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.