FROSH PROGRESSING WITH PERFECT RECORD
9th Graders started the week versus Westfield and came away with the 2-1 thrilling win by 25-22, 19-25, 25-23 score lines. The Summit serving was perfection in the last 3 rotations which was the key to the victory!
The young Hilltoppers continued their week with a matchup against their neighbors Governor Livingston on the road and the squad was in control the whole way as the team scored a 25-16, 25-15 win away to remain undefeated on the season.
And the last of the matchups for the week had the 9th Graders host Chatham and yet again the team was just the better of the squads on receive and in this matchup the 9th graders were highly effective on attack which allowed them to control the tempo of the sets in a comfortable 2-0 win that has the young squad at a 6-0 record for the year
JV SHOWS IMPROVEMENT VERSUS 3 RANKED OPPONENTS
The Junior Varsity has faced off versus GL, Westfield and Union Catholic over the years in county tournament situations and has generally come away with losses that have taken the Hilltoppers out of contention. The feedback is usually the same, "this was the toughest opponent we had all year".
With the move to the Watchung Division, these once in a season matchups are now part of the regular schedule and the level of play and competition will be the toughest the JV program has ever faced. First up, the Westfield squad that knocked off the Hilltoppers in last year's county semis. The Squad used key serving runs and timely offense to be in a position to win set one but in the latter points, Westfield just out-gunned the Hilltoppers from the front row and took the set 25-22. The team was just not able to recover emotionally from the set 1 loss as it could not match the energy and execution they displayed in the opening set whch led to a 25-9 score-line that sealed the loss.
Next up would be the Union Catholic Vikings, the other finalist in the 2023 JV County Tournament. JV played without fear and generated a lot of offense in a match that the Vikings won 25-15, 25-21. The untold storyline is the fact that SHS was neck and neck with the UC Squad, leading 15-14 in set 1 before receive errors and unforced offensive errors derailed the set 1 effort. In set 2, the Hilltoppers actually held a 20-19 lead but a service error and a few uncharacteristic communication errors in the latter stages of the set derailed an upset in the making. This was the most competitive score and match the JV Squad has ever had versus UC.
The last match of the week was against the Governor Livingston Highlanders. Could the JV Squad figure out a way to win the late points to get a win against a ranked opponent. The Hilltoppers stunned the Highlanders in set 1 25-23 with key offensive points and serves late in the set to hold a slim lead late and push the set win over the finish line. Set 2 was a bit different as the GL crew out-served the Summit squad and opened up a lead they would not relinquish late in the set as they cruised to a 25-16 set win. Set 3 looked to be more of the same with the Top down 13-9 midway through and 17-11 in the closing stages of the set but then a key serving run by Armstrong got the team back in it, pulling the Hilltoppers to within one at 19-18 and the Top were the ones who out-served and out-passed the Highlanders in the late set moments as the home side upset the GL team by outscoring them 14-3 down the stretch and 5-0 after the score was knotted up at 20. Truly a team effort to get the win and improve to 5-2.
VARSITY SHOWS SIGNS THEY CAN COMPETE BUT CAN'T SUSTAIN IT THE ENTIRE MATCH
The matchup versus Westfield was the first one in a trio of tough matches that had the SHS team go up against the aforementioned #9 in NJ, the #8 Union Catholic and the #17 Governor Livingston.
Summit knew it had to keep balls in play versus the error free style of play of the Westfield Blue Devils but the opening rotation proved to be more of a difficult task than the Hilltoppers had expected and the team was down 9-1 before the 2nd rotation had even started. In that run, the Top committed 3 attack errors and gave up 2 aces, not the start they wanted. But after those initial nerves were assuaged with the actual game, Summit kept up with the Blue Devils and saw a 16-16 score the rest of the way to give them hope for the second set. Henry was outstanding in the receive game with a 2.22 rating, Handal scored the only ace for the Top and Ge led the way offensively with 4 kills.
Set 2 saw the team falter in the receive game and get worn down by the defensive efforts of the Westfield crew as the team fell 25-10 in the set. Summit was out-killed 12-5 and out-scored 21-8 in a forgettable set in which the Hilltoppers just could not finish the point scoring opportunities.
Summit did not have much time to ponder on the loss as the team would face off against the top team in Union County, the #8 team in the state, the Union Catholic Vikings. What a difference in effort and belief in the Hilltoppers in just one day after the Westfield match. This was not a matter of the Summit side out-scoring the Vikings in so much as it was a matter of the team keeping plays alive and forcing the UC side to play uncomfortable volleyball.
