it seemed that the task was going to be a most difficult one for both teams as both squads seemed to be a different side of the same coin.  But as has been the trend most of the year,  when there is doubt,  Roberts steps up and delivers.  The senior OH got 2 kills and Zacharias surprised everyone with a dump kill and just like that there was daylight between the squads at 11-8.  Madison broke the SHS serve but the home side came back with a Barlow tip kill and a long rally that Barlow again terminated to give Summit an emotional 14-9 lead and force a Madison TO.  After the TO,  Barlow again found the court 2 more times despite Dodger service breaks and after a down ball kill by Roberts 3 rotations later,  SHS held a 19-13 lead.  Madison kept fighting and got to within 4 at 21-17 but a service error and a Thompson ace pushed the Summit lead to 23-17 and forced the last Dodger TO.  The pause in action was to no avail as Roberts stuff blocked the next Madison attack and Thompson ripped another ace to give the Top a huge win versus the #27 ranked (NJP) team in the state.

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Thompson 3 aces 

Serve Rating: Thompson 2.50

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Henry 4 

Receiving (Pass Rating): Henry 2.00

Attack (Kills): Barlow and Roberts 10

Attack (Kill %): Wauters 53.8%

Attack (Efficiency): Roberts .320

Defense (Blocks): Webb 4

Defense (Digs): Roberts 15

Defense (Dig %): Barlow and Wauters 100%

Assists: Zacharias 27

HILLTOPPERS FEND OFF CRUSADER CHARGE,  GET TOUGH ROAD WIN

Playing without Barlow for this match,  the Top looked to use its bench depth to secure win #15 for the campaign and solidify their top 4 state sectional ranking.  Welsh got the nod as Setter to quarterback the offense and the 9th grader looked to gain some invaluable experience in a pressurized game situation.  Demm got tabbed to be the OH2 and take the reigns of that part of the Hilltopper offense in Barlow's absence while Kulabas would get to play in the back-row in the 6 zone in the junior's stead.  The Libero duo of Yarden and Henry would sit set 1 to give way to Feuerstake and Thompson who would fill in defensively for the middle blockers.   Roberts, Wauters, Webb and Nardino played their usual roles in set 1.  

Things did not begin well.  Summit was down to the home side 4-0 before the match was 2 minutes old and it took an ALJ net error to give the ball back to SHS.  Wauters began heating up early with a kill from the OH slot and Feuerstake drove an ace deep into Crusader territory to get the Hilltoppers to within 2 at 3-5.  Despite a service break,  Summit continued to look for Wauters to keep the offense going and the senior ripped another kill, this time from the OPP position and one rotation later hit a bullet of a serve that the ALJ defense failed to return to keep the Top within striking distance at 6-9.  A 3-0 run by ALJ again put some distance between the home side and the visitors and even though Summit yet again had cut the lead to 4 after a Roberts kill,  the Crusaders got a service error and nailed 2 aces of their own to open the lead up to 8 at 17-9.  SHS got a gift in the form of a service error and then forced the Crusaders into a back-row attack error which gave the frosh Welsh the opportunity to blister an ace and the Top were still in it down by 5 at 12-17.  Unfortunately,  the Crusaders won 6 of the next 8 points and the Hilltoppers seemed out of sorts,  giving the ALJ squad 2 hitting errors, 1 service error and an ace in that run.  

At 23-14 for the home team,  all seemed inevitable but the Hilltoppers continued to try to find some rhythm to their game.  Roberts got a kill,  Webb added a block and Thompson notched a kill and an ace to fuel a 6-1 run that had the Hilltoppers within sniffing distance of the home side but ALJ was able to close it out 25-20.

Set 2 saw the return of Zacharias and the front row got a refresh with Wells on the OH and Kim on the Opp with Wauters still playing back-row in that position.  Yarden came in as Libero for the set as the Hilltoppers were looking at a must win set on the road.  Summit opened up some breathing room early as Wells quickly got into the match with a kill and teammate Yarden tallied an ace which was then followed up by a Kim kill out of the OPP and punctuated by a Webb block to give SHS a 5-2 lead.  The teams traded points and ALJ found itself still down by 3 at 8-5 when Roberts hit a down ball kill that sparked a 3-0 run (ace Wauters, Roberts tip kill) which had the ALJ side looking at an 11-5 scoreboard.  Roberts continued to be a menace over the next few rotations and added 2 more kills to bring Summit closer to the set win at 13-6.  ALJ fought back and hit for a kill and an ace and there was some hope left at 13-8 SHS.  This was quickly dashed as the Crusaders failed to keep an out-of-system ball alive and then suffered a Nardino stuff block which forced a TO with Summit ahead 15-8.  Down 16-10,  the Crusaders manufactured an 8-1 run (4 SHS errors) to suddenly put the pressure on the Top trailing only by 1 at 18-17 forcing a Hilltopper TO.  The subsequent play after the pause in action saw Wells put up a perfect pass to Zacharias who found Webb out of the middle for a point and then Roberts again came through on defense blocking the ALJ middle for a 20-17 lead.  The Crusaders kept pushing though and won 3 of the next 4 points to crawl back to within 1 at 21-20 but Yarden perfectly covered a tip attack by the Crusaders which gave Roberts the opportunity to send a ball to the campfire zone for a crucial kill to give the Hilltoppers a 22-20 lead and then Thompson powered a shot from the service line that forced a free ball back to the Top which Roberts put away for a 23-20 lead.  ALJ called a TO to no avail as the Crusaders notched an attack error and Thompson scorched an ace to zone 1 for a set two win at 25-20.

