Audie Gonzalez led a trio of Panthers in double digit kills tonight as the High Point University volleyball team defeated Radford 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 26-24) on Tuesday night in the Millis Center. HPU improves to 3-0 in Big South play and 13-3 overall. High Point went 12-1 in the month of September.
Gonzalez recorded 12 kills. Ashley Mellott recorded 11 kills and Stephanie Wallin added 10. Kristina Taylor had 26 assists and freshman setter Holly Fong tallied 11. Julie Hershkowitz had 14 digs.
For the Highlanders (5-8, 0-3 Big South), Laura Waddell had 10 kills. Kent Kiley had 30 assists and Lindsay Rupert had 14 digs on the defensive side of the ball.
"I was happy that we were finally able to get back on our home court and pick up the victory tonight," said High Point University head coach Chad Esposito. "I thought Audie and Stephanie played outstanding for us and really helped to carry the load. They were able to get some key side-outs for us."
High Point and Radford opened the first set trading points before the Panthers broke open the scoring on a service run from Lauren Hatch, which was highlighted by back-to-back-to-back kills from Gonzalez, to take a 12-6 lead. The Panthers took their largest lead of the set 18-8. The Highlanders pulled to within five at 23-18, but Gonzalez recorded a kill on the next rally followed by a service ace to give the Panthers the final two points of the set.
In the second set High Point took a quick lead, but the Highlanders went on a run behind the serving of Melinda Clelland to tie the set at nine. The set was knotted again at 13 and 16, but High Point went on a 9-3 run to close out the set and take the 2-0 advantage into the break.
The final set was a battle. Radford took a 10-13 lead, but High Point fought back to tie the set at 14 off a kill from Wallin. The Panthers took an 18-15 and held on to the advantage, but the Highlanders would not back down and tied the set at 21. Back-to-back kills by Mellott gave HPU the lead again at 23-21. Radford once again knotted the set at 24, but a service error by the Highlanders followed by a kill from Wallin locked up the match for the Panthers.
"We were real inconsistent in our play tonight. At times we played great, but at other times we were a completely different team on the floor. We've got to learn how to maintain our focus a lot better," Esposito said. "Fortunately we were able to keep Radford out of system with our serving, and that allowed us to take leads in each of the sets. That was really the key to our success tonight."
The Panthers will stay at home to host Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Coastal match is set for 7:00 p.m. while the CSU match is schedule for 2:00 p.m.
