Slow starts proved costly to the High Point University volleyball team in their 3-0 (28-30, 17-30, 23-30) loss to East Tennessee State on Tuesday night in the Millis Center.

The Panthers (0-3) allowed the Buccaneers (2-1) to build early leads in each of the three games in the match forcing HPU to play from behind for much of the night. ETSU also won the battle at the net scoring an 8-5 edge in blocks and a 43-41 advantage in kills for the contest.

Senior Sabrina Wahid and freshman Audie Gonzalez shared team honors with seven kills each while Gonzalez and junior Jamie Kaufman paced the Panther defense with 14 digs apiece. The Bucs' Jennifer Sartor finished with 12 kills to lead all attackers and ETSU libero Kaena Apana's 15 digs were also tops in the match. A trio of East Tennessee blockers recorded four blocks each.

"Right now there are times on the court when we are still trying to develop our overall team consistency," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "I thought we struggled tonight with out sideout offense and our passing. I was proud of our scrappy, defensive effort and our never-say-die mentality. One thing that is a little disappointing for me is that we just haven't been able to bring our strong practice performance to matches. But, we are a young team and we will continue to improve."

High Point fell behind 4-0 in the opening game as East Tennessee built a 10-3 lead forcing HPU into a timeout. The Panthers battled back scoring eight of the next nine points to knot the score at 11. From that point, the two squads battled back-and-forth to the end of the frame with ETSU edging out a 30-28 decision.

The Buccaneers scored the first eight points and held a double-digit advantage for much of the second stanza. ETSU connected at a match-best .324 clip in the frame while forcing the HPU offense into a .000 hitting percentage (9 kills, 9 errors).

ETSU grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in the third game before the Panthers rallied to grab a 6-5 edge, their first lead of the match. However, it was short-lived as the Bucs rattled off the next eight points and held on to the advantage for the rest of the game. HPU made a late charge but could get no closer than five points down the stretch.

The ETSU match marked the conclusion of High Point's season-opening home stand, the Panthers now hit the road for 12 of their next 13 matches beginning with a pair of contests at Triad-rivals North Carolina A&T (Friday – 6 pm) and UNC Greensboro (Sept. 5, 7 pm).