The deciding set 3 began rather auspiciously as the Top was down 4-1 early.  The offense did not get going until Wells got a tip kill out of the OH slot which triggered a 7-1 Summit run sparked by 2 kills by Roberts, 1 by Webb and 2 aces by Wauters to give SHS a 9-7 lead.  A few rotations later,  with the score tied at 10,  an ALJ service error opened the door for a 3-1 run (Zacharias kill and ace) that had the Hilltoppers up 14-11.  The Crusaders got a kill to break serve but Nardino crushed a slide attack and then Yarden served the ALJ side into trouble forcing an error by the home side which led to a 16-12 SHS lead and an ALJ TO.  Off the time-out,  Summit went to Wauters again and the senior put a kill down to get the Hilltoppers up by 5.  The teams traded points over the next few rotations but Wauters again stepped up with another crucial kill and then Webb put a ball through the floor to give Summit an insurmountable 20-14 lead late in the set.  Nardino made her presence felt again on defense with a block and a Roberts serve forced an ALJ return error and Summit could sense victory was within its grasp at 23-17. 

The Crusaders made one last push and got themselves to within 4 at 24-20 but,  appropriately enough,  it was Wauters again who got one last kill to seal the set and the win, 25-20,  for the team's 15th victory of the year.  

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Wauters 3 aces 

Serve Rating: Wauters 2.59

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Yarden 4 

Receiving (Pass Rating): Roberts 1.78

Attack (Kills): Roberts 10

Attack (Kill %): Wauters 54.5%

Attack (Efficiency): Roberts .364

Defense (Blocks): Webb 4

Defense (Digs): Yarden 9

Defense (Dig %): Wauters 100%

Assists: Zacharias 23

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

JV BATTLES WESTFIELD IN COUNTY SEMIS; 9th GRADERS GO 1W-1L , NOTCH 10TH WIN

 The sub-varsity levels of the program had a busy week with the Junior Varsity preparing for their Semi-Final in the UCIAC Tournament against top seeded Westfield and the 9th Graders took on battle tested Bridgewater-Raritan and the Vikings of Union Catholic as the young Hilltoppers continued to work through the hardest schedule ever created for this level.

Junior Varsity had only been to the County Semis three other times in their past history,  losing to Westfield in a non-competitive 2 sets,  going down to Cranford 2-1 in an epic battle on the road and most recently,  dropping a tough 3-set decision at home to Scotch Plains-Fanwood.  This year,  the Top would have to travel to Westfield once again and try not to replay the last battle with the Blue Devils.  

The Blue Devils this season were built upon consistent serving and an exceptionally lethal offense.  The Top relies upon tough serving to score and create easier transition opportunities to score.  Could the Hilltopper serving and defense slow the Westfield offense enough to get a win?  In set 1,  almost.  The Top played an outstanding set on the road but the Westfield offense came through in the clutch points as did their serve receive to derail the first set hopes of the Hilltoppers.  The second set was a bit more lopsided on the scoreboard but the performance was not any worse in reality,  the home side was just able to handle the Hilltopper serving attack and score more consistently whereas the Top struggled in 3 rotations to deal with the #1 team's serve and create opportunities out of those plays.  A complete TEAM EFFORT against a team that expected an easy match and got a heck of battle from our Lady Hilltoppers!  Proud of you kids and Coach Ross!

The 9th Graders continued to face top level opposition in the form of Bridgewater-Raritan who has many young athletes with multi-year experience in club teams in order to challenge the level of play the team currently displays and to gain a better understanding of the level of play that will be necessary to be successful at the next level.  This has been,  by far,  the most games and most difficult schedule of any 9th grade program to date.  The young Hilltoppers have been doing amazing in their learning curve despite the results not reflecting that at times.  At 9W-3L entering the match with BR,  it is evident it has been a successful season thus far. 

