After dropping the first two games of the match, the High Point University volleyball team captured the final three frames en route to their 3-2 (22-30, 18-30, 30-12, 30-28, 15-9) road victory over Coastal Carolina on Friday night in Big South Conference action.

With the win, the Panthers (15-6 overall, 3-2 Big South) earned their sixth consecutive win and matched the program's longest win streak in its nine-year Division I history. HPU also won six straight during the 2004 season. The loss dropped Coastal Carolina to 11-10 this season, 3-2 in conference play.

"This was a tremendous Big South road win for us," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "We were completely out of sorts offensively during the first two games but kept battling on defense. We finally got things to click in game three and really just did a great job of seizing the momentum. I am extremely proud of the determination and effort our entire team displayed in making such an epic comeback. Hopefully, we can carry this excitement and confidence into our match on Saturday."

The tone for an intense match was set early as game one featured several long rallies. With Coastal maintaining a 20-19 advantage over the Panthers, the Lady Chants were able to pull away with a 6-1 scoring run to make it a 26-20 game. CCU scored four of the final six points to earn the opening game win.

Game two started out close before a pair of Coastal seven-point runs put the Chants in front for good. Megan Bickford started the first run with a kill and then added a service ace. Coastal's second run included two service aces from Megan Pollard.  Coastal ended the game with a four-point run that featured another service ace, this time by Meagan Tracey.

High Point began their comeback right away in game three scoring the first four points of the frame. HPU quickly pushed its lead to double-figures at 16-6 before closing using an 8-1 to close out the scoring. The Panthers dominated play in the third game with a .353 hitting percentage that featured 14 kills with just two hitting errors. HPU also forced the Chants into a negative (-.067) hitting performance in the frame.

The fourth game came down to the wire with Coastal making a late three-point surge to trim the Panther lead to just 29-28. High Point was able to regroup and score the point it needed to win the game and force a deciding game five.

With the score tied 4-4 in the fifth, High Point used a three point run to gain some breathing room. The Panthers then used two additional three-point runs to complete the comeback and secure the victory.

Ashley Mellott recorded a match-high 18 kills for High Point. Kristina Taylor (41 assists, 10 digs) and Audie Gonzalez (13 kills, 25 digs) each boasted double-doubles in the victory for HPU. Freshman libero Julie Hershkowitz recorded a team-leading 29 digs and fellow freshman Anna Lott finished with six blocks to pace the Panther frontline.

Nyhof led Coastal with 17 kills, while Chelsy Kimes added a 16-kill, 25-dig double-double. Tracey had an assist-dig double-double with 51 assists and 13 digs. Meanwhile, Brett Starbuck recorded a match and career-high 37 digs.

High Point will travel to Charleston Southern for the second part of the Big South "Beach Trip". HPU faces CSU at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the CSU Fieldhouse.