Winthrop won its 13th match in 14 tries and remained perfect in Conference play with a 3-1 win over High Point Tuesday night in a battle of Big South volleyball unbeatens in the Millis Center.

The Eagles (14-2, 3-0 Big South) fought off a furious High Point rally to take the match by a linescore of 30-16, 30-24, 25-30, 30-28. Shannon Sitzmann led Winthrop with 16 kills on a .429 hitting percentage.

The Panthers (8-8, 2-1 Big South) saw their five-match winning streak come to an end. Jamie Kaufman had 15 kills, Ashley Johnson added 14 kills and Michelle Feiser contributed 37 assists and a team-high 15 digs for HPU.

Sitzmann led a flock of four Eagles in double-figures in kills. Mary Hock had 15 kills, 11 digs and four service aces, while Taryn Surbaugh (12 kills) and Tori Grafeman (11 kills) also reached double-figures. Emily Heckl contributed 55 assists and 11 digs, as well as five blocks.

Kim Anderson chipped in 14 digs and two service aces for the Panthers, while Lindsey Pickens (nine kills, 11 digs, four aces) narrowly missed a double-double.

"I'm proud of the way we fought back after Winthrop came out so strong and we went down early," HPU head coach Chad Esposito said. "The players stepped it up and hustled and did everything we could to try and win the match.

"Winthrop is a very good team, but we had our opportunities in the fourth game, and it's a good learning experience for a young team to make adjustements and come back against a quality opponent."

Five of Sitzmann's kills came in game one, including the clincher which gave the Eagles an opening 30-16 win. Winthrop took an early lead in game two before two straight aces by Kaufman pulled the Panthers within 17-14. But Eagles were able to weather the storm and pulled away for a 30-24 win on a Hock kill.

HPU cut the deficit in half with a 30-25 win in game three. The Panthers took the frame's first four points before the game went back and forth, featuring six lead changes and seven ties. Trailing 21-20, High Point won six of the next seven points for a 27-22 advantage, and eventually grabbed game three after Pickens and Sabrina Wahid teamed up for a block on game point.

The Panthers rallied from a five-point deficit in the pivotal game four to draw even at 21-21 on a kill by Feiser, and took a 24-23 lead after forcing the Eagles into an attack error. The game featured ties at 21-21, 22-22, 24-24 and 27-27 before the Panthers fought off a match point with a solo block by Wahid to pull within 29-28. But Winthrop held on when the HPU serve sailed out and claimed an important victory early in Conference play.

"Ashley had a very good game for us offensively and picked us up when we needed it," Esposito said. "We're going to move forward and focus on this weekend."

High Point hits the road this weekend to face Birmingham-Southern. First serve at Birmingham's Bill Battle Coliseum is set for 8:00 pm EDT Friday evening.