The Top challenged the visitors and actually held a slight 2 point lead late in set 1 but the strength of the BR squad is their consistent serving and attack and the visitors had not yet gotten on track until the second time around the rotation in set one when they began to put pressure on the Lady Hilltoppers and get easier transition opportunities on offense.  Summit dropped set 1 late although the close score showed the young athletes they could compete.

Whereas the first set saw Bridgewater Raritan struggle for consistency,  the second set saw the visitors not miss a play early while the Top struggled to find a groove of consistency.  The BR crew controlled the set and used their best servers early in rotation one so as not to have a repeat of set one and the strategy paid off and the Top walked off disappointed by the 2-0 loss,  dropping their record to 9W-4L.

On Wednesday,  the Top looked to take those lessons learned and rebound in a conference matchup with the Vikings of Union Catholic.  The Top came out with a much more consistent performance and saw their efforts pay off.  Lisa Smidt started off the match with a 3-0 serving run and the team kept the Vikings at bay on their serve off the next 2 rotations and that gave Lynn Basaman the opportunity to deliver from the service line.  The Libero ripped an 8-0 serving run and the Top had pretty much sealed the set with a 13-3 lead by rotation 3.  Natalie Wu followed up with a 4-0 service run and the Hilltoppers were on their way to a 25-9 set one win.

Set 2 began very similarly with Vivian Allan setting the home side up with a 3-0 service run to give the Top a 4-1 lead but after 6 rotations it was the Viking squad who had control at 17-10.  Basaman again was key from the service line with a few service points that gave the Top hope by rotation 8 trailing by 18-14 and the entire defense did not allow more that a single point over 5 rotations to give Summit a shot to get back into the set from the service line.  Smidt,  Morgan Paiement, Callie Armstrong were key in the run that saw SHS tie the score at 23 by rotation 11 and the Lady Hilltoppers hung tough and ended the Viking's hopes a rotation later sealing the set 2 and match win 25-23!  That was the 10th victory of the season for the young ladies and they sit one win away from tying the most amount of wins in program history for a 9th grade program.  Congrats to THE ENTIRE SQUAD and Coach Seifert!  ONE MORE TO GO!!!

1W-2L FOR VARSITY VOLLEYBALL AND A HEARTBREAKING LOSS IN COUNTY QUARTERS

 The Lady Hilltoppers Volleyball squad had a massive week ahead of them,  a first round County Tournament match versus New Providence,  the yearly Pink Out match,  and hopefully the Quarter-Final Match in County Tournament.

The first round match was a typical affair for the Top in this, the 3rd meeting of the year between the Pioneers and the Hilltoppers.  Summit was down 4-1 early but the home team got an ace by Caroline Henry and 2 kills by Alison Wauters to flip the score to 5-4 and the match was on.  A 6-0 run by the SHS squad gave control to Summit as Vivian Roberts got into the match with 3 kills and Wauters added 1 ace while Cece Webb notched a kill out of the middle to force a Pioneer TO with the Hilltoppers ahead 13-6.  After the time-out,  the home side got a New Prov hitting error and a massive block by Webb and the set was essentially over at 15-6.  Over the next few rotations,  Summit got an Abby Thompson ace and a Hannah Barlow kill and the rest was academic with Summit up 19-8.  Summit closed it out 25-16.

Set 2 saw the pin hitters switch to Emily Demm, Anna Joseph and Abby Wells.  Naya Kim took on one of the MB spots while frosh McKenna Welsh stepped in as the setter.  Ava Feuerstake and Ece Kulabas rounded out the backcourt on the DS spots as the Hilltoppers looked to dispatch the Pioneers in two.  Down early again by a 7-4 tally,  SHS benefited from 3 consecutive visitor errors and knotted up the score at 7.  New Prov regained control over the next two rotations and the Top was staring at a 13-9 deficit.  Summit then reacted with a kill by Cece Webb to cut the lead down to 13-11 but the Summit side could not gain much momentum and were still trailing 18-15 a few rotations later.  A visitor kill and a hitting error by the Top and a 20-15 score was showing on the scoreboard.  A Welsh ace and a New Prov hitting error gave some hope to the SHS side but that was short lived as the home side suffered through a visitor 3-0 run that put the set out of reach at 23-17.  SHS did not give up and fought back with a three point run of their own as Barlow got back to the front line to notch 2 kills and Wauters returned to the match with a kill of her own to make it 22-24 but it was too little too late and the home side dropped set 2 25-22.

The deciding set 3 was a bit anti-climactic as Summit jumped out to a 7-0 lead as Wauters (1 kill), Zoe Zacharias (2 aces),  Julia Nardino (1 kill) and Barlow (1 kill) all contributed to ease any tensions early by the home side.  New Prov reacted a few rotations later and got to within 4 at 11-7 but a 5-1 run by the Hilltoppers set the stage for a 3 set win as Roberts notched 3 kills and Nardino added another to give the Top a 16-8 lead and force a Pioneer TO.  Summit never allowed the visitors to cut into that lead again and closed it out 25-13 with an exclamation point by Roberts.

