JV AND VARSITY BOW OUT OF COUNTY QUARTER-FINALS WITH LOSSES TO UNION AND KENT PLACE

 JV hosted the Union Farmers at home in a 4 vs. 5 matchup and the Farmers came away with the 2-1 win by 16-25,  25-23, 18-25.

The first 5 and 1/2  rotations proved that this was going to be a true 4v5 matchup as both squads were in a tight set with the score 11-9 Union.  But then the Farmers stepped up on the serve and broke the Hilltopper receive formation with a 6-0 run that had the visiting squad up 18-9.  The rest of set 1 was academic as the  teams traded points the rest of the way but that run was the difference as the Top dropped set 1 25-16.

Set 2 began very auspiciously for the Hilltoppers as they received serve to start the set and promptly trailed 3-0.  Things did not seem to get better over the next 3 rotations and the Summit players saw the Union serving rotation 4 end with the home team trailing 11-4 by the change of serve.  Things looked bleak.  And then Ally Liguori serves a game saving run of 6 points that got SHS back in the match at 10-12.  The Liguori run sparked the Hilltoppers,  changed momentum and the next rotation finally flipped the score with Kate Cooper giving the home side a 5-0 run that had Summit up 16-13 and 18-13 after 6 rotations.  Union outscored the Hilltoppers 8-3 over the next 3 rotations   and the score was knotted at 21 with Summit's county run on the line.  But Liguori stepped up again under tremendous pressure and delivered with 2 service points that had the Top at the doorstep of a game-saving set win at 24-21.  Union fought back to break serve and hit for an ace to make the score 24-23 but the Hilltoppers closed it out 25-23 to tie the match 1-1.

The deciding set was a tale of 2 rotations and unfortunately,  the Hilltoppers were on the short end of both.  Union ran a 7-0 run that had the visitors up 11-1 at the end of 2 rotations and although SHS had cut the lead the lead to 12-5 after their serve in rotation 4,  it was the Farmers' serving rotation that killed any hope of a comeback with a 5-0 run that pushed the lead to 18-5.  Score was 21-10 after 6 rotations and 23-15 after 8 rotations but Summit just did not have enough points to give and soon fell 18-25 to end their county run.  JV drops to 14-2.

Varsity took the walk to Kent Place to face off against the #12 ranked team in the state.  The task was massive but the confidence in the Summit offense was as well.  The Top started really well getting kills by Julia Nardino and Vivian Roberts as well as a timely ace by Hope Basaman to take an early 3-1 lead.  SHS knew things would get tight and they would face adversity but early on it was clear the team was up to the task.  The Maroon and Black saw the Dragons fight back and take a 5-4 lead but Eva Oberhuber had a dump kill and SHS forced a Dragon return error off a Torie MacArthur serve and both squads were knotted up at 6.  The Dragons took an 8-6 lead but Allison Wauters delivered a kill to zone 5 that had Summit within 1 at 8-7.  KP then ran off 3 quick points from a kill, an ace and a free ball error by the Top forcing Coach Martins into a TO.  Another hitting error by the Summit crew had the team down 12-7 and despite a service break,  SHS could not capitalize and suffered through another 4-0 run forcing a second TO with the Hilltoppers down 16-8.  The Dragons continued to score after the time-out and with the lead at 18-8,  a blocking error by KP finally ended the run.  Summit could not muster much off their serve and finished the set on the wrong end of a 7-3 run that,  despite a great kill by Roberts in the mix,  it was not enough to overmatch the Dragons.  

The subsequent set saw the KP Dragons serve first and again,  early on,  the Hilltoppers were able to compete with the #12 team.  Sarah Noa passed up a perfect ball that Roberts drove to zone 1 for a kill and Basaman followed up with an ace.  Two hitting errors by the Dragons and a Nardino ace had the visitors up 5-1 and feeling good about themselves.  But yet again the Kent Place squad used their serving attack to rattle off a 5-0 run and it wasn't until a serving error that the Hilltoppers got the ball back at 6-6.  A MacArthur serve followed that had the Dragons in a little bit of trouble and forced another hitting error to get SHS a 7-6 lead.  But a 5-1 run flipped the score and momentum and despite the Summit squad being down only 11-8,  the trend line was obvious,  the Dragons could score in bunches against some of the Hilltopper rotations.  And so they did in the very next rotation with a 14-0 run that the Hilltoppers were unable to break to wrap up the set.  