SHS, early on, seemed to be doping just that. A spike by Nowicka and a net error by UC had the Hilltoppers up 5-4 on the road. Down 6-9, Summit got a service error by the Vikings and a kill by Ge to fight back to 8-9. Down 9-13, SHS yet again benefitted from a Viking service error and things looked up at 10-13. But a quick 2-0 run by UC forced a Summit TO and a few points later, a N Feuerstake block and a hitting error by the Vikings had the Hilltoppers within shouting distance at 12-16. SHS continued to fight and got opportunities to score but the UC defense stymied the Top at every turn until SHS had no choice but to take their final TO at 13-21. Summit bounced back off the TO winning 4 of the next 6 points to close the gap to 17-23 and forcing a UC time-out. That settled the Vikings down and the set ended on a 25-17 score.
Set 2 saw a much more determined Summit side. UC jumped out to a 3-1 lead and still led 6-4 after another SHS Summit hitting error but the team forced UC into a down ball hitting error and then nailed an ace to knot up the score at 6. UC built a lead back up again to 11-7 and eventually 16-9 forcing a SHS TO and the team responded with a 3-0 run capped by a N Feuerstake kill that brough the Hilltoppers back to within 4 at 12-16. Summit held in there through the next few rotations at 14-18 but UC managed to extend the lead to 21-14 but the Top ripped two quick points via the Welsh - Deyonge connection going after the middle defense of the Vikings to get to 16-21.. Unfortunately the Top ran out of points to compete with as the teams traded points and UC out-lasts the Hilltoppers ultimately by a 25-18 score.
The Highlanders of Governor Livingston were the final test of the week for the Hilltoppers, a team that had not lost a set since their day 1 loss to the Vikings of UC, and the Top seemed up for the task in set 1. A Ge kill and a Welsh ace had the Top up early 4-2 against the #17 squad. Then Henry pulled out 2 aces after the GL team tied it and it sparked a 4-0 run that had Summit up 8-4.Things were looking up at 9-6 SHS but GL is known for its relentless serving pressure and Summit finally showed cracks allowing a 5-0 run where the Hilltopper serve receive gave up 3 aces. But the team rebounded back with a Welsh dump kill and Summit had tied the score 11-11. A kill by Deyonge and a hitting error forced by a Basaman serve forced a GL TO at 13-12 SHS that became 14-12 after the break. A 3-0 Highlander run put the pressure back onto Summit but a Ge kill had the Top yet again even with the top 20 team. Another Ge kill, a Welsh dump kill and a N Feuerstake opp kill saw the Hilltoppers tie it up late 19-19 and the crowd was into it. But then 5 unforced errors down the stretch by the Top (2 hitting and 3 serving errors) took the pressure off GL and essentially handed the set to the visitors by a 25-22 tally.
Summit proved it could hang with the best but had yet to prove it could sustain it through every point. And so began set 2 with the score-line showing 4-4 and GL's points coming off of 3 serving errors and one free ball return error by SHS. Yet Summit was really playing well, Deyonge and Welsh connecting for another kill and Basaman ripping an ace to give SHS a 6-5 lead and, early on, Summit was outscoring the Highlanders 5-1 which made the unforced errors more glaring. But then GL started to find its offense and ripped of a 7-2 run to force a SHS TO trailing 12-8. Off the time-out, despite a service break, another 3-0 run ensued off a hitting error and a free point off of an out of rotation penalty to spot the Highlanders a 15-9 lead before the run stopped off of a N Feuerstake kill. But Governor Livingston responded with another 3-0 run and SHS called its final TO after yet another hitting error as the scoreboard showed 18-10 GL
Things did not look much better after the time-out despite a Welsh dump kill to get SHS to 11-18 because Summit was called on 2 net errors, had 2 hitting errors and gave up 2 aces to seal the set for GL 25-11. The set score would seem to indicate a GL point dominance but the gap was only 4 as Summit trailed GL by an 8-12 margin in scored points.
Summit showed that it could play and compete with some of the most talented and highly ranked teams in the state but these 3 matchups also showed the level of consistency the team still lacks at times when it has control of the ball. #ProgressionnotPerfection
A quick look at these last 3 opponents
MATCH STATS: BEASTS - BY THE NUMBERS:
ACE - Heary 3, Henry 2
SERVE RATING (at least 7% of team attempts) - Heary 2.50, Henry 2.00
SERVE % (at least 7% of team attempts) - Basaman 88.9, Heary 87.5
PASS RATING (1.8 or higher) - Henry 2.03, Ge 2.00
PERFECT PASSES - Henry 21, Ge 12
KILLS - Ge 15, N Feuerstake and Welsh 6
EFFICIENCY (at least 10% of team attempts) - Welsh .211, Ge .186
KILL % (at least 10% of team attempts) - Ge 34.9, Welsh 31.6
DIGS - Henry 21, A Feuerstake 11
BLOCKS - Herring and N Feuerstake 2
ASSISTS - Welsh 35
***TOP POINT SCORERS (Kills, Aces, Blocks***)
Ge 15, N Feuerstake 8, Welsh 7
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