Summit came back on Thursday in their Pink Out event against the Cranford Cougars in the rubber match of the season.  The crowd was amazing,  the match was exciting and the revenue raised for Stage 3 metastatic breast cancer was incredible.  The Top, however,  found it hard to keep control of their intensity and emotion as the team yielded a 7-0 run to start the match and never recovered.  SHS got to within 4 at 10-14 but then had a net fault,  gave up an ace and a kill forcing a Coach Martins TO at 10-17 but never challenged again as the Cougars closed it out 25-16.  

Set 2 was a much more closely fought endeavor as both teams found themselves knotted at 11 after a Cougar ball handling error, a Barlow kill and a big stuff block by Nardino.  But the Cougars then ripped an 8-0 run (3 aces, 3 kills, 2 SHS hitting errors) which seemed to spell the end for the Top.  Coach Martins tried to stop momentum with 2 TOs in the midst of the run but to no avail and it took a Cougar serving error before the run was over.  Barlow then stepped up and forced Cranford into a passing error with her serve and added an ace to get the Top within 5.  At 21-15,  Summit got a big block by Wauters and a kill by Roberts to get the score to 21-17.  At 22-17,  a serving error again gave the Top hope and Roberts notched another kill while Thompson forced the Cougars into errors with her pressure serving run and the Top crawled to within 1 at 22-21.  Roberts kept the Hilltoppers in play with another kill at 22-23 but the Cougars got a serving error from the home side and were looking at 2 match points.  Barlow kill, 23-24, Stella Yarden dig to a Zacharias pass to a Barlow kill, 24-24.  Cougar kill, 25-24, match point #3.  Barlow kill, 25-25 but Cranford kill follows for match point #4.  Hitting error by the Cougars,  26-26.  The Cougars recovered though and followed up with a kill (match point #5) and finally closed it out with an ace for an incredible finish to a great match.  

Friday the 14th marked the 3rd consecutive year the Hilltoppers made it to the Quarter-Finals of the County Tournament and the team were looking to become only the third in school history to make it to Semis.  To do that,  Summit would have to get through the Highlanders of Governor Livingston on the road in a 4 vs. 5 matchup.  The only recent win over GL had been in 2021 but at home after dropping the away match in the first match of the season so the task was not easy.

Set one began rather well for the Top as 2 errors by GL and a Zacharias ace gave Summit an early 3-1 lead.  The home side had reversed the score and led 7-5 but a serving error and a block by Webb had the Hilltoppers knotted up at 7.  Down 9-7,  Summit surprised the Highlanders with a 4-0 run (Roberts 3 kills, Nardino 1 kill) and Summit saw themselves up 11-9.  Not surprisingly,  this set and match became a slugfest with both teams swinging away and neither team being able to take control consistently so any sustained run by either team was going to have a massive impact.  In set 1,  it happened at 16-16 for Summit.  

A serving error by GL began the run and Thompson stepped up with an ace and the next serve led to a free ball by GL that gave Roberts an opportunity that she would not waste and add to her kill total.  Late in the set,  19-16 Summit.  A few rotations later,  Zacharias caught the GL squad by surprise with a setter dump and SHS went to 22-19 and Wauters stuff blocked GL's best OH to give Summit a 23-19 lead and force a Highlander TO.  The pause in action worked as the home side got the ball back but SHS got another Wauters block and stunned the Highlanders with a Roberts kill to close out set 1 25-20.

Set two was going to be a fight and the Top knew it and was prepared for it.  Yet again a sudden point run became the early difference in the set.  With the score 7-5 Summit after a foot fault by the Top,  SHS got a 4-0 run with another dump kill by Zacharias and a tip kill by Barlow to fuel the 11-5 lead.  GL responded with a 4-0 run of their own but a sudden injury forced a GL TO.  Off the pause,  Barlow got a quick kill to start a 3-0 run that saw Nardino get a kill and Zacharias notch an ace.  Despite a GL service break,  Summit again got a 3-0 run (Barlow and Webb kills) to give Summit a 17-10 lead and the visitors could sense the upset brewing.  GL responded with a 3-0 run just to see Summit respond back with a 2-0 run.  Governor Livingston got a kill to cut the lead to 19-14 but then SHS ripped 2 kills by Roberts forcing a GL TO with a 21-14 SHS lead.  The Top could see the finish line.  Could they cross it for the first time in 11 years?

Attack error GL, 22-14. The dream was becoming the reality if SHS could just avoid unnecessary unforced errors.   Unfortunately,  GL got a 13-3 run that ripped the heart of the Top and kept the Highlanders alive.  In that run,  Summit managed only 1 of 4 serves in which opened the door for the Highlanders to take the set away from the Hilltoppers.  GL in the same run,  went 7/8 with 2 aces.  And the dream became the nightmare in set 3 as a consequence.

