The High Point volleyball squad continued its strong play this weekend earning an impressive 3-0 (30-14, 30-21, 30-25) sweep over Big South Conference foe Radford on Saturday afternoon in Millis Athletic Center.

The victory ups the Panthers record to 15-13 overall and 5-6 in Big South Conference play. The loss drops Radford to 3-18 and 0-11 in league matches. The win was also HPU's third straight home victory and keeps them in the hunt to host an opening round Big South Tournament match in November.

Freshman Ashley Mellott led the way for High Point finishing with a match-high 13 kills. Michelle Feiser added eight kills in the victory and also posted 23 assists and 10 digs for her 19 double-double of the year. Jamie Kaufman topped the Panther back row defenders with 12 digs while Tara Mahoney and Sabrina Wahid shared frontline honors with four blocks each.

Elizabeth Aldredge was the top Radford offensive performer with nine kills and Rachel Newton's 12 digs led the way on defense for the Highlanders.

High Point led in every statistical category in the match outhitting Radford, 42-28, in kills and out-digging them 47-36. The Panthers tallied 10 service aces in the contest including five by Kaufman and also limited RU to just a .019 hitting percentage while connecting at a .176 pace themselves.

"This was just a great overall team performance," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "We came into the match with a focus on our blocking and defense and we did a good job in both those areas. We had great respect for their middle attack and I felt like for the most part we were able to keep them under control today. It was nice to see us get ahead and then make the plays to close things out. We had a strong weekend and hopefully we can continue to play at this level."

HPU took an early lead in the opening frame and built it into a double-digit advantage at 23-11 on the strength of an 11-2 run. The Panthers kept the pressure on scoring six of the final seven points in earning the 20-14 win. Game two started as a back-and-forth affair with both teams keeping the score close before four consecutive points put HPU in front 14-10.  The Highlanders answered with a three-point spurt to pull to within one, but High Point tallied seven of the next eight point and never looked back en route to the 30-21 win.

Radford seemed to turn the tide at the start of game three earning an early 5-1 lead. HPU raced back and grabbed the lead 7-6 and from there the two squads settled into a sideout battle for several rotations.  A 6-1 spurt by the Panthers gave them some breathing room at 17-12. The Highlanders made a final push closing the gap to one, 20-19, but would get no closer as HPU closed out the match with a 30-25 win.