The High Point University volleyball team concluded tournament play at the Catamount Clash V on Saturday morning with a hard-fought 3-0 loss to Kent State.

The Panthers (1-11) battled throughout the match against the Golden Flashes (7-5) but struggled to find some offensive consistency getting outhit .092 to .258 over the three games. Kent State earned the victory with scores of 30-21, 30-25, 30-23.

Junior outside hitter Jamie Kaufman paced the Panther offense finishing with 14 kills on the day. Her double digit total allowed her to eclipse the 1,000 kill mark for her career, becoming just the third HPU player in the program's eight-year Division I history to reach the milestone. Kaufman has 1,002 in her third season of play for High Point.

Freshman Audie Gonzalez, who was named to the All-Tournament squad, completed a solid weekend of play finishing with seven kills and 14 digs. Fellow freshman Megan Kaminskas posted a season-high eight kills and two blocks for HPU, while sophomore libero Lauren Hatch recorded a team-leading 17 digs.

The two squads played an even match through much of the opening game running the score to a 17-17 tie before Kent closed things out with a 13-4 surge. Game two played out almost the same as both squads held slight leads and were even knotted at 21. The Golden Flashes scored three straight points from that point and held on for the game two decision.

High Point grabbed the early advantage, 4-0, in the third frame only to have KSU answer with a 15-3 run to put the game out of reach.

The Catamount Clash marked the end of a nine-game road swing for HPU as the Panthers will return home for their Big South Conference opener against Winthrop on Thursday at 7 p.m., in the Millis Center.