The 13-3 run that ended the second set became a 21-4 run with set 3 seeing GL open up an 8-1 lead they never gave up.  Summit and GL went at each other the rest of the way but the reality was that the 8-1 run became the defining moment of the deciding set as the Top never got any closer to the Highlanders.  

Summit got 29 kills, 5 blocks and 6 aces for 40 points in the match.  GL got 32 kills, 2 blocks and 9 aces for 43 points.  Summit committed 8 hitting errors, 4 free ball errors, was called for 6 faults and had 12 serving errors for a -30 points.  Governor Livingston had 10 hitting errors, i free ball error, were called for 2 faults and had 13 service errors for a -26 points.  In summary, the point spread of a close 4 vs. 5 matchup.

Despite the tough loss,  the Hilltoppers were never any closer to earning a trip to the Semi-Finals in recent history.  The lessons learned will be invaluable in the long term despite the short-term pain.  

The following are the combined individual highlights for the week:  

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Zacharias 6 aces 

Serve Rating: Zacharias 2.06

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Henry 16 

Receiving (Pass Rating): Roberts 1.91

Attack (Kills): Roberts 34

Attack (Kill %): Roberts 45.3%

Attack (Efficiency): Roberts .347

Defense (Blocks): Webb 7

Defense (Digs): Roberts 27

Defense (Dig %): Barlow 90.9%

Assists: Zacharias 61

WEEK HIGHLIGHTS: 9th GRADERS GO 1W-2L, JV REACHES COUNTY SEMIS (2W-1L THIS WEEK)

 The 9th Graders stepped  up in class with the Millburn Millers this week as they opened and closed the week with the Blue and White and hosted Payne Tech on program's Pink Out match.  The Millers swept the Top 2-0 in both matches and SHS took care of business against Payne Tech to wrap up a 1W-2L week which saw the squad go to 9W-3L.  Summit has Bridgewater-Raritan,  Union Catholic and Mendham left on their schedule for the year and can earn the most wins ever in program history with  3 victories and tie the record with 2 more wins!

Junior Varsity opened the first round of the County Tournament against the Roselle Catholic Lions and came away with a 2-0 win by 25-12, 25-6 scores.  In the first set,  Summit went on 2-0 runs in every rotation first time through the lineup and held a 12-6 lead.  But in rotation 7,,  Gabby Nowicka stepped up and delivered a 5-0 service run (3 aces) to extend the lead to 18-6 and effectively ending the Lions hopes as the Top finished off set 1 3 rotations later at 25-12.

Set 2 proved to be much of the same with Mira Oberoi opening up rotation 1 with an 8-0 run that gave Summit a 9-1 lead.  Kate Cooper followed up in rotation 2 with a 5-0 run that had SHS with a 15-3 lead.  It was all academic after that as Emmy Handal finished it off in rotation 4 with an 8-0 run (4 aces) to get SHS to the Quarter-Finals versus Linden with a 25-6 victory.  

For the Pink Out event on Thursday night,  the Top faced off against the Summit killer Cougars who had a hand in 2 of the 3 Summit losses this campaign.  Make it now 3 of the 4 losses but an improved effort as the Top dropped set 1 by a 25-23 scoreline and held a 19-18 lead late in set 2 before yielding 5-0 run to the Cougars who led on to a 25-21 set 2 win.  

But the squad rebounded nicely from the loss with a dominant Quarter-Final win versus the Tigers of Linden,  their 3rd win over the Tigers this season by tallies of 25-12 and 25-11.  In set 1,  the Tigers held close through the first 2 rotations trailing the Hilltoppers by only 2 points at 8-6 but Cooper extended the lead with a 3-0 run and Molly Davies finished off any Linden hopes with an 8-0 run (3 aces) that gave the Top an insurmountable 21-9 lead on their way to a 25-12 set one win.  Set 2 was much of the same with Handal ripping a 5-0 run (2 aces) in rotation 4 to give the SHS side a 13-3 lead.  The Tigers were unable to respond over the next 3 rotations and Summit continued to gather multiple points in those same rotations as the home side wrapped up set 2 by rotation 8 with a 25-11 set and match win guaranteeing the Summit Hilltoppers a semi-final berth in the Union County Tournament victory for only the 3rd time in their history.  

PROGRAM SWEEP OF UNION AND ONE HISTORIC MOMENT

 The Hilltoppers took on the Union Farmers across all levels on Friday Night Spikes.  The 9th Grade Team took care of business in set 1 with a tight victory sporting a revamped lineup due to an injury to Sophie Meltzer. Set 2 was a rather different story as the Farmers came back on the Top and forced a set 3 with a late surge.  The deciding set 3 was a classic with SHS down as many as 6 points early but made a furious comeback to steal the victory from the Union squad and improve to 8-1.

