The High Point University volleyball team battled defending Big South champion Winthrop toe-to-toe on Saturday afternoon but came up a little short in a 3-1 (26-30, 20-30, 30-27, 25-30) loss on "Senior Day" in the Millis Center.

The Panthers, who honored seniors Whitney Kaltenegger, Ashley Johnson and Jamie Kaufman during a pre-match ceremony, finish the regular season with a program record 24-8 overall and 8-4 Big South mark despite the loss. Winthrop finishes with an 18-10, 11-1 record and earns a share of the regular season conference title.

High Point ends the season in third place in the conference standings, the program's best finish in its nine-year league history.

HPU's seniors ended their home careers with solid performances as both Johnson and Kaufman tallied 12 kills. Johnson added a block and two digs while Kaufman chipped in five digs and a service ace. Kaltenegger also posted five digs in back-row action.

Juniors Lindsay Raus and Ashley Mellott led the HPU offense finishing with 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Freshman Julie Hershkowitz paced the Panther backline with 20 digs followed by 14 from sophomore Audie Gonzalez. Junior setter Kristina Taylor recorded her 16th double-double of the season after handing out 55 assists and 13 digs.

Shannon Sitzman finished with a match-best 20 kills to lead a balanced Eagle attack that saw four hitters reach double-figures. Libero Pohai Nu'uhiwa had 28 digs to lead the Winthrop backrow and Sara Felts tallied five blocks for the WU frontline.

"We certainly had our opportunities in this match," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito, who has guided the Panthers to four consecutive double-digit win totals. "Our lack of consistency really hurt us in the first two games, but we came out more focused after the break and were able to pressure Winthrop a little more. Overall it was a good day, especially because we got to honor our seniors who have been instrumental in the turnaround of our program."

The opening game of the match featured 11 ties as the two squads battled back-and-forth for much of the first half of the frame. Winthrop used a four-point surge to gain a slight advantage 20-16, but HPU fought back and eventually knotted the score at 25. After the two squads traded points, the Eagles closed the scoring with four straight points to earn the 30-26 victory.

Winthrop jumped ahead quickly in game two taking a 10-3 lead following a six-point service run by Kellie Sellers. High Point chipped away at the deficit and again managed to rally and pull to within two points at 17-15. The Eagles capitalized on some unforced Panther errors and eventually built a double-digit advantage at the close of the frame.

HPU turned things around coming out of the break grabbing a 5-1 lead to start game three. Winthrop regrouped and tied the game at six. Following several side out rotations for each team, Kaufman put the Panthers in front for good at 21-14 with a five-point service run. The Eagles made a late charge closing their deficit to a single point (27-26) before High Point was able to extend the match with the 30-27 win.

The Panthers earned another early lead in game four at 8-3, but the Eagles again came flying back to even the score at 18. The two teams traded chances with the lead until WU broke it open a 21-21 stalemate with a 7-1 run sparked by some aggressive serving from Nu'uhiwa and Kelli Kirkwood. Winthrop finished out the game and earned the match victory.

Both teams will next head to Lynchburg, Va., for the 2007 Big South Conference Championship Tournament. The event, which is being hosted by Liberty, is set for Nov. 15-17 at the Vines Center. Seedings and pairings for the tournament will be announced by the Big South office on Sunday.