Jamie Kaufman had 15 kills to lead High Point to a 3-0 win over cross-county rival North Carolina A&T Wednesday night in volleyball action in the Millis Center.

The Panthers improve to 17-14 on the season, while the Lady Aggies dip to 9-16.

Lindsey Pickens had 12 kills and 10 digs and Ashley Johnson added 10 kills for the Panthers. Kim Anderson tallied 13 digs to extend her streak of matches with at least 10 digs to 35 contests, good for fifth in the nation. 

"It's nice to get back on the winning track," HPU head coach Chad Esposito said. "We played very focused and with a lot of consistency. Hopefully we can use the momentum to carry us through the rest of the season.

"We were able to stay focused when A&T started kind of slow, but when they picked it up and got better we were able to handle them and stay ahead for the rest of the match."

Jenelle Stouffer had nine digs, while Heather Butt added 10 assists for HPU.

For the match, the Panthers tallied a .391 hitting percentage to A&T's .147. Kaufman hit at a .591 clip, while Pickens recorded a .455 percentage and added four aces.

"It was a collective team effort," Esposito said. "Lindsey, Ashley and Jamie were very efficient on offense tonight."

Arlene Mitchell led the Lady Aggies with 13 kills. Darlene Mitchell led A&T defensively with 10 kills. Krystal Cooper added seven kills and four digs.

The Panthers have three regular-season contests remaining, beginning Saturday afternoon at home against Birmingham-Southern (2:00 pm). The top four teams in the Conference will host a first-round game in the 2004 Big South Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 16, before the semifinals and finals move to Asheville, N.C., on Nov. 19-20.

"We've got a a tough road ahead of us with three conference games left," Esposito said. "We have an uphill trek to host a first-round match, but that's our goal. We'll give these last three matches our best shot."

The Lady Aggies return to action at MEAC rival South Carolina State on Friday evening (6:00 pm).