JV use timely hitting and clutch serving to score a 2-0 victory over the Union Farmers to improve to 11-3.  The #4 Seed in Union County opened up a 7-0 lead behind Gabby Nowicka's service run and used that cushion to keep the Union Farmers at bay through 6 rotations as the scoreboard read 16-11 at the conclusion of those rotations.  But the Farmers took advantage of Summit's service errors in rotations 7 and 8 to go on a 7-3 run that had the Union squad breathing down the Hilltoppers' neck at 19-18.  A service break occurred opening the door for Molly Davies and Kate Cooper to give SHS some room which they did off the service line,  giving the home side a 24-20 lead that spelled the end of the Union comeback one rotation later at 25-20 SHS.

Set 2 was a very closely fought game with both sides not allowing the other to go on any major run.  Through 6 rotations Union had managed to earn a 14-11 lead but Liv Ge sparked the Top with a 2-0 mini run that got SHS back in the set at 13-14.  But it wasn't until rotation 8 when Cooper came up to serve at 15-15 that the game was decided.  Cooper yet again ripped the Farmers open with serving pressure as the DS notched 6 service points (2 aces) to blow open the set and match at 21-15.  It was all academic after that rotation as both squads traded points over the next 3 rotations but SHS just needed 4 and they got them all to win the set and match 25-18.

Varsity played in a packed house as many students and parents showed up at Friday Night Spikes to watch Varsity versus Union.  Ms. Grimaldi and Ms. Aaron were seen in the stands as part of the Hilltopper Fan Base adding to the great atmosphere of the event.  Boosters' cheer paraphernalia was seen in the hands of the parent fan base and others in attendance so all was set for a great match.  It did live up to its billing!

One of the only 2 losses on the year was against the Farmers on the road.  The squad knew the home match would be difficult and the Union team made its point early with a quick 4-0. to open the match.  The home side cut into the small lead but the Farmers kept the Hilltoppers at bay holding a 7-4 lead despite a Hannah Barlow tip kill and ace to cut a 6-2 lead down to 2.  Vivian Roberts struck for one of her 15 kills at that point and followed that up with a block and after a Farmer error, Summit had knotted the score at 7.  By rotation 6,  as Roberts served,  SHS had flipped the score after a Barlow kill which had the Hilltoppers up 10-9.  A quick service error and 2 Union aces had the Farmers in control at 12-10 but another quick run by Summit had the home team tied up at 12-12.  The squads traded mini runs through the next rotation and with the score 15-14 Farmers,  the visitors ripped a 3-0 run (2 aces) which forced a TO by Coach Martins.  A halt in action did nothing to stem the tide as the Farmers got 2 more points before SHS was able to respond.  A 20-14 deficit proved to be too much for the Top as Union took step one into handing Summit its very first loss on home floor.

The pressure was on for the home side but early on it looked like the Hilltoppers would respond well to it as the squad took a 3-2 deficit and turned it into a 4-0 run (Barlow ace, Roberts kill, Webb block) to flip the score to 6-3 SHS.  Union cut the lead down to one but Alison Wauters got a kill and nailed two aces to expand the lead to 10-5 and force a Union TO.  The pause did little to slow down the Top and after Julia Nardino got a slide kill out of the middle,  SHS was up 13-7.  Union needed a run but it would not get it over the next 2 rotations as mistakes on both sides negated every momentum shift so the squad still trailed SHS 15-10 until rotation eight.  The visitors got a 3-0 run and suddenly whatever good feeling Summit had enjoyed seemed to be long gone.  SHS responded well though with a 4-1 run (Wauters kill, Barlow kill and ace) had the Hilltoppers up by 5 again at 19-14. Roberts added a kill of her own and Barlow followed it up with another ace and Summit seemed to be on their way to a set victory with a 21-14 lead which forced a Farmer TO.  Then,  things got scary.

Union ripped an 8-1 run forcing Coach into a TO with a slim 1 point lead but the TO  did little to the Union momentum as the Farmers got a hitting error by the Top and the score thus was tied at 22.  Set in jeopardy, match in jeopardy,  Division Title in jeopardy.  

And then an unlikely play occurred.  Summit gave a free ball up to the Farmers with their best hitter in the front row.  The ball went to the MB as expected but Zoe Zacharias rose to the occasion and blocked the Union attack to give the Hilltoppers a 23-22 lead.  The explosion of emotion was palpable and when Roberts got the kill to put SHS up 24-22 which led to the Abby Thompson ace at set point,  the place went loud!

