Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The High Point University volleyball team had an impressive start at the Friar Invitational posting wins over Sacred Heart (3-1) and host Providence (3-0) on Friday at Mullaney Gymnasium.
The Panthers (6-5) opened tournament action with a 30-22, 28-30, 30-24, 30-16 victory against Sacred Heart (1-5) on Friday afternoon. In the nightcap, HPU posted a 30-19, 30-18, 30-22 sweep of the Friars (0-10).
Sophomore Jamie Kaufman was a key contributor for High Point posting back-to-back double-doubles on the day. The Pacific Palisades, Calif., native had 15 kills and 16 digs versus SHU and followed it up with a 13 kills-18 digs performance against PC. Senior Michelle Feiser also tallied big numbers finishing with a triple-double (15 kills, 23 assists, 12 digs) versus Sacred Heart and 10 kills-22 assists in the match with Providence.
Against Sacred Heart, the Panthers hit .258 as a team and out-blocked SHU by a 12-5 margin. High Point also nearly doubled the Pioneers offensive output finishing with 66 kills to just 38 by Sacred Heart. In addition to Kaufman and Feiser's stellar play, freshman Ashley Mellott posted 12 kills while senior Jenelle Stouffer recorded 11 digs. Sabrina Wahid led the team with five blocks and Kaufman also wreaked havoc from the service line tallying a season best six aces in the match.
"We pretty much dominated the match," said Panther head coach Chad Esposito. "Our only struggle came early in game two when we gave them too many free points off missed serves and unforced hitting errors. I was pleased with our overall performance and I am thrilled to start the tournament off with a win."
In the day's second match, High Point gained the early advantage and never let up en route to the 3-0 sweep of Providence. Freshman Lindsay Raus posted nine kills to go along with the strong performances from Kaufman and Feiser. Wahid also stepped up offensively finishing with eight kills in 15 attempts with just one hitting miscue. Freshman setter Lauren Hatch recorded 16 assists in the game while Stouffer (18 digs) and Whitney Kaltenegger (14 digs) anchored the Panther's back row defense.
"Against Providence we finally seemed to put everything together," added Esposito. "We played consistently from start to finish and that was really nice to see. We controlled the tempo of the match with our defense and passing and we were very aggressive on offense. It was a great team victory."
HPU concludes tournament play at the Friar Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday against Gardner-Webb (10 a.m.) and Hartford (Noon).
