The High Point University volleyball squad took the first two games against Radford, but was not able to capture the deciding game as the Panthers suffered a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the Highlanders on Friday night.

The loss snapped a three-match win streak for HPU who slips to 9-19 overall and 6-6 in Big South play after the disappointing 30-26, 30-27, 26-30, 28-30, 8-15 decision. Radford improved to 8-16, 4-8 earning just their second win in their last eight contests.

The match featured a battle of gritty and determined defenses. Radford earned a 151-135 advantage in digs as both teams featured multiple double-digit dig performers. Each squad also claimed a pair of 30+ dig performances. High Point held a slight lead in team blocks after tallying a season best 14.5 blocks.

Junior outside hitter Jamie Kaufman led the way for the Panthers recording her third "20-20" performance of the season with 23 kills and a career-best 31 digs. Kaufman becomes the third HPU player this season to eclipse the 30-dig plateau.

High Point also got a double-double outing from freshman Audie Gonzalez who finished with 14 kills and 21 digs. Sophomore setter Kristina Taylor also posted a double-double dishing out 45 assists along with 15 digs. Taylor finished with a career-high six blocks sharing the team match lead with freshman Megan Kaminskas and senior Sabrina Wahid.

Sophomore libero Lauren Hatch tallied 31 digs in the match, marking her fourth 30+ dig performance this year, while freshman Tara Dyer dug out a personal best 24 balls in the match.

Radford was led offensively by Lindsey Poole with 23 kills. Rachel Newton (37) and Lauren Clary (35) paced the Highlander defense in digs.

The match featured five extremely evenly played games with each team scoring key points to capture their victories. High Point used a five-point run to take the lead after trailing 23-22 to earn the win in the opening frame. The Panthers broke a 22-22 tie in game two with a 7-1 surge to earn a 2-0 match advantage.

Radford maintained a lead for most of the third stanza to cut the HPU margin to a single game and then forced a fifth game by outlasting the Panthers in a nail-biting fourth frame.

The Highlanders earned the match victory scoring seven of the final nine points in the fifth game.

High Point concludes their Big South weekend roadtrip with a match at Liberty on Saturday at 5 p.m.