Summit opened the decisive set with the serve.  The set was very tight early on and Summit held a miniscule 7-6 lead through 4 rotations.  A Union service error,  a free ball error and a kill by Roberts had the Top up 10-6 but then the wheels fell off the Hilltopper machine.  Union ran off an 8-2 run to take control of the set 14-12 and force Coach into a TO.  Two more Farmer points,  another Martins TO.  This time the Top responded to the adversity with Barlow ripping a kill into the seam which had Wauters all pumped up and even more excited after a dump kill by the senior OPP to give SHS a shot,  down only 15-16.  Union got a kill to stifle momentum but the Top responded with a 2 Roberts kills, a Webb block and an ace by Barlow  had the place jumping with the Summit crew up 19-18.   The TO was expected but the response was not from a Farmer perspective.  Roberts struck again from the OH spot with a shot to zone 1 and followed it up with a dump kill to force another Union TO trailing 23-18.  It seemed inevitable now.  Wauters struck for a kill to zone 6 and followed it up with a down ball spot kill for the win and the guaranteed Divisional Title the program had been chasing for 11 years!

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Barlow 6 aces 

Serve Rating: Thompson 2.44

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Barlow 12 

Receiving (Pass Rating): Barlow 2.25

Attack (Kills): Roberts 15 

Attack (Kill %): Roberts 50.0%

Attack (Efficiency): Roberts .333

Defense (Blocks): Webb 5

Defense (Digs): Barlow 6

ROYALS FALL TO JV; VARSITY PUSHED TO 3 BY OAK KNOLL

 The matches continued for the Hilltoppers with a bout against the Oak Knoll Royals.  Both SHS squads had taken care of the visitors at home by 2-0 margins but both squads were coming off physically and emotionally draining matches against the Cougars with different results.  JV was looking to bounce back from only their third loss of the 2022 campaign while Varsity was looking not to have a letdown after their big victory against Cranford.  

JV used a superior serving attack to stifle the Royal attack and got enough offense out of the front court to seal the deal against Oak Knoll.  The defense was good when it needed to be although most of the work was handling many free balls that were forced by the SHS serving attack.  In set 1, the Top looked to be in control in rotation 7 with Gabby Nowicka giving the squad a 15-10 lead but the Royals came storming back to knot the score up before the rotation was over.  With the scoreboard showing 19-19 in rotation 9,  Kate Cooper came up with a 6-0 service run (3 aces) that got the Hilltoppers the set 1 victory at 25-19.  

Set 2 was far less dramatic with Sanne Smidt extending a 5-2 Summit lead to a 10-2 lead off 2 aces and a 5 point service run.  By the time Emmy Handal was done in rotation 6,  the lead had ballooned to 19-5.  Isabelle Meltzer was the last nail in the proverbial coffin as the defensive specialist ran off 3 service points (1 ace) to bring the win home at 25-9.

The Varsity Team was trying to use its depth and rest some key players for the upcoming tournament run so the match featured a starting lineup of Mckenna Welsh,  Naya Kim,  Emily Demm,  Abby Wells,  Cece Webb,  Ava Feuerstake and Libero Stella Yarden.  Set 1 saw the Top down early 4-2 but Feuerstake ripped an ace and Webb got a stuff block in a 4-0 run that had Summit up 6-4.  The teams failed to get any advantage over the next two rotations but it wasn't until a service error by Oak Knoll that opened the door for Summit to take control.  Demn began it all with a kill and then Abby Thompson ripped 3 aces in a row which was then followed by another Demn kill and a Royal error and the set seemed in hand with SHS up 14-7.  A TO by the Royals did little to stop the Summit momentum as Thompson ripped another ace when the set resumed.  Kim followed up with a kill and Thompson added yet another ace before the run ended with the score at 17-7.  Neither team was able to make much of a sustained run after that and the set ended 25-18.

Oak Knoll started off with a 5-1 run and kept that buffer through the 8-4 score-line.  A service error by the Royals opened the door again for the Top and Caroline Henry used serving again to get the team back into the match.  By the time her 7-0 service run was over (Henry ace,  Kim kill, Anna Joseph kill) the Hilltoppers were back in control at 12-8.  However,  service errors and attacking errors came to plague the Hilltoppers and the Royals ran off an 17-9 run to close out the set.  The last few points were emblematic of the set as the Hilltoppers had crawled back to within one at 21-20 but followed that up with 2 attack errors and one hitting error to hand over the 2nd set to Oak Knoll.

The deciding set was decided early as the Top opened up with a 7-1 run.  Kim started it off with a kill and Zoe Zacharias added an ace to begin the run.  Demn tallied another kill,  Yarden ripped 2 aces and the Royals were forced into a TO.  A 5-1 Summit run was the result of the TO as Wells and Joseph got into the mix with 2 kills and one kill respectively.  Ece Kulabas made her statistical appearance with an ace and the lead was 12-2 and effectively ended any hopes of a Royal upset.  This time,  the last few points were again emblematic of the set.  Webb got a kill off an overpass and Demn ripped an ace after an Oak Knoll attack error and the set and match was over 25-15.