Summit drops to 12-4.

JV AND VARSITY MOVE ON TO COUNTY QUARTER-FINALS AFTER 2-0 WINS OVER THE LINDER TIGERS

 JV and Varsity entered their third match this season against the Tigers of Linden on Tuesday and came away with their third victory on both levels as both squads will move on to the Quarter-Finals.  JV won 25-21,  25-17,  taking a close set each time and getting on a hot serving rotation that produced the separation the team needed to win each set easily.  

Set 1 started to break open on rotation 3 and 4 as the Top fought back from a 6-4 deficit to take a 12-7 lead entering rotation 5 thanks to the serving rotations of Stella Yarden and Abby Wells.  Linden could not put much of a dent into the SHS lead by rotation 7 and the Hilltoppers held a 14-9 lead as Abby Thompson stepped up to serve.  By the end of her serving rotation,  Thompson had Summit up 19-9 and the outcome was never really in doubt even though the Tigers did manage to cut the lead down minimally 23-15.  Final score set 1,  25-15.

Set 2 was rather competitive as the Hilltoppers fond themselves down 16-14 by rotation 6,  a set that saw both teams not able to go on a huge run but rather multiple rotations struck for at least 2-3 points.  That was the case until rotation 8 with the Hilltoppers and Tigers knotted up at 17 and Wells serving again.  The south paw junior ripped off an 8-0 run with 4 aces that sealed the deal unexpectedly by a 25-17 score.  JV will now host Union in the Quarter Finals on Thursday,  4pm at home.

VARSITY MAKES IT 3 FOR 3

The Varsity squad got an all around balanced attack by their front line and a defensive effort that was statistically the most productive of the year to seal the 2-0 victory over the Linden Tigers,  25-16,  25-13.  This match featured many long rallies and the difference in the match was that the Hilltoppers tended to win most of these,  a result that clearly had a demoralizing effect on the Tigers at key junctions of each set.  With the Top receiving serve early at 2-2,  a long rally ensued that ended on a Tiger error and that point sparked a 4-0 run that had SHS up 7-2 before it ended (Julia Nardino 2 aces,  Vivian Roberts 1 kill) .  Linden then owned the next few rotations and the two teams found themselves deadlocked at 10 after an Eva Oberhuber tip kill.  An 8-3 SHS run gave control back to the Hilltoppers thanks to kills by Nardino, Roberts, Oberhuber and Hope Basaman who also added an ace to push the score to 18-13.  Linden again started to make a push but Roberts and Basaman put kills down and Alison Wauters dropped a tear drop tip for a kill to all but seal the set for the Black and Maroon at 23-15.  And it soon did end,  with the Hilltoppers putting an exclamation point on the set with the final point going through Basaman for a powerful seam shot from the OPP position. 

The handful of rallies that Linden lost took the steam out of the squad and it showed early in set 2 as the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 5-0 lead (Roberts kill, Basaman ace) .  Despite the Tigers breaking serve,  Summit got a mini run again through Roberts with 3 consecutive kills forcing a Linden TO at 8-1.  Cece Webb and Oberhuber put down 4 kills over the next few rotations and the outcome became apparent as the Top held a 14-4 lead.  When Webb returned to the front row again with the score 22-11,  she promptly drove a kill down to zone 6 which led to a Torie MacArthur ace to push the set win to near reality at 23-12.  It soon ended at 25-13 and propelled the Hilltoppers to a 2-0 win (12W-3L) and a Quarter-Final berth in the UCIAC Tournament.  Varsity will travel to Kent Place for a 4:30 match against the #12 team in the state, a real test for the young squad.

HILLTOPPERS TAKE THE 3-0 SWEEP VERSUS THE PIONEERS

 The Pioneers had pushed the JV in the earlier matchup at Summit and the Varsity had given the Top their third loss of the campaign while the 9th graders had handled the New Providence squad to remain undefeated.  

Ninth Graders took care of business with a 25-14 and 25-12 win over the Pioneers.  Through the first 6 rotations the Hilltoppers were in a bit of a fight with the Top leading only by 2 at 10-8. But in rotation 7,  with SHS up 11-8,  Molly Davies ran off 4 straight points to push the lead to 15-8,  the beginning of the end for the Pioneers.  New Providence couldn't get any closer to Summit and,  with the score 18-12,  SHS ran off 5 straight points off the service run of Juliana Alicea to all but seal the deal at 24-12.  One rotation later it was over,  25-14.

