The 9th Graders continue their improved play, beating Mendham 25-14, 25-20 in a spirited match that saw many long rallies and key service runs by both teams which helped decide the fate of the match. Summit continues to show improvement in all facets of the court, especially on serve receive, which is helping the squad beat what looks like more physical teams in the front row. Add their consistent serving pressure and the team is flying high with an 11-2 record with both losses coming from Union HS. Next up, Madison at home and Chatham on Pink Out. Chatham might be the young Hilltoppers' last match for the season. The team is waiting on confirmation of a match on 10/28.
JV was looking to lock up a top 3 seed in the county tournament with a win versus Rahway in what was a set 1 tight affair became a blowout after Devaney ripped a 13 point service run that gave the Hilltoppers a 25-12 set 1 win. It was very much the same story in set 2 with the Top getting about 4 points per service rotation and comfortably winning the set and match 25-10 for their 13th win to only 1 loss!
Varsity had to earn a victory over the Indians of Rahway to guarantee themselves at the worst a share of the conference title. With only 4 titles in its history, last one in 2011 prior to last year's 2023 Championship, the win would mean that the program would have earned more titles in 2 years than in the last 20! But in their way would be a great Rahway squad who could lock up the championship by themselves with a win.
It was going well early with the Top up 5-2 after kills by Barlow and Henry! But at 6-3 SHS, the visitors went on a 5-0 run that gave Rahway an 8-6 lead. A tip by Barlow and an ace by the senio had the score knotted up at 8 but at 10-9 Summit, yet again Rahway responded with a decisive 6-0 run that had the visiting squad up 15-10. SHS brok serve with another Barlow kill but Rahway went on a 9-0 run that finished off the home side's chances. Despite a Davies dump kill, another SHS hitting error appropriately ended the set 25-12.
Set 2 did not start the way the Hilltoppers would have wanted. Two hitting errors and a service error had the Top down 3-1 and Rahway was clearly brimming with confidence. But an unlikely source then stepped up and hit for a kill that sparked a 4-1 run that turned the set around. Nardino had been a major contributor to the offensive output of the team and had stepped up as a major serving provider over the last 6 matches. Nardino was missing due to illness and Herring had to fill in and be productive in this major match. The Junior struck for a kill that led to a Heary ace and 2 Barlow kills and the Top was up 5-4. Joseph had another quiet but impactful game and a tip kill this time began another 4-1 run where Barlow struck for another kill and Zacharias caught the Rahway squad with a setter dump to give SHS a 9-6 lead and forcing a visitor TO. Joseph came off the TO and stuff blocked a Rahway attack and Barlow added another kill and the home crew found themselves up 12-7. Summit kept the pressure up and Barlow was the instrument as the Captain hit 2 more kills and Zacharias another ace to have the scoreboard show 15-8 lead. Rahway struck for 2 points to shift momentum momentarily but Davies pounded a kill and Heary got the visitors for 2 aces forcing another Rahway TO at 18-10. The TO did nothing to change the rhythm of the set as Summit won 4 of the next 5 points (Barlow kill, Henry ace) and were comfortably in front 22-11. Despite an 8-2 Rahway run, the visitors finally ran out of real estate as Demm put an exclamation point in the set with a kill to seal the score at 25-19.
Summit took charge of the deciding set 3 early with Davies striking for a 2 kills and Zacharias notching 2 more aces to give the Top a 5-1 lead. Rahway responded with a 3-0 run and a few rotations later, Summit was right where they started with Rahway with the score showing 7-7. With Barlow in the front row, the team found her for a tip kill and then the OH ripped 3 consecutive aces to force a TO at 11-7. Rahway responded after the TO and cut the lead down to 12-11 but it was SHS this time with a response as Joseph hit for an ace and a kill and Barlow and Zacharias got a kill each to get the Hilltoppers back up by 5 at 15-10.
With the score 17-13 a few rotations later, Rahway made a big push with a 6-0 run to jump out to a 19-17 lead, forcing a Martins TO. SHS came off the break and saw a longer rally develop that had Davies and Herring swing aggressively but unable to capitalize. RHS however was not able to expand the lead either and Davies finally put away a hit to break service and the Top got the score to 19-19. The Indians responded as Champions do and pushed back creating 2 Hilltopper errors but Joseph again hit a clutch shot and Nowicka came into the game to give the Top a solid service run that led to two Rahway hitting errors and an ace by the Junior to force a TO by the visitors at 23-21 Summit. Coming off the TO, Nowicka again put pressure on the visitors with her serve and Joseph rejected an Indian attack although the RHS squad kept the ball alive. Heary then scooped up a Rahway attack which led to a Barlow attack attempt that was defended by the Indians. Rahway could not do anything with it however and the Captain finished the point off on the next attack. Nowicka took the ball on match point and served up a "beebee" which caused all kinds of problems and the RHS squad saw their shot to earn sole ownership of the Division Title disappear as they shot the ball out of bounds as the Top celebrated its first back to back Divisional Titles in history.
The Summit crew out-killed Rahway 33-12 and out-aced the visitors 13-9 although Rahway out-blocked SHS 5-1 for a Summit lead of 51-22 in terms of total points. The match was a tale of 2 sets as Rahway out-scored the Top 12-9 in set 1 but Summit out-scored RHS 19-5 in set 2 to flip the match. SHS started slow in set 3 but finished really strong as the home side out-scored Rahway 19-9 in the 3rd to win the battle.
The highlight of the match, besides the win, was the milestone reached by the OH Captain Barlow, who eclipsed 300 kills for her career, only the 4th female to do so in SHS history. A great accomplishment by an amazing athlete who lost most of her Sophomore year due to injury.
No comments:
Post a Comment