The High Point University volleyball team concluded play at the Mizuno Wildcat Classic on Saturday with a 3-1 win over host Davidson and a 3-0 loss versus James Madison.

The Panthers (4-3) opened up Saturday's action with a hard-fought four-game victory over the Wildcats (3-2), dropping game one 17-30 before rallying 30-28, 30-20, 30-22 for the win. HPU was swept by JMU (2-3) in their tournament finale, 30-14, 30-23, 30-15.

"Overall, I thought we made some improvements as a team this weekend," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "Against Davidson, we struggled early with our serve reception but eventually settled down and played extremely well the remainder of the match to earn a big victory. We were unable to maintain our momentum against James Madison, who kept us off-balance with a big, strong block at the net. The goal of our early season matches is to prepare ourselves for Big South Conference play and we are getting better each match."

In the match against Davidson, senior Jamie Kaufman finished with 16 kills to lead a trio of HPU attackers in double-digits. Audie Gonzalez added 11 kills and Ashley Mellott chipped in 10. Freshman libero Julie Hershkowitz tallied 18 digs in pacing the Panther back row as Kaufman (14 digs) and Gonzalez (13 digs) both posted double-doubles in the match. Junior setter Kristina Taylor handed out 43 assists and served up a match-best five aces for High Point.

Versus James Madison, Kaufman again led the HPU offense finishing with five kills. Hershkowitz was the Panther's top defender finishing with 10 digs while fellow freshman Anna Lott posted a team-high four blocks.

Mellott was named to the Mizuno Classic All-Tournament team.

High Point will host Triad-rival UNC Greensboro on Wednesday at 7 p.m., in the Millis Center before traveling to Flagstaff, Ariz., for their final regular-season tournament (Fiesta Bowl Classic) hosted by Northern Arizona on Sept. 7-8.