Set two was more of the same.  Ailish Gutshall led the way off the first rotation with a 7-0 run that had the Top up 8-0.  The Pioneers cut slightly into the lead over the next few rotations and,  with the scoreboard showing 10-4,  Amanda Jimenez ripped off 7 straight points in her rotation to give the Summit squad an insurmountable 18-4 lead.  New Prov fought back to close the gap to 18-9 but the lead was just too large and the Hilltoppers closed it out 25-12 to remain undefeated!

The Junior Varsity had earned a hard fought 2-0 win (25-23, 27-25) at home versus the Pioneers but it remained to be determined if the squad could duplicate that feat on the road.  Early on,  it did not seem so.  The Top looked out of sorts and had numerous hitting and serving errors that,  combined with the New Providence serving attack,  proved to be the difference in a lackluster 25-22 set one loss.  Summit was down 18-12,  cut the lead down to 18-17 just to see the Pioneers go on a run that had them at the doorstep of the set win at 24-19 before the SHS squad broke serve.  Summit could not get much closer and yielded the set a rotation later.

Set two was a drastic turnaround with the Hilltoppers serving and attacking more efficiently.  Summit was up 11-4 after a mere two rotations as Emily Griffith and Elizabeth Walsh powered the Hilltopper service attack to an early lead.  Summit served and attacked well in the next 4 rotations but the Pioneer defense was better,  thwarting the Summit offense at every turn and not allowing any other runs.  However,  the New Providence attack was not effective at all during this stretch and the scoreboard showed a 16-11 lead for Summit at the end of rotation 6.   Walsh yet again was the difference in the Hilltopper attack,  serving the team another 4 points in rotation 8 to give Summit a 21-12 lead and,  despite NP cutting the lead down to 21-16,  SHS was comfortable after her service rotation and closed it out 25-19.  

The decisive set was over early as the Hilltoppers took a 4-3 lead in rotation 3 and exploded it to a 12-3 lead behind the serving of Emily Demm.  Stella Yarden then took the 13-5 lead the SHS squad had in rotation 4 and expanded it to 19-5 and the set and match were essentially over.  By rotation 8 it was officially over with the scoreboard reading 25-12 for the 13th victory for the JV crew.  

Varsity may look back at the New Providence loss as the turning point for their season.  Since that loss,  the Hilltoppers have gone 7W-0L dropping only one set in the run and winning 5 consecutive games on the road,  the longest away winning streak in a decade!  The match began very evenly with NP taking a slight lead at 4-2 by rotation 2 but a Vivian Roberts kill had Summit back in the set and it sparked a 6-0 run that saw Eva Oberhuber and Allison Wauters get kills and Torie MacArthur rip 2 aces.  Despite a break of serve,  Summit kept the pressure up with Wauters yet again adding to her offensive tally with kills #2 and #3 and Hope Basaman nailing an OPP attack that forced a Pioneer time-out with SHS up 11-5.  The Hilltoppers lost the point right after the time-out but another Basaman kill had the Top on another run with sophomore Setter Zoe Zacharias getting into the offensive mix with a setter dump to give SHS the 14-6 lead.  NP cut the lead down to 15-10 over the next couple of rotations but the Top used Roberts again to steady the ship as the junior OH notched a kill and an ace to solidify the Hilltopper lead at 20-12.  The Pioneers cut the lead down to 22-17 over the next few rotations but to no avail as the Summit squad closed out the set with kills by Wauters,  Nardino and Roberts to close out the set 25-17.  

Set two had the Pioneers jump out to a 3-1 lead that seemed to exist until rotation 7 with the scoreboard showing 9-6 NP.  Basaman got a tip kill to move SHS to within 2 and after a Pioneer hitting error,  Roberts stuff blocked the New Providence OPP for a 9-9 score line that forced a NP time-out.  The time-out was key as the Top were on the wrong end of a 3-0 run that had reestablished the Pioneer lead to 12-10.  

