The High Point University volleyball team dropped a hard-fought 3-0 (30-23, 30-16, 30-20) decision at Winthrop on Wednesday night in the squad's Big South Conference opener.

The Panthers (8-6, 0-1) had their four-match win streak halted by the defending Big South Conference champion Eagles (9-4, 1-0), who have now won 19 consecutive home matches and 22 straight over league opponents.

Freshman Ashley Mellott proved to be a bright spot in the loss for HPU finishing with a team-best 11 kills and .304 hitting percentage. Senior Michelle Feiser tallied seven kills and had 17 assists in the match while fellow senior Jenelle Stouffer paced the Panther defense with 12 digs. Jamie Kaufman also reached double-digits defensively recording 10 digs on the night.

"I am disappointed in the outcome," said Panther head coach Chad Esposito. "I thought we started the match ready to play but after losing a closely battled first game we lost some of our mental focus the rest of the match. We hurt ourselves with some unforced hitting errors and also struggled in certain service reception rotations. Hopefully this will be another learning experience for our young team. Thankfully we have a few days off from competition and will have a chance to get back to work in the gym."

For the match, Winthrop outhit High Point .310 to .049 and held a 47 to 31 edge in total kills. Reigning Big South Player of the Week Taryn Surbaugh recorded a match-high 16 kills while preseason Player of the Year candidate Mary Hock posted a 10 kill-12 dig double-double along with five service aces to pace the Eagle attack.

High Point will now take nine days off from competition before returning to the floor on Sept. 30 at Big South rival Liberty. HPU's next home volleyball match is slated for Oct. 8 against UNC Asheville.