Tori Grafeman had 13 kills and Shannon Sitzmann added 11 kills to help Winthrop claim a 3-0 win over High Point Saturday evening in the Big South regular-season volleyball finale for both schools at the Winthrop Coliseum (30-21, 30-12, 30-20).

Lindsey Pickens tallied a team-high 11 kills for the Panthers (17-17, 5-9 Big South).

Jamie Kaufman added nine kills, while Michelle Feiser recorded 27 assists and hit at a team-high .333 clip.

"We really didn't play well at all," HPU head coach Chad Esposito said. "We came out with a lack of focus, and against a good team like Winthrop you can't afford that."

"We're capable of better, which makes it so frustrating after we've played well in the last few matches."

The Eagles (28-2) completed a perfect Big South regular season (14-0), and recorded a .536 hitting percentage.

HPU was without regular starter Tara Mahoney. "Not having Tara really affected our blocking, and then our defense," Esposito said. "We were unbalanced and a step or two behind all night."

The Panthers have earned the No. 6 seed in the 2004 Big South Tournament, and will travel to meet third-seeded Birmingham-Southern on Tuesday at 8:00 pm EST. The winner will advance to Asheville for the semifinals and finals, which will be held Nov. 20-21 and determine the Conference's representative for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship.

For the first time this season, the four first-round matches will be played on the home court of the higher-seeded team in each contest.

The winner of the HPU/BSC match will meet the survivor of No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina and No. 7 Charleston Southern.

The other bracket features Winthrop hosting No. 8 seed Charleston Southern and fourth-seeded UNC Asheville against No. 5 seed Liberty.

"We realize we'll have to play well in order to get to the tournament's Final Four," Esposito said. "Nothing will be easy, and we know it will take a good effort."