Host Birmingham-Southern fought off four game points in the first game, and then caught fire to claim a 3-0 win over High Point in the first round of the 2004 Big South Volleyball Tournament Tuesday night in Birmingham.

BSC won the battle of Panthers by a linescore of 33-31, 30-12, and 30-20.

Birmingham-Southern (16-11) advances to meet Coastal Carolina in a semifinal Saturday in Asheville, while HPU finishes its season at 17-18. The visiting Panthers more than doubled (from eight to 17) the school record for Division I victories in a season.

"It's frustrating that we let four game points go early," HPU head coach Chad Esposito said. "It really swung the momentum in the favor of Birmingham-Southern.

"After we couldn't pull it out in game one, we struggled mentally from there on out. Birmingham-Southern played well -- they were effective on offense and gave everything they had."

Lindsey Pickens had 11 kills and eight digs and Ashley Johnson added 10 kills for HPU, while Kim Anderson and Whitney Kaltenegger both had 17 digs. Michelle Feiser provided 33 assists, eight digs and five kills, while Tara Mahoney added seven kills and two blocks.

"Ashley had a good night for us, and Michelle showed why she's probably our best athlete," Esposito said.

BSC got 10 kills apiece from Rachel Malmborg and Lillian Henderson, while Lindsey Herzog provided a match-high 24 digs. Kyndall Waters collected 35 assists and 16 digs.

Game 1 featured 11 ties and five lead changes. HPU won 11 of the first 14 points and took an 11-3 advantage on a kill by Johnson. But BSC put together seven straight points to take its first lead of the game at 15-14. High Point regrouped and surged ahead 25-21 on a Mahoney kill before BSC won the next five points. The game was tied at 25-25, 26-26, 27-27, 28-28, and 29-29, and HPU had a pair of game points at 30-29 and 31-30, but BSC fought off both and went up 1-0 on a kill by Sarah Martin to take game one by a 33-31 count.

After High Point jumped out to a 4-1 lead, it was all BSC the rest of the way in game two. The homestanding Panthers hit .571 in the frame, and streaked to a 30-12 victory to go up 2-0.

Game three went back and forth and was tied at 10-10 before Birmingham-Southern rattled off a 9-2 run to storm in front. BSC claimed the finale when Waters and Henderson combined for a block.

"It's disappointing to lose in the first round of the tournament, but it shows the importance of the regular season," Esposito said. "But we can't be disappointed in the year we've had. 17 wins is a far cry from where we were last year. All in all, we've had a successful turnaround.

"We're very young still. Hopefully we've matured as we've been able to play some of our younger players, and we'll learn as a team how to play with a winning mentality. It's not disappointing when you think about where we've come from, but we know it could have been better.

"This gives us some motivation for the offseason, as we continue to get better and develop further. We're very excited about the future and where we're headed."