Aya Laws had been working all season to improve her service game but had yet to test out all her hard work in a real match.  That is,  until this game.  Laws was put into the match at 10-12 NP and in her first pressure serve of the season,  the senior executed a good serve that led to an attack easily handled by Sarah Noa and put away by Oberhuber.  The senior DS followed that serve up with an ace and SHS had tied the set at 12.  Later in the set,  Oberhuber was yet again the villain from a New Providence perspective with a kill to zone one that had NP looking to use their second time-out to stem the tide.  And so they did,  generating a 3-0 run that had New Providence up 20-16.  

A block by Cece Webb started the emotional comeback.  Noa served up an ace and Roberts ripped another kill to push SHS to within 1 at 20-19.  New Prov stayed ahead of the Summit squad with 2 SHS errors but at 23-20,  NP suffered a serving error that had the Top only down 23-21 and followed that up with two other errors thanks to the serving of Laws.  The Pioneers soon earned a set point at 24-23 but Roberts smashed a kill to zone 1 to stave off the set loss and Webb followed suit with a kill of her own after a MacArthur serve forced the Pioneers into a free ball.   MacArthur sent another tough ball over the net at set and match point Summit which the Pioneers could not return and the match was over with a 26-24 set and match win to move to 11W-3L.

MacArthur led the team with 2 aces and a 2.56 serve rating and a perfect 9/9 from the service line.

Thompson was stellar with a team leading 2.07 pass rating with 6/15 perfect passes and 12 digs on defense.

Roberts, Oberhuber and Wauters shouldered the offensive load with 19 of the 27 Hilltopper kills (7-6-6 respectively).  

Nardino was busy at the net, notching 3 blocks and 2 kills on the match.

Zacharias tallied 25 assists in a 2 set match,  the highest of her career in a 2 set match.  

HILLTOPPERS FIGHT OFF A MUCH IMPROVED OAK KNOLL SQUAD

 The JV and Varsity Teams faced off at home against an Oak Knoll side that had seen its performance improve significantly in the second half of the season and it showed in their two matches versus the Hilltoppers.  Junior Varsity improved to 12W-1L with a convincing 2-0 win relying on their serving and timely hitting to fight off the charge of the Royals.  

Varsity also won 25-11 and 28-26 in a surprising test of adversity right before the start of the County Tournament to improve to 10W-3L.  In set 1,  Summit out-killed the Royals 11-4 and out-block and out-ace the Blue and White 4-1 for a 15-5 score advantage in a 25-11 set win.  The beginning of the set established the tone as the Hilltoppers got out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back.   Vivian Roberts had 2 kills early to spot the Top a 3-0 lead.  Julia Nardino added a kill and an ace to increase the lead to 6-1 forcing a time-out by the Royals.  The time-out helped out the visitors as they broke serve and cut the lead down to 3.  Roberts put a ball down to stem the run and that led to a Hilltopper run fueled by kills by Eva Oberhuber and Allison Wauters and a Torie MacArthur ace got the Summit crew to an 11-3 lead they just would not yield.  

Set 2 was a bit different right from the start.  Oak Knoll jumped out to a 3-0 lead but SHS did manage to tie things up after a Hope Basaman kill.  The good feelings were short lived though as the Royals pulled another 3-0 run to go up 7-4.  This time the Hilltoppers relied on Roberts to end the run with a kill and Oberhuber got the Top to within 1 at 6-7 with a slide kill. 

Midway through the set,  the visitors had an 11-8 lead but then the Hilltopper squad seemed to get a handle of the set with a 5-0 run (Cece Webb, Roberts block,  2 aces Sarah Noa) that got the Top in the lead 13-11.  Later in the set the Oak Knoll crew had the lead at 17-16 but Oberhuber again got a kill out of the middle to knot the score at 17.  With the Hilltoppers down 19-20 a rotation later,  Ally Lipchitz fooled everyone on the court with a setter dump kill that pulled Summit even at 20 and allowed Basaman to step up and nail an ace to zone 5 for a 21-20 lead.  The Royals responded but a rotation later the Oak Knoll team was forced into a time-out after an attack error had Summit tied at 22.  A tough serve by Nardino led to a return error by the Royals but SHS could not capitalize and the score showed 23-23.  The subsequent serve by the visitors was easily passed up by Rebekah Thompson and Roberts put the set by Lipchitz down with authority and the Maroon and Black had earned their first set and match point.  Oak Knoll got a crucial kill to tie the score at 24 but a hit by Oberhuber forced a ball handling error and Summit had earned yet another set and match point.  To the Royals' credit,  the team did not give up and found itself yet again tied at 25 but a Webb hit forced an errant return by the Oak Knoll crew to give the Top a 3rd set and match point that was yet again thwarted by the Royals.  A serving error by the visitors gave the Summit squad a 4th set and match point and this time Noah was able to slam the door on any Royals' hope with another ace that set the final score at 28-26.