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Thompson 5 aces 

Serve Rating: Thompson 3.43

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Yarden 5 

Receiving (Pass Rating): Feuerstake 2.00

Attack (Kills): Demn 9 

Attack (Kill %): Kim 41.7%

Attack (Efficiency): Demn .261

Defense (Blocks): Kim, Wells and Webb 1 apiece

Defense (Digs): Kulabas and Yarden 6 apiece

9th GRADERS IMPROVE TO 7W-1L,; JV DROP TO 9W-3L; VARSITY AVENGES EARLIER LOSS TO COUGARS

 Cranford hosted the 9th Graders while the Varsity and JV traveled to Summit this past Monday.  The Summit "Frosh" were looking to sweep the season series while the upper levels had been stung by an efficient serving and hitting Cougar offense on the road that yielded a 2-0 loss on the JV level and a 2-1 loss by Varsity.  

The 9th Graders took care of their end of the ledger with a convincing 2-0 victory on the road to improve to 7W-1L.

Junior Varsity had their full squad this time and pushed the Cougars to 3 but were unable to make the key plays in sets 2 and 3 despite their narrow win in set 1 which led to their 2nd defeat at the hands of the Cranford Cougars this season.

Varsity would move to a first place tie with the Cougars atop the Mountain Division while the Cranford squad would be assured no worse than an eventual share of the Division Title with a win of their own so there was a lot of motivation and pressure on both sides.

Summit came out on fire behind Zoe Zacharias who served up 4 service points (1 ace) to give the Top a quick 4-1 lead.  Caroline Henry followed up with a 3-0 service run (2 aces) that had Summit up 8-1 and forced an early Cranford TO.  The break in action settled the Cougars and the squads exchanged points for a few rotations but at 12-6,  following a Cranford serving error,  the home team went on a 5-0 run thanks to 5 consecutive aces by Captain Vivian Roberts to force a final Cougar TO with the scoreboard flashing 18-6.  

Off the TO,  Hannah Barlow scored again with a tip kill and the Cougars were finally able to get the ball back but the damage was done and the 19-7 score-line did all but guarantee that the Hilltoppers would win set 1.  Summit ended the set with a kill off the Cranford block by Roberts which capped a final 6-4 run that had SHS on the right side of a 25-11 score.

Summit out-scored Cranford 17-7 with an 8-0 advantage on aces.

Set 2 began eerily similar to the second set at Cranford when the Cougars ripped off a 12-1 run to begin the set and never looked back on the road to winning in 3 sets.  In Summit,  Cranford shot out to a 4-0 lead but a Cougar serving error gave the ball back to Summit who got an ace from Zacharias and a block from Julia Nardino to crawl back to within 1 at 3-4.  The visitors ripped a kill to regain control back but the Hilltoppers responded with an 8-0 run (2 kills by Barlow, kill by Alison Wauters, ace by Stella Yarden)  to flip the script on the Cougars and force a TO at 11-5 Summit.  

Off the time-out,  the visitors responded with a 5-0 run of their own and the match was once again in question for the Top with the score 11-10.  But then Wauters hit another of her momentum changing kills to give the Top a 12-10 lead which was then followed by an ace by Barlow,  a kill by Zacharias and a back row kill by Barlow to open up a 15-10 Summit lead midway through the set.  The Cougars managed to get within 3 again but Barlow nailed another kill and Abby Thompson ripped an ace to force another Cranford TO with the lead back up to 5 at 18-13.  Cranford again responded well off the TO but the teams were only able to swap points from that point on and after another Barlow dump kill and ace,  Summit were again up by 5 at 23-18.  To the visitor's credit,  the Cougars did not fold and made a minirun to get within 3 at 23-20 but Yarden kept the pressure going on the serve and Wauters ripped another shot that forced an errant third ball attempt by Cranford which gave the Top 4 match points.  Wauters stepped up and delivered a blistering serve that forced an overpass which Cece Webb crushed for the game-winning point in the set and match.  

With the win,  Summit moved to first place in the division.  

Summit out-scored Cranford 20-12 with a 13-5 kill advantage.  

Match Statistical Leaders:

Serving: Roberts 5 aces 

Serve Rating: Roberts 2.88

Receiving (Perfect Passes): Wauters and Henry 2 apiece 

Receiving (Pass Rating): Henry 2.67

Attack (Kills): Barlow 12

Attack (Kill %): Barlow 50.0%

Attack (Efficiency): Barlow .500

Defense (Blocks): Barlow and Nardino 1 apiece

Defense (Digs): Wauters 7