High Point University freshman Audie Gonzalez put down 16 kills in pacing the Panthers to a 3-0 (30-23-30-23, 30-26) sweep of Triad-rival North Carolina A&T on Friday night at the Corbett Sports Center.

HPU picked up its first win of the season improving to 1-3 while the Aggies slipped to 1-2. The match was High Point's first road contest of the season and marked the first of a eight-match stretch of away events for the Panthers.

Junior Jamie Kaufman added a double-double, her second of the year, with 11 kills and 12 digs in helping HPU to the victory. Libero Whitney Kaltenegger topped the High Point defense with 15 digs.

Sophomore setter Kristina Taylor tallied 34 assists and led the High Point frontline along with Sabrina Wahid with five block assists each.  High Point put down 9.0 blocks and had 46 digs for the match.

Arlene Mitchell led the Aggies with a match-high 17 kills, while twin sister Darlene added 10. Krystal Cooper posted 12 digs, while Lauren Walker added 10.  Brenden Chatman set a game-high 35 assists.

"It is a great feeling to get our first win under our belt," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "We played with a great deal more consistency in all aspects of the game. Our focus since our last match was been to communicate and play together and we did that tonight. Another big difference for us was our strong passing and defense. Hopefully we can use this success and build on it."

The Panthers surrendered the lead just three times the entire match en route to the victory. In games one and two combined, HPU had 29 kills and hit .231, while the Aggies tallied 25 kills and hit .107. In the final game, N.C. A&T held an 18-17 lead, but HPU battled back to tie the score at 25. Gonzalez then put away the match with a pair of key kills to give HPU the win.

High Point next hits the court in a return match to Greensboro, this time to meet the UNCG Spartans on Tuesday (Sept. 5) at 7 p.m.