Noa led the Top with a 2.77 serve rating and 3 aces with an 13/13 serving performance.

Thompson had a nearly perfect 2.70 pass rating and notched 7 perfect passes out of 10 attempts and was the digs leader with 5.

Roberts was the top point scorer for the match with 10 points and led the squad with 8 kills out of 16 swings and a 50% kill % and a .250 efficiency along with chipping in with 2 blocks on defense.

Zacharias set up 11 of the 15 Hilltopper kills for the match.

VARSITY AVENGES EARLY LOSS, JV SWEEPS SEASON SERIES VS. RAHWAY

 The Summit Volleyball Team traveled to Rahway on the back end of the 2 game season series which saw the Rahway crew drop a decision on the JV level to the Hilltoppers in Summit but the Varsity squad up-ended the SHS team 2-0 on the road.

The JV Squad started off rather slow in their return match versus the Rahway crew as the squad was looking at the wrong end of a 9-4 score by rotation 3 but Emily Demm ripped off a 3 point run that had the Top back in the game at 9-7 down.  On the very next rotation Rahway was unable to create any separation and that allowed Stella Yarden to run a 4 point service streak that finally had the Hilltoppers up at 12-11 after her serve was broken.  The set remained somewhat undecided over the next few rotations with SHS holding an 18-12 lead but not being able to get the decisive run,  that is,  until. Abby Thompson stepped up to serve.  The sophomore Setter ran off 5 points on her serve and the SHS crew had finally broken the spirits of the Rahway team with the lead of 24-13.  It was over in the very next rotation, 25-14.  

Set 2 was much more competitive with Rahway getting the upper hand late.  Not much separated the teams through 6 rotations as the Hilltoppers found themselves tied at 8.  Wish there was more to tell of rotations 7 through 12 but the score line of 15-14 Summit says all that needs to be said as neither team could muster much consistency.  But in rotation 13,  Rahway made the first real run with a 3-0 service point tally that had RHS up 18-16.  SHS could not respond and the next rotation saw Rahway extend the lead to 22-17.  Despite the adversity and being down 22-18,  the Hilltoppers used their serving to crawl back into the set behind the arm of Abby Wells.    Wells had a 3 point run that had the Top closer but still facing a deficit at 23-21 but Demm ran off a pair of serves that had the set knotted up at 23.  A service break gave Rahway the ball and a set point but an RHS error got the ball in Jessica Clark's hands and the junior drove two difficult balls to Rahway and just like that the Hilltoppers had closed out the set and match 26-24.

JV improves to 11W-1L.

Varsity was looking to erase their early speed bump against this Rahway team but the hosts were of a very different mindset.  Summit started off well enough with a solid Sarah Noa serve which led to a Zoe Zacharias dig and Rebekah Thompson set up Vivian Roberts for a kill to start SHS off well and the team actually found themselves up 3-0.  But the good feelings were soon gone as RHS ran off 6 consecutive points to go up 6-3.  Summit could not eat into that lead for a couple of rotations but Eva Oberhuber finally started a Summit run with a kill to zone 1 that ignited a 5-0 run behind the serving of Zacharias who also notched an ace in the run.  SHS ran the lead up to 3 with an Alison Wauters kill and things seemed like they were in hand until a 5-0 run by RHS had the Hilltoppers down again 16-14.  A Rahway service error gave the Top the chance they needed to get back into the game and after a Roberts tip kill,  SHS had re-established the lead at 17-16.  Again Rahway responded with a 5-0 run that seemed to doom any chance of a set win as the Hilltoppers saw the scoreboard read 21-17 HOME. 

A hitting error by RHS and an ace by Hope Basaman got SHS to within two at 21-19.  After a service break by Rahway,  the Hilltoppers got a timely kill by Roberts and a subsequent error by the home side and the score read 23-22 HOME.  A kill by Rahway seemed to have given the home side all the room they needed with 2 set points but this time SHS responded with a crucial defensive play to stave off a set 1 defeat.  Ant that play came in the form of a block through the most unlikely of blocking sources,  Zacharias.  Wauters followed up with a downball kill and the Top was tied at 24.  Zacharias continued serving and RHS could not do much with it,  eventually putting the ball into the net.  Now holding a set point at 25-26,  the Summit squad got the terminating kill from their productive MB Oberhuber for the 26-24 win!

