The High Point University volleyball team picked up a pair of victories on the final day of action at the Triad Challenge defeating Kennesaw State and UNC Wilmington on Saturday afternoon in the Millis Athletic Center.

HPU, who ended the tournament weekend with a 3-1 mark, opened day two action with a 3-0 (30-19, 30-11, 30-27) sweep of KSU (1-3) before rallying for a 3-1 (27-30, 30-28, 30-24, 30-21) win over UNCW (1-3).

True freshman Julie Hershkowitz was named to the Triad Challenge All-Tournament team for the HPU Bracket of the event after starting all four matches at libero for the Panthers in her collegiate debut and averaging a team-leading 5.36 digs per game. She was joined on the All-Tournament squad by Kennesaw State's Jenny Black, UNCW's Jill Hoeck and Sarabeth Peele of Davidson. The remainder of the All-Tournament group was selected from the field of teams competing at the UNC Greensboro bracket of the event and included: Josie Hanners (Radford), Kristen Kirch (Austin Peay), Krystal Cooper (North Carolina A&T), Catherine Hanners (UNCG) and Branagan Fuller (UNCG).

"I was very pleased with our effort in both matches today," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "We learned something about our team's make-up, as we had to battle out of some challenging situations. Our team is pretty young and this whole weekend was definitely a learning experience we can build on for the rest of the season. It was good to see where we stack up right now and what areas we need to improve. I thought we started to develop a team identity during today's match."

Against Kennesaw State, High Point raced out to an early double-digit advantage in game one (17-7) and cruised to the win.  Game two was more of the same for the Panthers who held leads of 6-1, 9-2 and 19-6 on their way to an impressive 30-11 decision.  The Owls refused to quit earning a 7-2 lead to start game three. KSU maintained an edge for much of the frame until a late eight-point surge by HPU allowed them to rally for the 30-27 victory.

Sophomore Ashley Mellott tallied 15 kills to lead all players in the match and senior Jamie Kaufman added 11 kills for the Panthers. Hershkowitz paced the High Point defensive backline tallying 15 digs.  HPU got 12 digs each from Kristina Taylor, Audie Gonzalez and Kaufman.

In their match with UNC Wilmington, HPU struggled out of the blocks as the Seahawks flew to a 14-7 advantage to start the first game. The Panthers clawed their way back and eventually earned a slight lead 23-22, before UNCW was able to regroup and earn the 30-27 decision. High Point grabbed an 8-2 lead in game two behind a six-point service stretch by Kaufman. UNC Wilmington climbed back into the contest, knotting the score at 11 before HPU slowly began to build a small lead. The Panthers scored the final two points of the frame for the close 30-28 victory.

HPU seized the momentum in game three opening up an 18-10 advantage before seeing the Seahawks pull back to within three at 19-16. However, UNCW would get no closer though as the Panthers grabbed the match lead with a 30-24 win. High Point closed out the match early in game four behind a dominate service performance by Gonzalez, who scored nine straight points, putting HPU in front 18-4. Wilmington attempted a late rally but it was too little as HPU captured the 30-21 final decision.

Kaufman led a group off five HPU players in double-digit kills finishing with 16. Mellott added 14 followed by 13 from Anna Lott, 12 by Ashley Johnson and 11 for Gonzalez. Hershkowitz again sparked the Panther defensive charge tallying a personal best 29 digs. Kaufman chipped in 20 digs along with 19 from Gonzalez as HPU earned a 95-81 advantage from the backline. Junior setter Kristina Taylor handed out a season high 58 assists as High Point connected at a weekend best .243 hitting percentage.

High Point next returns to action at the Mizuno Wildcat Classic hosted by Davidson on Aug. 31-Sept. 1. HPU opens play against Connecticut on Friday at 5 p.m.