Set 2 seemed eerily familiar as the Top rolled out to a 3-0 lead just to see Rahway erase it and draw even at 5-5.  It was Summit this time that had to respond with runs off serve receive and so they did with a 3-0 run, a kill by Webb,  Oberhuber and Basaman,  to open an 8-5 lead.  Through 6 rotations,  the 11-10 score-line seemed to be a fair reflection of the set with neither team being consistent enough to put on a great run.  Later in the set,  Roberts delivered another key kill to knot the score at 15,  Julia Nardino ripped an ace and Roberts smashed another kill  to get the team ahead 17-15.  The match took on a see-saw quality to it and RHS found themselves tied at 20 and looking for more.  Rahway benefited from a blocking and serving error to push their lead to 22-20 and Summit found themselves with their backs against the proverbial wall.  A serving error got SHS to within one at 21-22 and not much changed a rotation later as the SHS and RHS fan base watched the scoreboard read 23-23.  Basaman kept the pressure on with her serving and the RHS squad could not find the answer.  Appropriately enough,  it was the serving that provided the final nail as Basaman tallied an ace with the score 24-23 to take the set and match 25-23.

Record: 9W-3L

A BANNER WEEK FOR VARSITY, 4W-0L FROM 9/23-10/1

 The Lady Hilltoppers remained undefeated on the 9th Grade Level and JV avenged an earlier loss to Governor Livingston to move to 10W-1L on the year.  Meanwhile,  Varsity goes from 4W-3L to 8W-3L in a week where the Summit Vballers dispatched of #2 GL,  #1 Linden on the road (Linden's only 2 losses),  took care of ALJ for season sweep and had the biggest comeback of the year versus rival Cranford in a 2-0 win!

In the four game stretch,  the Hilltoppers have been dominant.  Summit has out-killed their opponents 83-51, has out-blocked them 16-5 and has out-aced them 33-13.  The difference has been the much improved serving as the Hilltoppers have served at 88.9% with an ace % of 15.2%.  

Hope Basaman and Julia Nardino have led the Hilltoppers this past week with 7 aces each and have led the team in serve rating with a 2.57 and 2.30 rating,  respectively.  

Rebekah Thompson led the team in reception attempts with 61 and passed about 50% of those perfectly.  Thompson also led the squad with a 2.30 pass rating and dug up 48 balls successfully to lead the squad.

Vivian Roberts has been a workhorse from the OH slot,  notching 34 kills and a team leading .274 efficiency and a 40.5 kill %.  

Nardino has been a wall this week as the sophomore notched a team leading 7 blocks for the week

Roberts and Eva Oberhuber have been the main scorers with Roberts scoring 37 and Oberhuber 25 points.  

HILLTOPPERS FACE A TOUGH CHALLENGE IN LINDEN BUT COME OUT UNSCATHED

All levels of the Hilltoppers piled into a Next Level Bus on route to Linden High School.  Over an hour later,  the weary and stiff legged Hilltoppers rolled out of the bus and headed into the Tigers' home turf looking for the sweep.  It should have been no surprise that the Summit crew struggled early but at the end of a very long day and a bus ride back to Summit,  the Hilltoppers could take comfort in their victory over a very tough opponent at all levels!

The 9th Graders won set 1,  dropped a tight set 2 but won the deciding set 3 to stay undefeated at 8W-0L!

The JV Squad earned a hard fought victory in set 1 and pulled away early in set 2 to win convincingly 25-7 and improve to 10W-1L.

Varsity was just off from the beginning.  Even though the scoreboard read 4-4 in the early stage of set 1,  the only point the Top actually scored was a single kill by Vivian Roberts.  A series of serving and attacking errors opened the door for the Tigers and they took full advantage of it,  going on a 9-3 run that got the scoreboard to show 13-7 and forced an SHS time-out.  That TO did not stem the tide long term though as the Hilltoppers suffered through another error filled stretch to see the Linden lead balloon to 18-9.  

It was then that the Hilltoppers began to show signs of life.  Roberts crushed a kill to the 5 zone and Julia Nardino nailed an ace to the back line to start it all.  Despite a service error,  Eva Oberhuber got the Top right back on track with a screaming slide kill and another good attack led to a Linden error.   Even though the Home Team got control back and pushed the score to 24-14,  Summit kept pushing,  sensing a change in momentum was occurring.  Alison Wauters and Nardino tallied back to back spikes and Rebekah Thompson notched an ace that lifted the Maroon and Gold's spirits before bowing out 25-18.  But hope had again returned and the team FINALLY looked like it had shaken off the long bus ride.

Linden had the edge in kills 10-9 in the set,  SHS 1-0 on blocks and 2-1 in aces for a 12-11 lead in points but 14 errors to 6 was the lead Summit did not want which led to the 25-18 set loss.

Set 2 saw the Hilltoppers receive serve and the squad continued the momentum they showed in the latter stages of set 1.  A Roberts tip kill gave the ball back to the visitors and Hope Basaman continued her torrid ace attack with 2 more points and the visitors had a 5-0 lead to start.  The next run happened at 6-3 Summit with a Linden service error that was followed up with a Torie MacArthur ace and another Tiger hitting error forced by her serve. Although the Linden squad broke serve,  Oberhuber drove an overpass through the floor,  Basaman tallied a line kill,  Wauters stuff blocked the Linden MB and Zoe Zacharias hit for an ace which saw the Hilltoppers go on to a commanding 13-4 lead.  

Linden answered back with a 7-0 run of their own which had the Top under duress but Wauters got a key out of system kill to give SHS a 14-11 lead and settle the squad down.  Wauters hit for another kill and the Top forced the Tiger offense into another error to see Summit re-establish a more comfortable lead at 16-11.  A rotation later,  Wauters notched another block,  Nardino followed suit and Roberts crushed a ball down the line to force a TO by the Linden Coach but the damage was done and the set was seemingly the Top's with the lead 19-12.  Both squads traded points in subsequent rotations and the Hilltoppers closed it out 25-18.

With 8 kills, 4 blocks and 5 aces, SHS easily out-scored the Tigers 17-8 and cruised to the second set win.  

In the decisive third set,  SHS would receive serve again to start. Roberts put down the first point off a Sarah Noa pass and the Hilltoppers were on their way.  Basaman ripped an ace to follow and the next serve forced the Tigers into a return error.  Summit up 3-0.  Roberts and Oberhuber notched kills in the next rotation and the Hilltoppers had a 6-3 lead.  MacArthur blistered a couple of serves in the next rotation and tallied an ace to push SHS to a 9-3 advantage.  Linden responded with a 3-0 run but the Maroon and Black had the lead back up to 5 at 11-6 a rotation later.  Another 3 point run by the Tigers pushed the Hilltoppers to respond and Basaman did just that with a powerful kill to zone 1 and then the floodgates opened.  Nardino blocked down a Linden attack and Thompson ripped an ace to get the lead up to 5 at 14-9.  Nardino and Thompson repeated that same dance again and all of a sudden,  SHS led 16-9.  Yet again the Tigers came up with a 3-0 run but the Summit offense notched another kill,  this time by Nardino,  and a Tiger error later,  the Hilltoppers were one step closer to a win at 18-12.  Roberts took the last bit of hope out of the Linden fans with 2 consecutive kills to force a Linden TO.  The junior did not cool off after the time-out and hit for another kill which all but guaranteed a Hilltopper win at 22-13.  Linden kept fighting but the lead was too great and the Maroon and Black offense was just creating too many problems.  Oberhuber put the exclamation point on the match with an overpass kill to finish the match 25-15.

Summit out-scored Linden 15-8 in the set with a 9-6 kill and a 4-1 ace advantage.

Record is now 8W-3L.

Basaman and Thompson led the team with 3 aces each and a 2.59 and a 2.21 serve rating.

Thompson was the team leader on serve receive with a 2.42 rating and a 50% perfect pass accuracy. 

Roberts was the team leader in kills with 11 and also the team leader with a .296 hitting efficiency and a 40.97 kill %.  

Rind was a perfect 10/10 in digs but Thompson led the squad with 15 digs.  

Wauters and Nardino led the block party with 3 blocks apiece.  

Zacharias notched 26 assists, a season and career high!